THIS IS GOAL CLUB

The genesis of Goal Club was the idea of coming up with a betting game that – unlike most sweepstakes, Fantasy Football-type competitions and so on – made every single match at the World Cup finals meaningful and exciting to watch. Yes, even including those grim mid-afternoon 0-0 draws between Norway and Slovakia.

The principle is that the game’s players get points for goals, depending on where and by whom they’re scored. Not only, then, are you counting on your own selections to bulge the netting freely and often, but also fervently hoping that games featuring everyone else’s choices are turgid borefests, so that every minute one of their games stays goalless is a fun and happy minute for you.

Goal Club has been running privately for various competitions since 2002, but now it’s gone public for everyone to join in the fun.

How It Works

You choose one from each of the following categories:

- an individual player
- a team
- a group
- a stadium

After each match, you score points as follows:

- Every goal scored by your chosen player: 2 pts- Every goal scored for or against your chosen team: 1 pt - Every goal scored by any team in your chosen group during the group stages: 1 pt - Every goal scored by any team in your chosen stadium: 1 pt

Goals count separately in each category, so for example if you’ve put all your eggs in one basket and chosen Robinho, Brazil and Group G, and the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, and the mercurial striker nets twice there in a 3-1 victory against North Korea on June 15, you’d get 16 points.

(Made up of 4 pts for two Robinho goals, 4 pts for goals for/against Brazil, 4 pts for Group G goals and 4 pts for NMB Stadium).

And that’s pretty much all there is to it.

How do I take part?

Well, now that we’ve told you the rules, obviously you can just play Goal Club on your own among your friends if you like, for whatever stakes you fancy. But WoS is also running the Official World Cup 2010 Goal Club, in which you can win cash prizes and the official title of Goal Club World Champion.

Entry costs £10, with all entry fees going into a prize pot, and just like in the real World Cup there are three medal positions for the players with the highest points totals at 10pm BST on 9 July 2010.

1st place – 50% of the prize pot
2nd place – 25% of the prize pot
3rd place – 15% of the prize pot

(The remaining 10% of the pot, for any keen arithmeticians reading, covers PayPal’s fees and our administration costs.)

To enter, all you need is a credit card, debit card or PayPal account to send us your entry fee. Once you’ve made your selections, simply click on the banner below to submit your entry by 1pm British Summer Time on Friday June 11.

(Worried about handing over your money or details? Click here for our security FAQ.)