Office and pub last man standing

Twelve to forty players is the sweet spot. Below ten, the competition often ends in a few weeks; above a hundred, collecting money becomes a second job. Keep the fee low enough that nobody thinks twice — a round of drinks is the right benchmark — and be explicit that it is a friendly competition, not a gambling operation.

Whatever the fee, collect all of it before the first deadline. Chasing money after someone has already been knocked out never works.

• Does a draw survive, or is it win-only?
• What happens if someone forgets to pick?
• Are rebuys allowed, and until which gameweek?
• What happens to a postponed match?
• Is the pot winner-takes-all or split at the top?
• If everyone still alive goes out together, is the pot split or does the round replay?

Every argument in a knockout league comes from one of those six. Post the answers in the group chat before the season starts and the rest looks after itself. The hosting guide has the full version.

Premier League weekends now start on Friday night and can finish on Monday. Set the deadline at the first kick-off of the gameweek and apply it to everyone, including the organiser. Our fixtures page lists the deadline for each round.

The organiser's real job is record-keeping: who picked what, who has used which clubs, who is still alive. Doing this in a chat thread is where most office leagues die. Running the league here means picks, used teams, eliminations and the survivor table update themselves, and everyone gets a deadline reminder by email.

Half your group will be out by Christmas, and a dead competition is a quiet competition. Three things that work: a side prize for the first player eliminated, a rebuy window around gameweek ten, and a weekly message showing what the survivors picked. The pick breakdown does that last one for you.

Casual players quit when they feel out of their depth. Point them at this week's safest picks, the club guides, and the last man standing explainer — most people only need one good week to get hooked.