The notion of the fantasy football league may have started off as harmless pub banter, but during the last decade it has been given the sardonic TV-style makeover treatment by comedians Baddiel and Skinner and now entered the English language as an acceptable definition for a layman�s analysis of the beautiful game from a �virtual� manager�s standpoint.

So as with all things, should the fantasy football league get the Internet treatment? Yes, of course it should. Online gaming is already guaranteed to become an integral part of the way we use the Internet in the future, so the smart movers who can see the profit potential are already making headway in this field.

With national football awareness at an all time high and emotions fraught after England�s disappointing performance during Euro 2004, there has never been a better time for retailers to provide extra �value� to their loyal customer base via their home page. A customised fantasy football league is the perfect answer, and provides a source of entertainment to customers looking for a short break from their online shopping activity, rather than logging off the site, or opening another browser. Point schemes could be put into play � with additional transfer �cash� bonuses offered to customers who buy online. There are a whole host of ideas, which could help increase online sales.

Retailers inevitably want to drive traffic to their websites on a regular basis. They know that the more hits their sites receive the better placed they are to charge advertisers money to place banner ads � and the more profitable their own sales are likely to be. Online fantasy football league games are a compelling, group interest activity that can create daily visits to sites that customers might otherwise only look up on a weekly basis.

A pioneer in this field is Southampton Football Club, which is now using the V Two One customisable system to run its own game on the www.saintsfc.co.uk web site. The game, which carries a top prize of �500 per season, allows fans to act as would-be Sven Goran Erikssons (or Paul Sturrock in Southampton�s case) by selecting a team of 11 players every Friday in a standard 4-3-3 formation from a total squad of 16 with 2 goalkeepers, 6 defenders, 4 midfielders and 4 forwards.

�We know that many people follow Southampton using the web site to track player progress, fixtures and profiles. So we saw this as an opportunity for them to get even more involved with the club. Our website saintsfc.co.uk is the best source of information for transfer news, match coverage and all the club views and news, so we are hoping that V Two One�s fully customisable fantasy football game will be a great addition to saintsfc.co.uk� said Emma Charman, Marketing Manager, Southampton Football Club.

Three transfers are allowed throughout the season, statistical data on all aspects of the players can be viewed during the competition and fans can choose any team name they like, as long as it�s clean! There�s even a Fantasy Football referee who may award squad members with a man of the match award at his discretion. Once again, he may only be virtual, but he doesn�t like bad language!

For more information about how to set up a fully customisable fantasy football league on your site, contact Steve Kaye, Managing Director of V