Official FPL was introduced before the 2002/03 season(Origin of FPL), the premier league was already delayed in launching an official fantasy game after the likes of Telegraph, Mirror, and Sun all successfully ran their fantasy games from the mid-’90s. In this blog, let’s find out How Many Play FPL currently and also how many played FPL each season from the beginning of FPL.
Link to all our FPL history blogs covering the highest-scoring players each season, highest scoring midfielders, all-time FPL dream team, defenders, forwards, goalkeepers, the origin of FPL, and more. Give them all a read if you’re interested to know what happened back in the days.
When did FPL start and how many play FPL?
FPL was first launched just in time ahead of the 2002/03 season, as it was something really new, the first six gameweeks were declared as pre-season, and points scored during the season were not considered in the overall ranking. This meant there were only 32 official gameweeks in the season resulting in the only season in which the winner has scored less than 2000 points.
Note: Player scores were all recorded, only the manager points weren’t considered.
Further Read: FPL History: Highest Scoring FPL Players Since The First FPL Season
Michael Ricketts for Bolton against Fulham, 17 August 2002. He would go on to score 6 goals in 22 appearances that season(u/papoon)
There were 46,876 managers by GW15 in the first season and the first season finished with 76,284 managers. From less the 100K managers playing FPL in 2002/03 we how now hit 9 Million managers during the 2021/22 season with the 2022/23 season expected to be the season in which we would see 10 million managers.
Gameweek history of the FPL winner from the first FPL Season(2002/03)
Number of managers at the end of each season in Million
- 21/22: 9.1m
- 20/21: 8.2m
- 19/20: 7.6m
- 18/19: 6.3m
- 17/18: 5.2m
- 16/17: 4.5m
- 15/16: 3.7m
- 14/15: 3.5m
- 13/14: 3.2m
- 12/13: 2.6m
- 11/12: 2.5m
- 10/11: 2.4m
- 09/10: 2.1m
- 08/09: 1.9m
- 07/08: 1.7m
- 06/07: 1.3m
- 05/06: 700,000
- 04/05: 472,251
- 03/04: 312,026
- 02/03: 76,284
Sources of the numbers are from Wayback Machine and FPLFocal’s Tweet
If you like our content do consider supporting us by contributing to the website. ALLABOUTFPL is run by the community and for the community. All our content is and will always remain free.
Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL
Most FPL Points Scored by Players in an FPL Gameweek | FPL History
Top 10 FPL Hauls from 2021/22 FPL Season | Single & Double Gameweek
All Time FPL Dream Team Since The First Season in 2002/03 | FPL History
FPL History: Highest Scoring FPL Goalkeepers Since The First FPL Season
FPL History: Highest Scoring FPL Defenders Since The First FPL Season
FPL History: Highest Scoring FPL Midfielders since the first FPL season
FPL History: Highest Scoring FPL Forwards Since the First FPL Season
FPL Now vs Then | How Has FPL Evolved since the Early Years
FPL History: Highest Scoring FPL Players Since The First FPL Season
FPL History: Highest Scoring FPL Forwards Each Year Since The First FPL Season In 2002/03
History Of Fantasy Football And Origin Of FPL
Thanks for reading the all time “How Many Play FPL?” blog. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for regular blogs. Also, follow our 60000+community on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to stay updated on regular Posts and FPL updates. Link to all our History of FPL | A Trip Down The Memory Lane
Our content is always free and if you like our content do drop a comment, follow, subscribe, and support us. Your love is what keeps us going:)
The brainchild behind ALLABOUTFPL, An ardent Manchester United fan who’s been watching PL and playing FPL for a long long time. Knows a thing or two about marketing and works towards making ALLABOUTFPL the best fantasy football site in the world.