Welcome to OUHC Fantasy

JOIN HERE

After a season-long experiment in the Spos, we’re very excited to welcome you to the debut of OUHC fantasy! Never before have such summits of club unity been dreamed of, let alone made a reality. But with just a few clicks, suddenly you’ll be more invested in South Central (and National) league hockey than you could have ever imagined.

How does it work?

OUHC Fantasy follows the basic structure of Fantasy Premier League - you pick a squad of 16 OUHC members and get points based on their real performances that accumulate over the course of the season. If they score a goal, you get points. If they get an assist, you get points. If they just play the game, you get [slightly fewer] points. It’s not all positive though, there are a few things you can do to lose points instead of gaining them. Conceding too many goals, getting carded, or even getting DoDed (so be careful picking Ben Cole). Pictured below is the table that shows you how your players will pick up points.

Getting started

Once you’ve made your account, go to ‘Join Club’, where you’ll meet the first important hurdle - picking your team name! For whatever reason, it’s Fantasy tradition to use a pun based on players’ names, so get creative and use your best OUHC knowledge (Or press the inspire me button to pick one of the ones Alex wrote when he had far too much free time). You’ll also be given the option to join your teams’ leagues - pick any which you expect to play for or coach, but you can always join more later.

Now that you’ve joined, go to the ‘Transfers’ tab. At first, you start out with the cheapest players possible, but with a budget of £150m, you can build your ultimate OUHC team. It wouldn’t be much of a challenge if you could just pick all of the highest-scoring members of the club, so you’ll need to balance your more expensive picks with some budget options. It’s worth mentioning that these ‘budget’ options may be cheap now, but as they play better and get transferred in by other players, their prices will go up accordingly. Obviously, there are multiple strategies when it comes to building your team - you may wish to spread your money out evenly, or splash the cash for some impact players.

The only limitation other than pricing is team representation. In some fantasy games (and this one), you can have up to three players from any one team, but in OUHC fantasy you also have to own at least one from each. Don’t worry if your OUHC ball knowledge is limited, that’s what Vinnies is for. Get out there and find out the gossip. Who’s on a hot streak? Who’s training well? Who should you probably drop because they’ve just been told to do some academic work for once?

Critic’s Picks:

Women’s Blues: Ella Downham (GK), £13.0m. Ella’s true value is in her appearances around the club as much as it is for her own team. This time last year, she was playing for upwards of three teams a week. That kind of volume is unbeatable. With one women’s goalkeeper joining the club this year while another goes on a year abroad, Ella may be racking up the appearances again.

Men’s Blues: Matthew ‘Dez’ Zahra (DEF), £9.5m. Like Ella, Dez’s true value comes from potential games around the club. Since he’s listed as a defender, his goals are worth six points, but should he play any games for the Os this year, he may well shift into the frontline - and those goals will be worth the exact same. Also, let’s not forget the assist potential from short corners, having injected in the past.

Radicals: Georgia ‘G’ Moyo (DEF), £10.5m. With just nine players currently listed on OUHC fantasy, there aren’t many Rads to choose from, so picking the right one may be a game-changer early in the season. Currently listed as one of just two Rads defenders, G impressed in the Mavs last year, and looks poised for a strong season in the Rads.

Occasionals: Bez Akinkoye (FWD), £8.0m. A tight contest for value between Os former-fresher-forwards. With Bez and Alex ‘Brat’ McCallum locked at the same £8.0m price tag, I’ve gone for Bez, as a year-long stint with the Os may give him the edge when it comes to gelling with the rest of the squad. The Os are also currently slightly short on forwards which may give him some good opportunities to rack up minutes.

Mavericks: Catherine ‘Socky’ Hayton (FWD) £14.0m. There’s potential for some huge points in the Mavs this year. After missing out on Saturday promotion by just six points, the hope is that the Mavs will run rampant in South Central Women’s Division 1 Cherwell this year. Last year’s crusade was ably supported by now co-captain Socky, who was picking up hat-tricks left, right and centre to reach 25 goals in 22 games. Expect more of the same in 2025-6.

Infrequents: Ben Cole (DEF) £8.0m. Despite the earlier nibble about a plethora of DoDs (and even a red card), the points scored last year were not reflective of Ben’s actual on-pitch ability. More often than not, that -2 was tempered by consistent MoM votes, and he can even find himself in the right sort of areas to nick a goal from half back. With some third-year maturity, I’m sure the DoDs will be going down, and the points will be going up…

Renegades: Eilidh Quinn (FWD) £13.0m. Copy and paste Socky’s paragraph. The Rens’ captain scored 20 goals last year - bullying the good, innocent people of Division 2 Cherwell. Priced at £1m cheaper than her Mavs counterpart, she may be the Erling Haaland of OUHC fantasy: a must have for your team to be competitive.

Sporadics: Rory ‘Staff’ McCabe (MID) £7.5m. While finding his feet last year, Staff played a solid amount of games, rarely ever putting a foot wrong. In a game that is ultimately dictated by availability, having a team captain for £7.5m should be illegal. Consistent points for a consistent player who’ll be playing week-in, week-out. A reminder that a player who plays half their team’s games would need a goal contribution every time to outscore another who plays every one…

And so, the game begins! It’s time to get planning and tinkering before the first deadline at 10am this Saturday, and if bragging rights aren’t quite enough incentive for you, there have been rumours of a substantial prize waiting at the end of the tunnel as well. Maybe I shouldn’t have revealed all of my secrets, or maybe I’ve saved the best ones for myself…

Written by Seb Page.
App designed by Alex Mann.