On Saturday, 25th January, Bolton Wanderers played Huddersfield Town away from home in an EFL League One clash at John Smith’s Stadium. While Bolton came out as narrow winners with a 1-0 scoreline, it was a police officer’s actions that caught the eye of one fan in the stadium.
From a couple of rows up, one fan took a sneaky picture of an on-duty police guard who was on his phone, not to take a call or drop a message to someone; he was in fact sorting out his FPL (Fantasy Premier League) team.
The role this particular police officer, clad in a high-visibility jacket like most other officials on matchday, had was probably crowd control throughout the game as he stood on the stairway in between what looked to be two different seating areas. Apart from this, it is also likely that the officer was present to help fans make their way to the correct seats and stands prior to kick-off.
In this case, however, the officer seemed momentarily distracted by the extremely popular Premier League fantasy game.
Since its launch in 2002, FPL has grown from a niche interest with just 76,000 players to a global phenomenon with over 11 million participants as of the 2024/25 season. Fantasy football is no longer just a game; it’s a cultural movement. The game of FPL has made itself a source for content creators to come out and make FPL-related content.
From casual players creating teams for fun to serious managers analyzing player stats and form, FPL connects fans to the sport in a whole new manner. Office banter, friend group rivalries, and even players themselves all enjoy the game and the banter that comes with.
One user on X criticized the officer: “@WestYorksPolice see the badge number now why is my tax being spent on fpl.”
But when you look at what’s happening in the stadium, there seems to be a lull in general, with the likelihood being a halftime break where the players aren’t on the pitch and fans are on their way to buy a drink or some snacks. This makes it the perfect time for the officer to update their FPL side.
Also, he wasn’t checking his points, as the FPL deadline for that week hadn’t passed yet. With the deadline set for 1:30 PM and the game kicking off at 12:30 PM, halftime at around 1:20 PM would have fallen just before the cutoff.
Perhaps he was making a few last-minute changes to his team, trying to finalize transfers or adjust his captain pick before the clock ran out.
Most people online related to the officer, “1.30 deadline. Fair play,” said one user while another commented, “Give him a promotion for that.”
Another user summed it up perfectly, “Whys everyone fuming? Clearly just funny that a policeman is checking his fantasy football, his boss probably won’t even be arsed it’s half time.”
