The rule
Ninety minutes before the first kick-off of the gameweek. For a normal Saturday 12:30 start that means an **11:00 Saturday deadline**. But gameweeks with a Friday night game have a **Friday** deadline — and that is where thousands of managers get caught out every single season.
Check the deadline, not the day
Never assume the deadline is Saturday. Friday-night fixtures, midweek rounds and international breaks all move it. The 2026/27 season starts on **21 August 2026**, and the safest habit in FPL is simply to set your team as soon as you have team news, rather than trusting your memory of last week's schedule.
What locks, and what does not
At the deadline your squad, captain, vice-captain, starting XI and bench order are all frozen. What does NOT freeze is automatic substitution: if a starter plays zero minutes, your highest-priority eligible bench player is substituted in automatically after the gameweek ends. That safety net only works if your bench order is sensible — so set it.