Aston Villa become first top-flight club to make major change that would be a fantasy game-changer
Aston Villa have become the first English top-division club to introduce a key change at the beginning of the 2026/27 season - and it could make all the difference for fantasy football players if rolled out everywhere.
The new Fantasy Premier League season is well and truly underway, with a host of surprise players topping the scoring charts on the opening week.
GW1's top performer with 17 points, Brighton's Maxim De Cuyper, was triple-captained by one FPL user, who promptly topped the entire leaderboard after Sunday's matches.
READ MORE: Top FPL manager in the world triple-captained defender with 3.1% ownership in 'genius' move
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When it comes to selecting teams before Saturday morning's deadline, fantasy football players need to check either team news updates or manager press conferences to find out which players will be available.
Many clubs are, perhaps understandably, keen to keep their cards close to their chest in order to keep opposition managers guessing right up until the team sheets are released.
But Aston Villa's women's side have announced they will take the unprecedented step - certainly in recent English football terms - of releasing their entire player availability list before each Women's Super League match this season.
The practice is normally followed in the United States, with Major League Soccer (MLS) and the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) both providing regular availability updates for all their clubs.
On their Twitter account, Villa noted that they 'want to provide greater clarity around player availability where possible throughout the season' after feedback from supporters.
And rather than simply listing any absences, the update has plenty of detail in it as to why each player is missing. For instance, it reveals that club captain Rachel Daly is unavailable due to 'following an individual training programme'.
Whether there is as much detail once the WSL season gets underway - Villa are in pre-season action this weekend - remains to be seen, but the step forward has certainly been welcomed by fans.
The WSL has launched a brand-new fantasy football game ahead of the new campaign that merges WSL clubs with sides from the second-tier WSL2.
On the men's side, Fantasy EFL is into its third season, having been launched ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
It combines all 72 EFL clubs into one fantasy game - which is where having full player availability reports would come in exceptionally handy in particular.
Topics: Aston Villa, Fantasy Football, Womens Super League
Ryan Smart