The game is on

As the football season warms up, Christina Goggi tries her luck with the first interactive virtual football competition based on the Malta Premier League.

In time for the 2012/2013 season, the first interactive virtual football competition based on the Malta Premier League and the FA Trophy was launched only a few weeks ago.

If you’re a football and tech lover, you’re probably familiar with online fantasy football games, but how would you feel about having control over a match with local team players at the tips of your fingers?

It’s called FantasyFootballMalta.com, a free game that’s available on PC as well as in app format on iOs and Android. Playing it is simple. The first step is that of selecting the 11 players that will form your team – these would have to fit within the €50,000 budget assigned to you at the beginning of the season. Of course, the money is virtual.

Your team will score points during the season based on how your selected players perform in real life matches. Points are awarded based on the performance of the players you have in your team – the performance is based on parameters such as result, goals scored, clean sheets and man-of-the-match performances amongst others.

The game also incorporates transfer windows during which users can transfer up to three players at a time. This allows them to change players who are not in form, replacing them with ones who are more likely to score points for the rest of the season. Users also get to choose a captain, who will earn double points. The captain can be changed every week.

An additional perk to this game is that each month prizes are awarded to the top performers, together with a grand prize at the end of the season to the overall winner.

The creators of FantasyFootballMalta.com are Karl Attard, Kevin Ellul and Oliver Grech.

Attard and Ellul are cousins who have been organising events for almost 10 years. The idea to create FantasyFootballMalta.com began two years ago when the cousins saw such games gaining in popularity in the UK. Although something like this was already done internationally, it was never done in Malta and based on the Maltese Premier League. This was their incentive.

The idea was left to simmer and they focused on their work. Then they met Grech, who turned out to be a brilliant developer, friend and the third member of the team.

Since January 2012, the three haven’t stopped working on creating FantasyFootballMalta.com, working on it as soon as they get home after their long daily jobs. It was launched on July 24.

With over 1,000 users signed up within the first two weeks since the launch, and well established local companies contacting them with offers, things are already looking great for the trio.

They’re envisioning that FantasyFootballMalta.com will grow even bigger, with more users and features. They want to make it more interactive and are already working on adding a mini leagues feature.

“Mini leagues will be perfect for users to challenge their friends or colleagues with their dream team at Fantasy Football. Users will be allowed to create these private mini leagues, using the same team, rules and points system from Fantasy Football,” explains Ellul.

Looking towards the future, they even see the game potentially being played on an international scale.

When it comes to the audience they’re looking to attract, Attard explains how, “Because it falls under gaming and we are awarding gifts, FantasyFootballMalta.com is restricted to anyone aged 18 and over.”

If you’re up for playing a local match in your free time from anywhere you like, and also entering the possibility of winning some cool prizes, check FantasyFootballMalta.com and let the games begin.

Christina Goggi is a web marketing content specialist and a regular blogger on various tech websites.