FPL Gameweek 1 deadline: when you must pick your team
By Arasi Rex · Updated 9 August 2026 · 6 min read
The FPL Gameweek 1 deadline falls on Friday 21 August 2026, before the opening match of the Premier League season. That match is Arsenal v Coventry City at 20:00 BST, and the FPL deadline sits ahead of its kick-off, so your team must be in before the round starts. It is the first deadline of the campaign and the easiest one to miss, because the season opens on a Friday.
The exact FPL Gameweek 1 deadline and how deadlines work
The FPL Gameweek 1 deadline is Friday 21 August 2026, before the 20:00 BST opener. FPL's established convention is that the deadline sits ahead of the first kick-off of the gameweek, so when the opening match is a Friday night game, the deadline lands with it. There is no Saturday-morning window for Gameweek 1: the round starts on the Friday and the deadline starts with it. The fixtures page has the opener, and the 2026/27 key dates guide covers the season structure around it.
Once the deadline passes, your team is locked for the gameweek. Changes you make after that point apply from the next round, which is why the Gameweek 1 cut-off punishes lateness more than any other: there is no fixture later in the week that gives you a second chance to tinker before the round scores.
Why the Gameweek 1 deadline is a trap
Gameweek 1 is the round where managers are most likely to be caught out, because the Friday opener breaks the usual rhythm. The GW1 deadline is before the opening Friday match, so anyone who waits until Saturday morning to make transfers has already missed the round. The Friday kick-off makes Gameweek 1 the easiest deadline to miss all season: the rest of the campaign mostly starts on Saturdays, and the early-season routine has not been built yet.
There is also less information to work with. No Premier League football has been played, so there is no form to read, no first-choice line-up confirmed by a league fixture, and the market is still settling. A player's price rises or falls by £0.1m per day when he is heavily transferred in or out, with changes happening overnight UK time, so prices are moving before you have watched a single minute of the new season.
The Gameweek 1 fixtures that shape early decisions
The opening round runs from Friday to Monday, and every fixture is a first look at a side. The full Gameweek 1 card:
| Fixture | Day |
|---|---|
| Arsenal v Coventry City | Friday 21 August, 20:00 BST |
| Hull City v Man Utd | Saturday 22 August |
| Nott'm Forest v Leeds | Saturday 22 August |
| Ipswich Town v Sunderland | Saturday 22 August |
| Everton v Crystal Palace | Saturday 22 August |
| Brentford v Spurs | Saturday 22 August |
| Man City v Bournemouth | Sunday 23 August |
| Brighton v Aston Villa | Sunday 23 August |
| Newcastle v Liverpool | Sunday 23 August |
| Fulham v Chelsea | Monday 24 August |
The opener sets the tone for the whole round, and it is the fixture that makes the deadline so early in the week. Five of the ten games fall on the Saturday, three on the Sunday, and Fulham v Chelsea closes the round on Monday 24 August, three days after the first kick-off. The fixture difficulty page is built for exactly this kind of early planning.
Getting your team ready before the deadline
Before the deadline, the basics matter most. Your squad is 15 players with 11 starters, a £100.0m budget and a maximum of three players per club, and your captain scores double, so the armband is a Gameweek 1 decision in its own right. The captaincy strategy guide covers how to pick it, and the differentials page is a good place to find value picks for the early rounds.
Two things move between now and the deadline: prices and your transfer allowance. Prices change by £0.1m per day, overnight UK time, and the official Price Change Predictor now shows progress towards a rise or fall as a percentage, so you can see movement coming rather than reacting to it. You can roll up to five free transfers, meaning an unused allowance carries into the season, and any transfer beyond the free allowance costs -4. The FPL hub collects the live tools in one place.
What happens after the deadline
Once the deadline passes, Gameweek 1 is locked and the round plays out. The chips structure is the season-long decision you are setting up: eight chips in total, in two sets of four (Wildcard, Free Hit, Triple Captain, Bench Boost), with one set per half of the season. The first set must be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline, 13:30 GMT on Saturday 2 January 2027, and cannot be carried over, while a fresh set of all four becomes available from Gameweek 20. The chips guide is worth reading before you use anything early.
The scoring rules for 2026/27 are largely settled. Defensive contribution points remain unchanged, with defenders earning 2 points for 10 combined clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles, and midfielders and forwards earning 2 for 12 contributions including ball recoveries, capped at 2 points per match. New live features start working from the first round too: projected bonus points appear 20 minutes into each match, and mini-league standings and overall ranks update live.
The FPL Gameweek 1 deadline is the one you cannot reschedule around. It falls on Friday 21 August 2026, before the 20:00 BST opener, and the round starts the moment it passes. Get the team in early, and the rest of the season has room to breathe.
FAQ
When is the FPL Gameweek 1 deadline? Friday 21 August 2026, before the opening match between Arsenal and Coventry City at 20:00 BST. FPL deadlines sit ahead of the first kick-off of the gameweek.
Can I change my team after the deadline? Not for Gameweek 1. Once the deadline passes your team is locked for the round, and changes you make from then on apply from the next gameweek, with up to five free transfers that can be rolled and a -4 cost beyond the free allowance.
When do the Gameweek 1 fixtures start? Friday 21 August 2026, with Arsenal v Coventry City at 20:00 BST. The round continues on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August and closes with Fulham v Chelsea on Monday 24 August.
When do the first FPL chips expire? The first set of four chips must be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline, 13:30 GMT on Saturday 2 January 2027, and cannot be carried over. A fresh set of all four becomes available from Gameweek 20.
Key takeaways
- The FPL Gameweek 1 deadline is Friday 21 August 2026, before the 20:00 BST opener between Arsenal and Coventry City.
- The Friday kick-off makes Gameweek 1 the easiest deadline to miss all season: waiting until Saturday means you have already missed the round.
- The full Gameweek 1 card is set, from Arsenal v Coventry City on Friday to Fulham v Chelsea on Monday 24 August.
- You can roll up to five free transfers, transfers beyond the free allowance cost -4, and the first chip set expires at the Gameweek 19 deadline on 13:30 GMT Saturday 2 January 2027.
- DefCon scoring is unchanged for 2026/27, and new live features (projected bonus points and the Price Change Predictor) start working from round one.