How to play Picks on Free to Play Football

Each football tournament, you can choose a five-player lineup and try to beat other managers in your division to win extra Gold rewards

Picks is a skill-based competition on top of the main tournament game.

To enter Picks, you choose a five-player lineup and try to beat other managers in your division to win rewards.

Your five-player lineup is composed of one player from each position - GK, DEF, MID, FWD, plus a final 'Flex' position where you can play any position.
Usually, you have to hold shares in a player to be able to pick them. In some special tournaments, you can also choose 'loan players' which do not meet this criteria (see Loans below)
You can choose a maximum of two players from the same club.
Every player has a salary, based on their expected performance, which is fixed for the tournament. You must keep your five picks within the 100-point salary cap.
Choose one of your five picks as Captain. Their score is multiplied by 1.5x.
Picks works on 'rolling locks' i.e.: a player is locked into your lineup the moment they enter the pitch. Until then you can swap them out.
Your Captain locks once they enter the pitch. Until then, you can change your Captain at any time.
You must submit a full, five-player lineup before the end of the tournament to qualify for rewards.

Your Picks results influence your Skill Rating, which affects which of the divisions you play in: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond or Elite.
Your Skill Rating changes after each tournament, so you can be promoted or relegated as you play. When you are promoted in Football, you are protected from relegation for the following tournament.

70% of the overall tournament reward pool is allocated to Picks.
If you beat your division average, you qualify for a Picks reward - additional Gold. The higher you finish in your division, the greater your performance weight. Your reward also reflects the eligible value you hold in the five players you picked.
When the tournament completes, you can claim your Picks rewards via the Claim rewards button on the home page.

Free loans may occasionally be enabled for special events or tournaments with a limited number of active players.
When free loans are available, this will be clearly shown in the Picks screen. They will be unlimited and carry no loan-related penalty for that event.

Updated on: 14/08/2026

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