The 2023/24 Fantasy Premier League season delivered 31,271 points, 1,196 goals (excluding own goals), 1,071 assists and 2,432 bonus points.
There were more than 25million chips played and, across the 38 Gameweeks, Erling Haaland was captained over 190m times.
Son Heung-min became just the second player to be bought by more than 2m managers in a Gameweek, while all-time records were set in FPL for the use of chips, and Cole Palmer became the best-value player ever in Fantasy.
Here, we break down some of the stand-out numbers from the campaign in Fantasy.
The price of success
Even before a ball was kicked, Haaland was reaching new milestones.
The Norwegian’s outstanding debut campaign, in which he scored 36 goals and totalled 272 points, led to him becoming the first player in a decade to cost £14.0m.
Indeed, only three other players since the inaugural 2002/03 FPL season have set managers back that much.
Most expensive players ever (starting price)
| Player | Season | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Thierry Henry | 2006/07 | £14.0m |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 2008/09 | £14.0m |
| Robin van Persie | 2013/14 | £14.0m |
| Erling Haaland | 2023/24 | £14.0m |
The costly price tag didn’t put managers off from getting him, however.
In fact, by Gameweek 6, Haaland was in 92.5 per cent of all teams, a new high for player ownership.
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In the same round, he was captained or Triple-Captained by a record 8.14m managers for Manchester City’s home match with Nottingham Forest. Or, to put it another way, he was handed the armband by an astonishing 82.0 per cent of all players in Fantasy.
Later in the season, Haaland set a record for Triple-Captaincy when 1.33m people opted to treble his score in Double Gameweek 25 (DGW25) for Man City’s home encounters with Chelsea and Brentford.
Most Triple-Captained players ever
| Player | Gameweek | Opp. | TC'd by | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erling Haaland | GW25, 23/24 | CHE (H), BRE (H) | 1.33m | 10 |
| Mohamed Salah | GW26, 21/22 | NOR (H), LEE (H) | 1.01m | 28 |
| Erling Haaland | GW34, 22/23 | FUL (A), WHU (H) | 717,593 | 16 |
| Marcus Rashford | GW22, 22/23 | CRY (H), LEE (H) | 557,362 | 20 |
| Erling Haaland | GW37, 23/24 | FUL (A), TOT (A) | 458,751 | 15 |
Records for chips being played
Chips were played in greater numbers than ever before in 2023/24.
In Blank Gameweek 29 (BGW29), a round with only four matches, more than 1.7m managers used their Free Hit chip, eclipsing the previous record by nearly 300,000.
Then, in Double Gameweek 37 (DGW37), a new mark was set for Bench Boost usage, with over 1.3m deployed to take advantage of the extra three fixtures.
In total, nearly 2.38m people used a chip in DGW37, a record in itself.
Records set for chips played in 2023/24
| Chip | GW | Record | Previous record |
|---|---|---|---|
| All chips | 37 | 2.38m | 1.99m (GW26, 21/22) |
| Free Hit | 29 | 1.71m | 1.41m (GW18, 20/21) |
| Triple Captain | 25 | 1.58m | 1.14m (GW26, 21/22) |
| Bench Boost | 37 | 1.30m | 1.1m (GW29, 22/23) |
While the chip records were falling in the final 10 Gameweeks of the season, managers were busy making transfers.
More than 110m transfers were made in that spell, yet another record.
Transfers made in final 10 Gameweeks 23/24
| Season | Total |
|---|---|
| 2017/18 | 38.14m |
| 2018/19 | 43.15m |
| 2019/20 | 55.67m |
| 2020/21 | 65.92m |
| 2021/22 | 92.16m |
| 2022/23 | 85.57m |
| 2023/24 | 110.33m |
Most-bought player in a Gameweek
Son was the No 1 transfer target on five occasions and was bought more than 12m times across the 38 Gameweeks.
In BGW29, nearly 2.1m managers recruited him for Tottenham Hotspur’s trip to Fulham.
Only Cristiano Ronaldo, when he returned to the Premier League ahead of Gameweek 4 in 2021/22, had been snapped up by more people ahead of a round of matches.
Unfortunately for Son and his millions of new owners, BGW29 turned out to be the worst Gameweek ever!
Most-bought players in a Gameweek
| Player | Gameweek | Transferred in by | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ronaldo | GW4, 21/22 | 2.21m | 13 |
| Son | GW29, 23/24 | 2.09m | 2 |
| Son | GW5, 20/21 | 2.00m | 13 |
Palmer surprises as top-scoring player
One player who didn’t disappoint in 2023/24 was Chelsea’s Cole Palmer.
Having made just two starts for his former club Man City in 2022/23, few anticipated what was to come for a player who started this season at just £5.0m in FPL.
A move to Stamford Bridge ahead of Gameweek 4 transformed his fortunes, and he ended up topping the Fantasy player standings with 244 points.
Pound-for-pound king
Palmer has become the best-value player that Fantasy has ever seen, by a distance, returning 48.8 points per million (ppm) based on his starting price.
He has surpassed the previous best-value outfield player in Riyad Mahrez, who produced 43.6ppm in Leicester City’s title-winning campaign of 2015/16 thanks to 240 points and an initial price of £5.5m.
Palmer has also overtaken Mark Schwarzer as the best-value player of all time. The Fulham goalkeeper was priced at £4.0m for the 2008/09 campaign and amassed 175 points, yielding 43.8ppm.
Best-value players ever (starting price)
| Player | Season | Starting price | Pts | Value (ppm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmer | 2023/24 | £5.0m | 244 | 48.8 |
| Schwarzer | 2008/09 | £4.0m | 175 | 43.8 |
| Mahrez | 2015/16 | £5.5m | 240 | 43.6 |
| Martinez | 2020/21 | £4.5m | 186 | 41.3 |
| Trippier | 2022/23 | £5.0m | 198 | 39.6 |
Not only did Palmer become the best-value player based on starting price, he also became the best-value player based on his end-of-season price.
He cost £6.3m by Gameweek 38 after an increase of £1.3m, the largest in 2023/24 Fantasy, and even at that price he still offered value of 38.7ppm, the best ever across all positions.
Interestingly, if we look at outfield players only across FPL history, Jean-Philippe Mateta also now makes the top four for offering the best value ever in a season.
In his case, it was a change of manage, rather than a change of club that breathed new life into his season. Before Oliver Glasner took over at Crystal Palace, Mateta had totalled 65 points in 25 Gameweeks. But with the Austrian at the helm, he notched 100 points in the remaining 13 rounds.
His generous £5.1m price at the end of the campaign gave him a value score of 32.4ppm, putting him fourth among the best-value outfield players.
Best-value outfield players ever (end price)
| Player | Season | End price | Pts | Value (ppm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmer | 2023/24 | £6.3m | 244 | 38.7 |
| Mahrez | 2015/16 | £7.2m | 240 | 33.3 |
| Trippier | 2022/23 | £6.0m | 198 | 33.0 |
| Mateta | 2023/24 | £5.1m | 165 | 32.4 |
| Matip | 2021/22 | £5.3m | 170 | 32.1 |
Top scores in a Gameweek this season
The highlight for Mateta was DGW34, when he registered 29 points across two home matches, the biggest Gameweek score of the season.
Mateta found the net twice and supplied an assist in a 5-2 win over West Ham United before notching another brace as Newcastle United were beaten 2-0.
Best Gameweek scores of 2023/24
| Player | Gameweek | Opp. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mateta | GW34 | WHU (H), NEW (H) | 29 |
| Gvardiol | GW37 | FUL (A), TOT (A) | 27 |
| White | GW34 | WOL (A), CHE (H) | 26 |
| Palmer | GW33 | EVE (H) | 26 |
| Watkins | GW7 | BHA (H) | 23 |
Mateta's phenomenal haul ranks joint-fifth on the all-time list.
It is level with Mohamed Salah’s 29 points against Watford in Gameweek 31 of 2017/18 - the most points ever in a single match - and Matty Cash’s 29 points from DGW28 in 2021/22, which remains the record for a defender.
Gvardiol and White just miss out on defender record
In DGW37, it looked like Josko Gvardiol was poised to beat Cash’s defender record following two goals, a clean sheet and 21 points away to Fulham in his first match of the round.
But he was unable to convert a big chance that fell his way in the second encounter, a 2-0 win over Spurs, meaning he ended up on 27 points.
Ben White, who finished top of the defender standings on 182 points, was a yellow card shy of matching Gvardiol’s tally, and three away from Cash's record.
In DGW34, having kept a clean sheet away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, he scored twice as Arsenal trounced Chelsea 5-0. But in picking up a yellow card his total was reduced by a point.
Best run of form this season
Palmer produced the best return in a single match, scoring four goals and claiming maximum bonus for a 26-point return as Chelsea brushed aside Everton 6-0 in Gameweek 33.
It was the culmination of an incredible run in which Palmer racked up four double-digit hauls in five matches.
His 79 points across those contests represented the best period of form in 2023/24. It was 19 points more than Gvardiol’s total between Gameweeks 33 and 37, the second-best five-match run.
Best five-match runs 2023/24
| Player | Period | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Palmer | GW28 to GW33 | 79 |
| Gvardiol | GW33 to GW37 | 60 |
| Saka | GW22 to GW26 | 59 |
| Salah | GW8 to GW12 | 57 |
| Watkins | GW23 to GW27 | 55 |
Watkins was second behind Palmer for the top score in a single match.
He set a personal best with a 23-point haul at home to Brighton & Hove Albion in Gameweek 7, courtesy of a hat-trick and two assists, on his way to breaking the 200-point barrier in FPL for the first time.
Over the season, Watkins created 45 chances and had 47 shots on target, both placing among the top two forwards, as he ended the season with 19 goals and 18 assists.
His 37 attacking returns were unmatched in 2023/24.
Most attacking returns 2023/24
| Player | Goals + Assists | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Watkins | 19G + 18A | 37 |
| Palmer | 22G + 13A | 35 |
| Haaland | 27G + 8A | 35 |
| Salah | 18G + 12A | 30 |
| Saka | 16G + 12A | 28 |
Bukayo Saka improved his goal involvement tally by two from the previous season, with 16 goals and 12 assists.
He was especially impressive on the road, amassing a league-leading 125 points in away matches.
Salah extends record with ANOTHER big season
Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp’s departure closed the book on one of the greatest chapters in Fantasy history.
Salah revelled under the German’s guidance, scoring 155 goals, laying on 79 assists and totalling 1,741 points. During his seven years at Liverpool, Salah has averaged a scarcely-believable 249 points per season.
The Egyptian is the only player to have delivered 200+ points in seven successive campaigns. Second place is shared by Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard, who each recorded four consecutive seasons with 200 points or more, three seasons fewer than Salah.
