Methodology · v0.1
How it works
GFPR ranks every player on 18 months of football: how well they played, against whom, for how long, and how recently. A new ranking is published every Monday from all matches up to the end of Sunday. Movement is shown against the previous Monday.
Every game earns Match Points.
We start from the player's match rating and multiply it by the strength of the opponent. The Opponent Factor shown on player pages compares that opponent with an average opponent: ×1.35 means a side 35% stronger than average. A great game against a top side earns far more than the same game against a weak one, and a poor game against a weak side costs more than a poor game against a strong one.
Minutes matter, appearances don't.
Each game counts in proportion to minutes played: 45 minutes counts as half a game. Cameos under 20 minutes don't count at all (they still count as playing, not as a missed game).
Recent games count most.
Games from the last 3 months count in full, then fade gradually to 40% at 18 months, and drop out after that.
Availability counts.
Missed games count against a player, because being fit and selected is part of being great. But the ranking is built so that schedule doesn't distort it: a player won't be unfairly penalised because their club rotates the squad heavily or because they play in a league that plays less games each season.
New players start cautiously.
Every player starts with 15 "phantom" average-ish games, so three brilliant matches can't rocket a newcomer to the top. The more he plays, the less they matter.
Who is ranked.
A player needs at least five full recent games' worth of minutes to be ranked. Others are tracked as "Unranked".
Club strength.
Opponent strength comes from a world club ranking (see Clubs). Club strength is frozen at the date of each match, so a win against a side that was strong at the time still counts.
See Clubs →GFPR Points = the player's weighted average Match Points.
Points are on a scale where a good top-league game is worth roughly 12,000–14,000.