Aston Villa is the first top team to make a big change that could totally shake up the game!
Aston Villa has made a big move for the start of the 2026/27 season—they’re the first top English club to do this, and it could really help fantasy football fans if others follow their lead.
The new Fantasy Premier League season is already in full swing, and there have been some surprising top scorers in the first week. For example, Brighton’s Maxim De Cuyper scored 17 points in Gameweek 1, and one smart FPL player even triple-captained him, quickly climbing to the top of the leaderboard after Sunday’s games.
When picking teams before Saturday’s deadline, fantasy players usually check team news or manager interviews to see who will be playing. But many clubs like to keep this info quiet to keep their opponents guessing until the last moment.
Aston Villa’s women’s team is shaking things up by sharing their full player availability list before every Women’s Super League match this season—a move that’s pretty rare in English football. This kind of openness is more common in U.S. leagues like Major League Soccer (MLS) and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
On Twitter, Villa explained they want to offer more clarity about player availability throughout the season, responding to fan feedback. They don’t just list absences—they give detailed reasons too. For example, captain Rachel Daly is out because she’s “following an individual training programme.”
We’ll have to wait and see if they keep up this detailed approach once the WSL season officially starts—Villa have pre-season games coming up this weekend—but fans are already happy with the change.
The WSL just launched a new fantasy football game that combines top-tier clubs with second-tier WSL2 teams. This could give Villa players a leg up when you’re picking your fantasy squad. On the men’s side, Fantasy EFL is entering its third season since starting before 2024/25.
It covers all 72 EFL clubs in one game—so having full player availability info would be a real bonus for fantasy managers here too.