WEIGH, PLAY, LOSE, WIN

MAN v FAT Football is a football league only for guys who want to lose weight. Every player is in the same situation and wants the same thing - to enjoy football, lose weight and get healthier. Uniquely, the league is decided not just on points won, but pounds lost. We give support to every player with unique resources, inspiration and 24/7 support to help you lose weight, get fitter and enjoy the beautiful game.

Three steps:

1. Understand why you got fat.
2. Learn how to lose weight.
3. Put a plan into action.

To achieve this you will need two things: information – you’ll get this from your player dashboard and handbook, your coach, from your team’s WhatsApp group and from the MAN v FAT Community Facebook group.

Finally, you’ll need support – which you’ll get from your coach, other players, your team and the other men on the forum – and hopefully from your friends and family too.

Once all teams on a league reach capacity, we start a waiting list for another league. If anyone drops out of the league then you can join the league that is already going at any point. You won't get a reduced experience, as the leagues automatically roll on, so you will be part of the next season as well. We fill these places in first come first serve order* so the sooner you join up the more likely you are to get a place.

*When a space becomes free we'll offer it to the waiting player who registered first, but if we don't hear back from him we'll offer it to the next on the list.

• Routine, support and accountability

These are all extremely important when it comes to successful weight loss. A peer support network has been proven to be beneficial when losing weight. Simply put, having people you can turn to when times get tough and having the routine of weighing in every week will keep you accountable and on track.
And besides, how many times have you been successful on your own?!

• Medical grade scales and all legally-required insurance

Our scales are Class III medical-grade scales from a professional manufacturer which supplies scales to the NHS. This means our scales are as accurate as can be.

• Qualified professional trainers and dieticians

Here on the MAN v FAT Forum we have many professional trainers and dieticians who will answer any questions you have. You can also read through past questions and answers which are full of little nuggets of weight loss wisdom. Ask a PT and nutritionist anything here 

• Weekly 30 minute MAN v FAT TALKS webinar

The weekly TALKS session is exclusive to our MAN v FAT Community Facebook. Each week, experts in different fields give a talk and answer your questions. You can also look back through previous presentations.

• Handbook and resources

All MAN v FAT Football players receive a player handbook, where you can track your progress as well as your food intake. Over on MAN v FAT Progress you will also have access to many other resources, such as activity challenges, recipes and goal setting tools to help you maximise your weight loss.

For live leagues (these are leagues that are currently running) it costs |RegFeeWithoutBook| to register as a player, or |RegFeeWithBook| with a copy of the five star rated The MAN v FAT Weight Loss Manual (RRP £12.99). You then sign up to a league and pay £25 per month - £30 per month, depending on location

For planned leagues (these are leagues that will become live leagues when we have enough players signed up to start them) it costs £1 to register as a player. We take this payment to reserve your place and so that we can verify your identity. When we have enough players to start the league you would be charged the remaining £8.99 to register fully and when your league started you would pay the monthly membership fee. If you cancel the payment with us then we assume that you do not want to be part of the league any more and you are deleted from the system.

If you are eligible for a funded place then you pay nothing to register or play - your costs have already been covered by a funder, most often your local authority or a national funding body such as Sport England. Sometimes the funder asks us to take a deposit for players to ensure that they turn up - if this is the case then this deposit will be refunded providing you attend at least 10 of the first 14 weeks of your membership from the date you join (which seems fair!)

The cost to your health of not signing up is potentially tragic.

On the date you get assigned to a Team, your monthly membership subscription will begin. You won't get assigned to a Team until the same week as the first available session you can join. You pay in advance for one month of membership at a time, so your payments will come out on or near to* the same date each month unless you cancel your membership before that date.

*Collection dates may be affected by weekends and public holidays

Yes, absolutely you can. We have sponsorship options for all teams and for the leagues as a whole.

To have a sponsor brand on your Team shirts, you need to purchase official MAN v FAT branded kits through the MAN v FAT Shop and select the customisation option to include a sponsor logo. More details about how to do this can be found at shop.manvfat.com

Official MAN v FAT kit is not mandatory, but we don't allow sponsor logos on kit purchased elsewhere.

If you're interested in sponsoring a League, drop us an email to footballl@manvfat.com for details.

First off, as soon as you join up the system should send you a Welcome email which answers all of your questions. If you haven’t seen that email then check your spam or promotions folder as it will almost certainly be there.

Before your season begins you’ll be added to a league WhatsApp group and given info about your first session. If you're joining in with a brand new location launch, the first session will be a group induction held an entire week before the games begin so you can meet your new team mates, get your official starting measurements logged (height, weight, etc) and ask any location specific questions you might still have (what boots I should wear, etc)

In short, don’t worry - we’ll be in touch as soon as we're able to assign you to a Team. If you want to check dates when your League is in session then have a look at the League homepage.

In your welcome email you'll get a unique MAN v FAT Refer A Friend referral code you can share with a mate (or a stranger if you want) to save them £5 off the registration fee. Once they get assigned to a Team and make their first membership payment, we give you £5 as a scouting fee.

Get as many of your friends as you like to sign up and if you want them to be on your Team, make sure they enter the same league as you. Then drop us an email to football@manvfat.com telling us your name and your friend’s and we’ll do our best to ensure they are put onto your Team. If you don’t request any members of your team then you will be put onto a team with a balance of positions and weights.

Appropriate footwear with trainers or studs, ask at your location for full details of the best footwear for the surface. You must wear shin pads and remove all jewellery before games otherwise you will not be allowed to play. You should wear a shirt in your Team's colour (which you'll find out once you receive an email confirming which Team you've been signed to!) 

If you're attending an induction session for a brand new League location launch, you can wear casual clothes.

Let your League coach and Team captain know as soon as you know you’ll be missing and they can balance the team accordingly. We ask that if you’re well enough that you still attend the weekly weigh in which takes place before the game. This way you can still keep a track of your weight and if you’ve lost then you can still be a valuable member of your team - remember it’s about goals on and off the pitch!

If you’re wondering if it’s worth joining up because you’ll miss a few games with work, don’t worry. We can support you to lose weight even if you can’t make many games. Some players join as non-playing members (due to disability or mobility issues) - they still make a very valid and positive input without ever kicking a ball. The idea of the League is that it helps you to lose weight - the football is important but weight loss is more important. Give it a try.

MAN v FAT Football Leagues are capped at 8 Teams per League and each Team is capped at 10* Players a side.

This means there will be times when a League is full, but you can still register for that League to be put on a waiting list to get notified ASAP when a space opens up.

When a Player achieves his weight loss goals and decides to move on, opening up a space on a Team, we will contact Players on the waiting list in order of registration to give each in turn first refusal at taking the space.

If we reach the end of a 14 week season and all Players opt in to continuing, we'll look at creating two divisions so we can add more Teams to a location and accommodate the waiting list as quickly as possible.

The league table is made of a combination of football scores and the bonus goals from your weekly weigh ins.

You can earn bonus weight loss goals by losing as a team (the more of you who lose, the higher the goal bonus), by losing for three weeks you get a hatrick, which is worth another goal and by reaching your 5% and 10% targets.

Be warned – you can also lose your team goals by going above your starting weight or by forgetting to bring your Handbook to the weekly weigh ins.

Never forget: the football is important but the most vital thing about the scheme is losing weight and getting healthier

Players must weigh BEFORE the game. If a player weighs after the game then they can get their weight but it will be recorded as a no-show (weight entered the same as last week’s) for the purposes of scoring – there are no exceptions for this.

Weigh in goal bonuses. Players can SCORE weight loss goal bonuses in three ways:

• Scoring Hatricks - three weeks of weight loss = one goal bonus given on the week it is achieved. This is taken from your lowest reading - e.g. if you weigh at 103, then go on holiday and go up to 106, then your weight loss bonus will start again at under 103, not 106. Another three weeks is another hatrick = one goal bonus. In total you can gain up to four bonus goals for your team in any one league this way.

• Team bonus – we count the number of players on your team who have lost weight in the current week and add a goal bonus:

1 or 2 players from your team losing = 1 goal bonus added to the score of that week’s game.
3 or 4 = 2 goal bonus added to the score of that week’s game
5 or 6 = 3 goal bonus added to the score of that week’s game
7 or 8 = 4 goal bonus added to the score of that week’s game
9/10/11 = 5 goal bonus added to the score of that week’s game

• 5% and 10% bonus - once a player hits 5% weight loss they get a three goal bonus. At 10% they get another three goal bonus.

Weight loss punishment. A player can LOSE a goal for his team in two ways:

• MAN v FAT Football Player Handbook. This handbook is used to record a player’s own progress but also to ensure that he is filling in the information for each week. If he loses his Handbook or it is not filled in then the Coach can give the player his weight for his own records but it will be recorded as a no-show (e.g. weight is given as the same as last week’s and therefore no loss is recorded).

• Own goal – a player whose weight goes above his registration weight will lose his team a goal for each week until this returns under the starting weight.

The Top Scorer table on your league homepage gives you the top 10 weight loss bonus goal scorers in your league. It is not a list of the top players by weight loss. Points are awarded for achieving percentage loss targets and for consistent weight loss, so a Player who attends every game may score more bonus points than a Player who loses more weight but misses out on bonus goals due to absence.

You can calculate your total weight loss goals by visiting the “How does the weight loss goal bonuses work?” section of the FAQ and adding all your accrued bonuses for your current season together. The total number of weight loss goal bonuses a player can receive in one season is 17. If you think that there is an error in this table then please contact your league coach.