LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- `` Incredible '' is how John Frisina remembers the moment he logged on to Fantasy Premier League and discovered he was beating nearly two million other competitors . Tough task : Managing a fantasy football team can be hard when you want to get ahead of the rest . It 's the stuff dreams are made of for the millions of people managing fantasy football teams in online leagues around the world every year . But in most players ' experience , for one reason or another , the glory of victory always remains just out of reach . It 's hardly surprising , given that this year alone 1.9 million fiercely competitive fans played the game billed as `` the ultimate Fantasy Football . '' So , then , what separates the players who get to the top from all the rest ? Is it instinct , or , maybe knowledge , or is it simply old-fashioned good luck ? Frisina , who is Australian , went on to win the Fantasy Premier League in 2007/2008 , beating hundreds of thousands of would-be managers both from England and around the globe in the process . It was the fourth year he had played the game and he says he was surprised to remain so competitive through the season . `` Really only in the last couple of years I have been in the top 200 or so . I was nowhere near the leaders before that . '' Frisina felt striking a balance between superstars and cheaper players was crucial to his fantasy football success -- as was a bit of luck . `` Having a well balanced side with not too many superstars is important . I think you need to pick three or four players who you feel are undervalued and take a chance on them . '' Do you have any Fantasy Football tips ? Share your ideas in the Sound Off box below . For Frisina , taking a chance on players like Sunderland 's Kenwyn Jones and Ryan Taylor of Wigan paid off -- and he found himself still around the top 100 by mid-season . There were a couple of other tactics that helped Frisina rise to the top . `` I think it happened after I started watching a few more games on television . I got to see first-hand who was playing , what form they were in and I learned a lot from there . Having a good knowledge of all the players across all of the teams is really important . '' Checking teams for injuries and selections close to the deadline was also important , he said . Seven weeks out from the end of the 2007/2008 season , Frisina hit the lead and managed to hold on for the rest of the season . `` I came out of nowhere really . There was one week where I just logged on to check my team and I found myself in front . It was incredible . '' From out in front , Frisina said the tactics were slightly different during his once-a-week team assessment . `` I kept having a look at the guys below me and tried to keep a similar sort of team so they could n't catch me . '' Creator of the Fantasy Premier League game , Mark Hughes of ISM Games , said he had never done well in the game , but it appeared those that won followed the game very closely . `` You tend to see the same players up there year after year . They would follow the fixtures closely and know all of the players . Hughes , despite being the brains behind the game , says he does n't have any answers to the question of how to play world-beating fantasy football . `` I do n't know if I have any secrets , though , because if I knew them I 'd be a lot better at the game , '' Hughes said .
Get tips on how to win fantasy football competitions . Former winner of Fantasy Premier League suggests luck is involved . A balance of cheaper players and superstars is important , winner says .