Welcome to the Fantasy Football Competition.

The management reserve the right to incorporate any changes for the benefit of the compeitition during the course of the season. The management aslo has the final decision of any irregular issues that may arise during the course of the season.

HOW TO SCORE IN FULL: 12 EASY STEPS

1. Players who appear in the official Dream Team list score points in Premiership, Champions League, UEFA Cup, FA Cup and Carling Cup matches from Saturday August 14 2004 until the final game of the season. Qualifying rounds for the Champions League do NOT count - neither does the Intertoto Cup or any other fixtures. Players not picked for any reason score zero points for each game they miss.

2. Three points are awarded to a player given a mark of seven or more in The Sun newspaper's individual ratings carried with every match report. A five-point bonus is awarded to The Sun's Star Man.

3. Five points are awarded for a goal scored. A player scoring three or more goals per game gets five additional bonus points. A player who has been awarded points as described above will retain those points regardless of whether a goal is attributed to another player at a later date. Any player who is subsequently awarded a goal will not receive the points retrospectively, nor will the original scorer lose points.

4. A goalkeeper or a defender who keeps a clean sheet scores five points. If they concede one goal, they score no points, two goals -1, three goals -2 and so on.

5. A midfielder whose team keeps a clean sheet scores two points. Midfielders are not penalised if their side concedes goals.

6. Any player who is booked loses a point. A player sent off loses three points in total. Any player that loses points for a booking or sending off will not have those points reinstated if the offence is rescinded on appeal.

7. A goalkeeper who saves a penalty scores three points. A ‘save' is defined as a goal not being scored directly from the penalty spot (e.g. if the ball rebounds off a post then that is a 'save'). Penalty save points are awarded even if a goal is scored subsequently (e.g. from open play after the ball has rebounded off a post).

8. Any player who comes on a substitute at any time scores or loses points as if he had played all 90 minutes. Players subbed off also score or lose points in normal fashion regardless of how long they were on the pitch.

9. The season's top individual scorer earns a 20-point bonus. In the event of a tie, each of the tied top-scorers will get 20 points.

10. Transfers can be made at any point during the season. You can swap up to three players providing you do not break any of the existing rules.

11. Any player transferred from one Premiership club to another continues to score points. For the purposes of the game, he stays registered with his original club. If a player leaves the Premiership, his points are frozen until such a time that he returns.

12. The rules remain the same for games involving extra-time. A match that is 0-0 after 90 minutes must be 0-0 after extra-time for keepers and defenders to keep clean sheets. Penalty shootouts do not count. Replays are counted as separate games.

MORE ON SUNSPORT'S PLAYER RATINGS & STAR MAN AWARDS

A unique component of Dream Team scoring is the points awarded based on the player ratings published with match reports in The Sun. At the beginning of the season each reporter is issued with strict guidelines - and for the first time we publish them here. Any player given a mark of seven or more by our reporters gets three points in Dream Team. And the Star Man (i.e. the reporter’s man of the match) picks up a five-point bonus. But what are the criteria used by our reporters in calculating those all-important player ratings?

The player ratings are calculated taking both general and specific positional considerations into account. The criteria are:

1. Involvement in the game. If during the overall course of a game a player does not make a positive contribution to his team, then he should not normally get a rating greater than 6.

2. Inspirational play. A positive effect on other team members merits a higher rating. Because Dream Team points are allocated for specific events - goals, cautions, clean sheets etc. - there is no need to take these into account in the player rating, unless they stem from the specific positional consideration given below. By way of example, a striker might score two goals in a single game and gets ten Dream Team points for doing so. However both goals could have been complete flukes and, those aside, the striker had no other material involvement in the game. In this case he would not merit a rating of seven or more.

3. Goalkeepers. Ratings for goalkeepers additionally take the following specific positional criteria into consideration: · Confidence and concentration · Command of the box and set piece control · Aerial effect · Shot stopping · Minimising the goal as a target · Building offence from defence

4. Defenders. Ratings for defenders additionally take the following specific positional criteria into consideration: · Protection given to the goal · Confidence · Clearing the ball from the danger area · Set piece performance · Aerial ability · Tackles made and possession won · Building offence from defence

5. Midfielders. Ratings for midfielders additionally take the following specific positional criteria into consideration: · Defensive contribution · Winning and retaining possession · Offence building and creation of goal scoring opportunities · Work rate and work off the ball · Attacking power · Goal attempts

6. Strikers. Ratings for strikers additionally take the following specific positional criteria into consideration: · Work rate and work off the ball · Offence creation · Positional awareness · Creation of goal scoring opportunities · Achieving one-on-one situations · Attacking power · Goal attempts

All criteria have both positive and negative elements and the final rating awarded by a reporter is a combination of these. The Star Man award goes to the player deemed to have made the greatest contribution to the performance of the team.