The Fantasy Premier League (FPL) has named a new winner for the 2019/20 season after the original was disqualified for a breach of the game’s terms and conditions.
Josh Bull, a researcher in mathematical oncology at Oxford University, has replaced Bulgarian fantasy football manager Aleksandar Antonov as victor two weeks after the end of the season.
The exact reason behind Mr Antonov’s disqualification has not been revealed by FPL.
“A lot of people have asked me if I have an algorithm for choosing players. I wish I did but I don’t,” he said.
“I do think what being a mathematician and being a chess player have in common is a kind of strategic thinking and trying to plan ahead.
“Having said that I’m sure there are plenty of people in the top 10 who are awful at maths and awful at chess and are brilliant artists or anything else – I’d love to see the statistics on that.”
Asked for his top tip for FPL managers before the start of the new season on September 12, Mr Bull said: “As a mathematician I think a lot about things like regression to the mean.
“My big tip would be to pick the players you think will do well and stick with them. I didn’t take any points hits (to make extra transfers) throughout the season.”
