fpl_api_examples/README.md

Fantasy Premier League API: three Python examples

These standalone examples use Python 3's standard library. No packages, API key, or login are needed for these public GET requests.

Run the examples

Open a terminal in this folder, then run:

python3 team.py
python3 league.py
python3 transfers.py

team.py defaults to fantasy team 2134. It prints the manager, overall points and rank, then the latest published gameweek's squad, including captain and bench. It joins player IDs from the picks response with names, clubs and positions from the bootstrap response.

league.py defaults to classic league 37803, Special Teams, Special Players. It prints the first page of standings with team names, managers, gameweek points, total points and entry IDs. You can pass an entry ID to the team script.

transfers.py defaults to fantasy team 2134. It prints public transfer history, newest first, with UTC timestamps, gameweeks, players sold and bought, and their transfer prices in millions of pounds. Player IDs are joined to bootstrap data to display readable names.

python3 team.py --team-id 2134 --gameweek 7
python3 league.py --league-id 37803 --page 2
python3 league.py --league-id 37803 --all-pages
python3 transfers.py --team-id 2134 --gameweek 7

--all-pages starts at --page (page 1 by default). Run any script with --help for its options.

What the API calls demonstrate

Each script builds a URL, sends an HTTP GET with urllib.request.urlopen, parses the JSON using json.load, and reads fields from Python dictionaries and lists. The small request helper is repeated to keep each example self-contained.

Endpoint, relative to https://fantasy.premierleague.com/api/	Purpose
entry/2134/	Fantasy team and manager summary
entry/2134/event/7/picks/	Squad selection for gameweek 7
entry/2134/transfers/	Public transfer history for the current season
bootstrap-static/	Player, club, position and gameweek reference data
leagues-classic/37803/standings/?page_standings=1	One page of classic league standings

Try opening the team JSON or league JSON in your browser to compare the raw response with the printed output.

Useful details

• A fantasy team ID is an entry ID, not a Premier League club ID or player ID.
• Gameweek selections are public after the deadline. This does not show a manager's unpublished changes for the next deadline. The role column describes the selected lineup; it does not apply automatic substitutions or chip scoring.
• The league example is for classic leagues, not head-to-head leagues.
• The transfers example shows only the history published by the public API. Transfers for an upcoming deadline may not be public yet. Prices are the sale and purchase prices recorded for each transfer, not current player prices; they do not indicate transfer points deductions.
• Standings are paginated; has_next tells the script whether another page exists. Newly joined entries may not appear in the ranked standings yet.
• Data and IDs are season-specific. These public website endpoints can change; use the response's league name to confirm the intended league after a reset.
• Requests have a 20-second timeout. HTTP/network errors produce a message and a nonzero exit status. Avoid repeatedly polling the service in a tight loop.