Matt Lucas, Elis James & Andrew Mensah are back on the sofa with a new line-up of footballing legends and star-name ‘guest managers’
“Sky’s reboot of the cult 90s classic entertainment show came off the bench and scored a winner… The format smartly blended nostalgic callbacks with new elements, while presenting duo Elis James and Matt Lucas showed themselves to have a warm, wry chemistry.”
Michael Hogan, The Radio Times
“Our first taste of the reborn Fantasy Football League – now presented by Elis James and Matt Lucas – was a lot of fun, featuring loads of the original’s best elements, smart new touches and, of course, some great celebrity-guest managers… the brilliantly cutting Andrew Mensah… It’s pretty much compulsory viewing for all footie fans.” ★★★★
The Sun
With another raucous Premier League season in full swing, Matt Lucas and Elis James – along with fellow football fanatic and comedian Andrew Mensah – will be back with a second season of the critically acclaimed, iconic comedy series Fantasy Football League, returning to Sky Max and NOW on the Friday 2nd February.
The second series of Fantasy Football League will continue to delight fans old and new as it honours the format of the cult original series, with Matt and Elis combing over the week’s football news sharing hilarious clips and anecdotes. Also returning is the much-loved ‘Phoenix From The Flames’ segment – where a famous moment from footballing history is recreated with an array of legendary players. Already lined up for the upcoming series are Jack Wilshere, Gabby Agbonlahor, Wes Morgan, Pedro Mendes, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey and Emmanuel Petit.
Each week, a pair of celebrity guest managers will sit on the Fantasy Football League sofa to chat about their love of the beautiful game and reveal hilarious personal stories around their diehard football fandom. Mo Gilligan and Michael Sheen will join Matt, Elis and Andrew for episode one, while other well-known faces appearing on the second series will include Danny Dyer, Jill Scott, Alex Brooker, Stuart Broad, Phil Dunster, Luke Littler, Emma Hayes, Tony Adams, Katherine Ryan, Alex Horne, Jon Richardson and more.
The 8×30” series was commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, Director of Sky Arts and Entertainment, alongside Dwayne Eaton, Commissioning Executive at Sky for Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content at Sky. Produced by Avalon (Taskmaster, Starstruck, The Russell Howard Hour, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), Fantasy Football League will be Series Produced by Spencer Millman (TV Burp, The Inbetweeners 2) and the Series Director is Peter Orton (Fantasy Football League, TV Burp, The Russell Howard Hour).
To join in and compete with the celebrity guest managers each week, sign up to the League using code a7qb7a via the official Fantasy Premier League app – find more information on the website.
“Super-fun FFL reboot” ★★★★
Boyd Hilton, Heat
“An instant hit on its reappearance (after an 18-year absence)”
Gerard O’Donovan, The Daily Telegraph
“Lucas knows the score and his verbal one-twos with co-host Elis James made the midfield fizz in this sporty revival. It’s certainly light relief compared to the plodding punditry of Alan Shearer and co on Match Of The Day”
Keith Watson, Metro
“we loved the last season…You do have a lot of fun… Love the skits, I love when you dress up, a very good Jack Grealish…and ageing Gareth Southgate ….what a treat.”
Zoe Ball, BBC Radio 2
“It couldn’t have gone any better… Fantasy Football League absolutely rocking, smashing it, over on Sky”
Chris Evans, Virgin Radio
“enough banter to fill Wembley Stadium”
Sara Wallis, The Mirror
“the welcome return of Matt Lucas and Elis James in the footie chatshow Fantasy Football League… much knockabout Friday-night fun”
James Jackson, The Times
“the key is to freshen it up, to bring it to a new audience but to keep the spirit of the original… that’s what you’ve done brilliantly.”
Paul Hawksbee, talkSPORT
“last year’s reboot of the 1990s football fanzine worked well enough… The show’s admirable commitment to the women’s game has seen some “Phoenix from the flames” revive wholly unfamiliar moments… at the end of the day it’s easy to cheer for a funny old show that last season put Sir Trevor McDonald on the same sofa as vuvuzela-honking comic Maisie Adam.”
Helen Stewart, The Sunday Times
“jolly revival of the 1990s show, hosted with a good sense of fun by Elis James and Matt Lucas”
The Daily Mail
“the perfect blend of football chat, funny sketches and celebrity interviews.”
The Sun
Fantasy Football League Season Two returns to Sky Max and NOW in early 2024
For further information please contact:
Dan Lloyd on [email protected] or Tara Dein on [email protected]
About Sky
Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies and is part of Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company that connects people to moments and experiences that matter. At Sky we Believe in Better. It’s in our DNA.
We’re famous for innovation. We offer the world’s smartest TV, Sky Glass; our plug and play streaming puck, Sky Stream; the best aggregation platform, Sky Q: the best aggregation platform, Sky Q; and streaming services NOW and WOW. We provide connectivity you can count on in mobile, fast, secure, reliable residential and business broadband, as well as smart home protection through Sky Protect.
We’re Europe’s premium content producer. We create award-winning original content, produce the biggest live sporting events, and we provide free access to news and the arts. Our new state-of-the-art film and TV studio Sky Studios Elstree is projected to attract £3 billion of new production investment to the UK in its first five years and create up to 2,000 jobs.
We are a diverse and inclusive employer that has a positive impact on society and the communities that we work and live in. Sky plays a major role in the UK’s cultural economy and, in 2022 alone, supported a contribution of £20 billion to UK GDP, broadcast 70,000 hours of elite sports coverage and invested over £130 million to provide news to consumers free of charge.
About Avalon
Avalon is a multi-award-winning talent management, television production and live promotion group with offices in London, Los Angeles and New York. Avalon, Artists Rights Group and The Agency together represent a diverse and distinctive roster of artists including actors, comedians, writers and directors, among them Academy Award, BAFTA, Emmy, Tony and Olivier Award-winners.
Avalon is the UK’s largest true independent television production company, with over 40 shows in production in the last year including: hit entertainment format Taskmaster (Channel 4 in the UK, Network 10 in Australia, TV4 in Sweden, TVNorge/Discovery+ in Norway); Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); Starstruck (HBO Max/BBC); Not Going Out (BBC), the UK’s longest running sitcom on air; Breeders (FX/Sky); The Chris & Rosie Ramsey Show (BBC); and Fantasy Football League (Sky). Avalon has produced over 4,000 episodes of hit programming for audiences in the UK, US and around the world, winning over 30 Emmy Awards and BAFTAs from nearly 100 nominations.
Other landmark Avalon shows include Catastrophe (Amazon/Channel 4), Flatbush Misdemeanors (Showtime), The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), TV Burp (ITV), and the cult classic workplace sitcom Workaholics (Comedy Central). Avalon has also produced over 60 comedy specials for various platforms including Amazon, HBO and Netflix, as well as numerous podcasts and radio shows, including the UK’s biggest podcast Shagged. Married. Annoyed. with Chris & Rosie Ramsey. Avalon’s dedicated distribution arm licenses its catalogue of programmes and formats to over 200 territories worldwide.
Avalon also produces and promotes live comedy around the world and has promoted more winners and nominees of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award than any other company. Avalon produced Newman and Baddiel: Live at Wembley, the UK’s first arena comedy show, Jerry Springer: The Opera, winner of four Olivier Awards, and is currently producing Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical in the West End.
For Avalon news visit: www.avalonuk.com/press or follow @avalonent
