Baller League UK: start date, how to watch, players, managers and full draft confirmed

Football icons such as Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, John Terry and Ronaldinho are joining forces with influencers and content creators such as KSI, Miniminter and AngryGinge in the inaugural addition of the UK Baller League, which gets underway this March.

Baller League is a brand new six a side competition designed to shake up modern football and the way it is consumed by fans across the globe. It faces fast paced matches, quirky rules and combined ex-professional footballers with internet stars, academy prospects and street freestylers in an innovative take on the beautiful game.

The concept was created by Bundesliga icons Mats Hummels and Lukas Podolski, and has already enjoyed huge success in Germany over the last two years, with each match last year being watched live by an average of 3 million viewers.

Co-founder Felix Starck said: “Sport is no longer as easy as just saying 'look, we're here now, come and watch us.' That's just not how sport works any more. It needs to be exciting, and it needs to be authentic. Those are the two words that we always use at Baller League."

Ahead of its launch, we take a look at what fans can expect from Baller League, including the rules of the draft, a full list of stars involved and how fans can keep up to date with all of the action.

What is Baller League?

Baller League is a six-a-side football tournament with a difference. It combines traditional games with a “back to the roots” style of play with new rules to excite fans and create a sense of intrigue.

Each team plays each other once over the course of 11 matchdays that will take place on Monday nights with the top four sides heading into the Final Four. The matches are 30 mins, 15 each half, and the last three minutes of each half are played by Gamechanger rules such as Threeplay (3v3).

Shock rule twists will be introduced for the final three minutes of each half including a long-range goals counting as double, and goalkeepers not being allowed to use their hands. These rule twists for the final three minutes will be randomised in each game while old MLS style one-vs-one penalties will be used.

When is the Baller League draft and how does it work?

The Baller League draft took place on Monday 10 March at 6.30pm and was streamed live on YouTube and Twitch. Every match will be broadcast on the channel and hosted by Chunkz and Olivia Buzaglo.

Each manager took it in turns to pick 12 players that have all been scouted, rated and ranked ahead of Draft Night. The order of the draft was determined by 12 rounds of numbered quiz-based questions with the closest answer going first and the furthest away being at an immediate disadvantage with the last pick.

Who are the managers?

Match of the Day panellists Alan Shearer, Micah Richards and Gary Lineker will combine to face off against Arsenal Invincible squad members Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg in the dugout while former Chelsea captain John Terry and Barcelona icon Luis Figo will also take charge of their own teams.

The star-studded managerial line-up was completed on draft night on 10 March when the pairing of Ian Wright and Chloe Kelly was revealed as the coaches of Wembley Rangers AFC, while Alisha Lehmann and TV presenter Maya Jama will take the reins of MVPS United.

Here is a full list of the managers and team names:

• Angry Ginge (Yanited)
• Miniminter (M7 FC)
• Tobi Brown (VZN FC)
• Sharky (SDS FC)
• Luis Figo (Trebol FC)
• Alan Shearer, Micah Richards & Gary Lineker (Deportrio)
• Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires & Freddie Ljungberg (N5 FC)
• John Terry (26ers)
• Dave (Santan FC)
• Clint 419 (FC Rules the World)
• Ian Wright & Chloe Kelly (Wembley Rangers AFC)
• Alisha Lehmann & Maya Jama (MVPS United)

Who is playing in the Baller League?

The Baller League draft has now taken place, with each team picking 12 players in a system similar to that used in American sports. Players who were picked ranged from former Premier League stars such as Jordon Ibe and Adrian Mariappa and Great Britain international Marvin Sordell to former Love Island contestant Montel McKenzie.

Here are the final teams that will take part in Baller League from 24 March:

Yanited: Kadell Daniel, Michael Hector, Mohammed Mahyoub, Remy Clerima, Percy Kiangebeni, Medy Elito, Max Pitman, Harry Cain, Henry O’Shea, Daniel Thompson, Daniel Woods, Pharrel Mensah.

M7 FC: Jesse Waller-Lassen, Femi Akinwande, Stefan Ilic, Jean Belehouan, Toby Bull, Sam Fitzgerald, Arjun Young, Ramez Gonzalo, Arin Zaha, Lewis Garcia, Henry Wise, Zion Nditi.

VZN FC: Henri Lansbury, Kurtice Herbert, Jerome Sinclair, Remy Mitchell, Montel McKenzie, Florian Kastrati, Michael Olive-Wigan, Barrell Mensah, Ethan McClear, Diego Dombaboni, Jami Kheresi, Luka Barusic.

SDS FC: Bruno Andrade, Bayley Brown, Ody Alfa, Cole Da Silva, David Marques Castanho, Calvin Dickson, Big John, Camillo Astreppo, Finley Chadwick, Michael Felibe, Hussein Mahdi, Tyler Edmundson.

Trebol FC: Montel McKenzie, Vani Da Silva, Ciaran Clark, Isaac Modi, Ethan Oke, Reggie, Emi, Ryan Gorwell, Jordan Brown, Shani Omed, Aaron Steven, Nathan Bowen.

Deportrio: Bakary Sako, Adam Dawson, Francis Gerald Mapolo, Zach Fagan, Marvin Sordell, Charlie Kuehn, Tommy Scott, Raphael Gas, Alex Dyer, Ruben Singale, Tristan Goodridge, Leo Serri.

N5 FC: Owen Locke, Adrian Mariappa, Brian Ly, Charlie Wakefield, Dayo Adekayo, Chris Arba, Imran Kahani, Michael Class, James Alabi, Troy Molunda, Freddie Berrati, Callum Charlton.

26ers: J’ardell Stirling, Bilal Sayoud, Sak Hassan, Kojo Apenteng, Marcel Lewis, Jordon Ibe, Matt Chizzum, Emmanuel Rowe, Justin Dass, Spike Stegel, Vladislav Platinov, Jack Crook.

Santan FC: Michael Hill, Richard Kesey, Dominic Voss, Erick Kenco, Ranell McKenzie Lowes, Jamell Abou-Bakare, Rico Okinari, David Upu, Abdullah Gervardi, Jack Wilson, David Solidemi, Luka Valentine.

FC Rules the World: Michael Ndiweni, Josh Harrop, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, Kevin Gonzalez, Oliver Bosworth, Karim Kamhouri, Erghis Pepy, Onuchi Oki, Yusuf Shentu, Alamiji Oluma, Sandro Kamara, Festus Chalet.

Wembley Rangers AFC: Domingos Pires, Check Fayum, Ben Long, Stuart Cook, Oliver Cannon, Juan Pablo, Ruben Junior, Luke Gambin, Kaylen Kofi, Braden Shaw, Joseph Diomande, Nabid Eshari.

MVPS United: Lorenzo Spinelli, Ashton Peltier, Jake Chambers Shaw, Ross Derham, Josh Misoki, James Canton, Alfie Matthew, Declan McCarthy, Jay Beckford, Joe Edwards, Dwayne Suel, Esteban Salgado.