Can I make a living from Football Index?

“This is literally what the index can offer. It’s like you are cheating to make money”

An intro.

Almost a year ago, I saw an advert on telly late at night with John Motson telling me about a football stock market where you can buy and sell shares in players for a profit. I was intrigued. The next day I had a look into it, asked a few questions and signed up sticking £50 in my account.

One of the first google searches I made was ‘Can I make a living from Football Index?’.

Now, this is an open question as what defines as ‘a living’? How much are we talking? Over what time period? Per month? Per annum? In fact, why would I even ask that question to begin with?

I already had a few contract roles in and around football as a performance analyst and scout with other bits and bobs and was looking for something else to add onto my bow of regular income.

I didn’t hold my breath that this stock market for footballers thing was like striking oil, but I was interested enough to give it a go given my years of casual gambling, especially on the Betfair Exchange, and it also seemed a little similar to fantasy football but for real money.

I was signed up to the initial ‘£500 refund in your first-week’ offer at the time and after a couple of days playing around with £50, I stuck in some more. My opening risk-free week wasn’t exactly groundbreaking but I had a clear choice once the time period was up. Stay with it, or sell up and get your money back.

I went back and forth for a bit and couldn’t make my mind up as to what to do, but in the end, I chose the former and decided to give it a proper go…and thank f*ck I did!

Who am I?

“…my all-time profit stood at just a hint over £10k at £10,087.58.”

Joining Football Index is one of the best things I have ever done. If you are reading this and haven’t signed up yet, then do it on this link here. You won’t regret it, I can promise you that. If you are already a trader, then you will probably agree with me. What a platform.

My background is I was a Performance Analyst for a few years, analysing games from around the world via WyScout with Bundesliga being my specialist league for a couple of seasons. I ended this in January this year.

I was also a Prediction Analyst for the same company, literally making predictions and getting paid for it. Again, Bundesliga was my specialist league with also League One in my safe hands. I finished my last league season with a 30% yield which was very healthy.

I have been a Premier League Match Operator for several years, gathering stats and data at PL matches from inside the stadium. This is the best job in the world. I won’t give this up in a hurry. I have also done some (in-depth!) scouting reports for lower league sides and done every coaching badge under the sun, with the B licence my last one.

I have been on FI since September 2018 and at the end of the 2018-19 season, my all-time profit stood at just a hint over £10k at £10,087.58. So, that’s ten grand made in around eight to nine months of signing up. This blew away all my expectations.

(the below image includes a cancelled withdrawal so trust me it was £10k, not £11.2k)

What’s even more mind-blowing is that I am not a big roller. I am not a whale. I don’t have limitless amounts of gambling money to plough into this thing. Remember, I am a lad who googled if I could make a living out of it. Making £10k profit in say nine months was created from an investment of around £2.5k of my own money.

To make things even better I have been “free rolling” for some time now, which basically means I have withdrawn all of my initial investment and trading with nothing but profit. My net deposits at the end of the season stood at -£2,200. That’s (minus)£2.2k. Nothing but profit. Sweet.

What did I do?

“Now, this wasn’t anything special. To me it was obvious.”

So, how did I do it? Well, it wasn’t in the way you may think, which is why I have started this blog/diary that will show my ongoing trades on the index for the 2019-20 season. I am different from what you may have seen or heard at this point so I thought it would be good to show you.

Let me go straight off the bat and say I am not a long term trader. As in I don’t have long term holds. I don’t have any screenshots to show you of Sancho in my port with a 200% rise. I am not your man for that.

I have had occasions during my time on the index where players have risen whilst holding very nicely and very quickly, of course, but my point is I am not a “stamp collector” type. The three-year hold and beyond type. That isn’t what I am. I have settled on my own style and strategy after trying most of them in the book at some point.

In the past, I have ‘invested’ in a mixture of big fish like a Pogba, Messi or Ronaldo, to relative plankton (in price terms) like a Bruno Alves. These trades have brought me mixed success. So mixed that at some point I decided holding players for a long time isn’t for me.

One reason for this is I just don’t have the patience for it. I have admitted that to myself. It’s important to be honest with yourself on the index and holding players long term, in general, isn’t for me. So why pretend?

Because holding and building your portfolio is what the index is all about? Who says? Adam Cole? There are no rules. You don’t need a portfolio set for three years. That’s a choice, not a requirement. I have nothing against traders who do but I believe I can make more money focussing short term.

Like I say, I have had some successful holds. One of my best was buying Pogba on Boxing Day, post-crash after the Mourinho sacking when he bagged himself a brace. I held him for a few months up until the share split in March, where I then sold.

Now, this wasn’t anything special. To me it was obvious. Everybody on the index should have done the same no matter your budget. Just because I don’t have a long term hold strategy in general, if I have the opportunity to make a good profit over a period of time longer than my usual, I may take it.

Now, this hold was for three months and in my head, that was a long term hold. This just shows it isn’t for me. Three months doesn’t even count as a hold to some folk. That’s a potential hold that is just getting started.

For me, I couldn’t wait to get out when I thought he had reached his peak and took great satisfaction in banking the profit into my account balance.

Why short term?

“…why would I bother with the latter? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Why do I have such a need to get out of holds/trades you may be thinking? Accessibility.

During my time on the index I have gone through those moments where you see something happening, whether it be a big transfer story breaking, a manager (like Jose) getting sacked or someone scoring a brace or a hat trick and you have nothing in your account to use to get on the incoming rise.

This drove me mad. There was nothing worse for me than having my money tied up in holds that may be stagnant or worse yet at a loss, when I could be making a shed load on what is happening right here, right now in front of me. I almost vowed to myself to not be left in that position again.

As I have said, I am not a big cheese with loads of spare cash in my bank to deposit at any time I want. The money I had available was put in and I got it out again as soon as I could. I’m not interested in depositing any more. That’s done and I am a free roller from now on.

Another reason I don’t have long term holds is I realised I was making more money from short term and in-play trading. So this links in with needing access to as much funds as possible to react and buy into short term flips.

If I can make more money on a player scoring a brace in a match, than a player slowly rising over the course of a few months, or even weeks, why would I bother with the latter? It doesn’t make sense to me.

All traders have strengths and weaknesses. They have pros and cons.

Some have lots of available money but don’t have the time to keep track, so they invest accordingly.

Some have lots of money but don’t have any real knowledge about football, so trade accordingly.

Some don’t have lots of money but do have football knowledge, so trade accordingly.

One of my strengths is I have a lot of time and access to live football matches, as well as the index itself. I try to use this strength to benefit me as much as I can. I do so to counter the weakness of not having a sh*t load of money to invest with.

It may be harder work for me to make a certain amount in a day, then for someone who doesn’t even bother to look at his port that often, but I am willing to do it and try to make it as worthwhile as possible.

Up to this point, I can say it has been a huge success and I am hoping to make it even better.

The goal and strategies

“The strategy is also low risk, which is another reason why I do it.”

This article is an intro into me and what I am planning to do for this season, which will be an ongoing record of my trades and the profits made in that time. With also a view on how much money it took to make such profits, which is important.

Any rich bloke with more money than sense can profit on the Index during this boom period but I like to show what the little guy can achieve on a relatively modest budget.

Whether I update and send out this blog on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis I haven’t decided yet. I will see how it unfolds naturally.

It’s also there to be used and discussed as an example for traders (or potential traders) for what can be achieved from having a strategy like mine.

What you need to know is I make the bulk of my money from the following:

• Buying goalscorers/assisters asap. These may be particularly popular players, or players with a profitable spread compared to the in-play dividends just gained for e.g. a player scoring with already an assist (2p IPDs) with a 1p spread. Players participating in a pre-2pm deadline fixture who could win PB for the day etc.
• Fixture buys leading up to certain favourable games ie a perceived “easy” fixture(s), potential IPD or PB players, early pre-2pm dividend deadline kick-offs, specific game weeks for e.g single game days, 5 game double game days etc. These are made ideally in good time and hold through the rise leading up to game day.
• Line up announcements. Players that traders would be keen to buy based on starting a game. Like a wonderkid or a player usually on the bench who has a favourable price/spread like Origi near the end of last season for e.g.
• Buying injury replacement players asap. A first-team player looks to have a serious injury so his direct or indirect replacement in that position may get significant game time or time in the squad. Cheap alternative or wonderkids especially.
• Potential PB monsters. During a game day a player can be putting in a monster PB score, which can be an unexpected player or a repeat player showing they can be consistent throughout the season. This may be at half time or whenever it seems noticeable.

I also have other ways of making money such as IPO announcements (new players entering the market) which can be extremely profitable. Transfer stories during the correct part of the season. Managerial sackings or changes that may benefit a certain player. Plus others I am probably forgetting.

The above bullet points are mainly around game days and matches which is my bread and butter strategy on the index and what I will be focussing on for this blog/diary or whatever you wanna call it to show what can be achieved with a relatively small budget.

The strategy is also low risk, which is another reason why I do it. What can be safer than buying a player who has just tapped in his second goal of the game who has a very good spread and is mopping up the performance points as well as in-play divs?

Imagine you are in the bookies and you see this player score on the telly, you very quickly hand the next goalscorer slip to the person behind the counter, they take it, then pay you winnings for your trouble! This is literally what the index can offer. It’s like you are cheating to make money.

It sometimes feels like you can rewind time to back the next goalscorer and make money on him or like owning the sports book off Back To The Future. Seriously, making money on players AFTER they have scored still blows my mind. 

It’s crazy and something I picked up on almost immediately after I joined and studied match day trends…and that was before in-play divs even existed!

Back then certain players who scored were bought based on sentiment and seen as “in- form” for future performance or PB potential. With FI now paying traders IPD’s for owning these players at any time during the match day, it’s even less risky and more profitable!

What about Dividends?

“At the end of the day, the chances of your player being the number one performing man that day are slim…”

Some may notice I have hardly if at all, used the word dividends, not including In-Play Dividends of course. This is because I don’t really care about them. Or should I say I don’t really aim to win them. I see them as a bonus, nothing more.

If I do own a player going into a game day, then I may decide to keep him to see if he can put in a PB performance. This is maybe due to how I feel at the time. Maybe I am bored. Maybe I am super confident he is going to smash it. Who knows?

But this is not a solid strategy for me. I don’t chase dividends. Whether it be performance or media. I don’t really care.

At the end of the day, unless you own 90% of the index, the chances of your player being the number one performing man that day are slim. Especially on Treble game days with like 18 or so fixtures.  It’s nice if it happens but chances are he won’t so why bother chasing it?

Plus how much would you win in any case? 100 shares in Messi for a 5p win? Maybe 7p if he is the star man gets you a £7 win. That’s nice but is that worth having £500 tied up in him?

And for how long? All season? What if he does his ACL? Fails a drug test and is banned? I owned Ronaldo in my early days so have felt the force of price shattering news. So in short, it’s not for me, Clive. Not any more. Been there and had the FI t-shirt burned.

Media Buzz isn’t really something I am interested in either. The usual suspects win most often like Pogba but again, given his price how many shares would I need to own to make it worthwhile? A lot is the answer. So given I don’t have long term holds I pretty much ignore it. Not my market so I won’t try to pretend it is.

Some traders despise this idea of “not caring about dividends” but these traders usually have huge ports and/or have a decent amount of shares in the main performance players & mop dividends up regularly. Making the 5p or so on offer, very profitable indeed.

Good luck to them. As mentioned earlier, all traders are different with strengths and weaknesses, pros and cons, what’s important is to trade accordingly to those. There is no right or wrong way, only your way. Whatever you feel is the best outcome for you.

So, can I make a living from Football Index?

“If I can make £2k a month from the Index I will be a happy man.”

In short, yes.

For me, I see it and use it as kind of a part-time job within itself. The regular income stacks up and giving I get in and get out quickly, having access to my profit in my account at my fingertips more often than not, I can take it out and bank it.

My profit of £10k last season was split into two parts: Pre-share split and post-share split.

Before the share split in March, I had an all-time profit of around £5k which was made over 6 months. This isn’t making a living in most cases. After the share split, I doubled that £5k in around 6 weeks. Doubled. Now that’s a spicy meatball.

That’s like making £4k a month in your job? A thousand pound a week. If you make that, fair play. The highest-paid job I ever had was £40k a year and that’s before tax.

I will say the amount gained at the end of last season was unique. Given my strategy, there were games on almost every day during that six week period and I milked the f*ck out of it more often than not. So I am not expecting those returns every month.

In fact, I will say I am targeting half that. If I can make £2k a month from the Index I will be a happy man. Is that “making a living”? I would say so. No taxes remember. 😀

Final word.

“This was gained with plenty of f*ck ups and mistakes. “

I have rattled on here for longer than planned, which is usually the case once I start typing, but the point of this article is to show you what I have done and what I am planning to do going forward.

You can take what I do as you wish. You can like it, you can hate it, you can find it interesting, you may not. You may take something from it and add it to your own strategy, you may not. Up to you.

The point of the blog is to show that there is more than one way to make money on Football Index.

There are lots of podcasts and articles out there which more or less all focus on holds and portfolios. I can’t say I have seen one that says, you don’t need a traditional portfolio to make money…

Well, in effect, this blog will do that.

Don’t get me wrong, there may be times where I decide to hold a player for a given length of time and I will give a reason for this. I may see it as very beneficial to drag it out as a hold. I’m not allergic to holds, I just don’t work to the “building a portfolio” mentality.

I have started the season with £6.7k in the index. At any given time I will have money tied into players on a “port” the rest will be in my account ready to use and access. This is key, on match days especially.

My total profit at this point after just under a year on the Index is £11,656.07p.

This was gained with plenty of f*ck ups and mistakes. I am not perfect and always make good decisions or things always pull off. This is definitely not the case. I have had plenty of money slip through my fingers and flushed down the toilet, it will happen again.

My initial investment was £2.5k and I will NOT be depositing any more into the index. I will withdraw from time to time. I may withdraw regularly each month, kind of like a wage, haven’t decided yet.

This blog will mainly be about going in hard and fast and getting out with a profit. It will show you the profit made, or the losses as this is the index after all. It will also try and show you the money invested at the time to achieve such profit. See how it goes.

Follow me on Twitter @GingerPirlo_FI 

Enough said. Let’s do this.

To sign up to Football Index click this link and give it a go. You won’t regret it!