FPL gives you eight chips across the 2026/27 season — two identical sets of four. You can play one chip per Gameweek. Each set contains a Wildcard, Free Hit, Triple Captain, and Bench Boost.
The structure
Two sets, eight chips total. The first set covers the first half of the season; the second covers the second half.
The first set expires at the Gameweek 19 deadline: 13:30 GMT on Saturday 2 January 2027 — that is 14:30 WAT. Any first-set chip not played by that deadline is gone. It is not carried over to the second half.
The second set refreshes automatically for GW19 onward — you do not need to do anything to activate it.
See FPL Deadline Time in Nigeria for the full conversion table and which deadlines are worth saving ahead of time.
Wildcard
A Wildcard lets you make unlimited permanent transfers in that Gameweek, including any transfers already made before you activated it. Your entire squad can change and the new squad carries forward permanently.
No points are deducted for transfers made during a Wildcard Gameweek.
Effect on banked transfers: when you play a Wildcard, your banked free transfers reset. You start the following Gameweek with 1 free transfer, regardless of how many you had stored up. See How FPL Transfers Work for how banking works.
The Wildcard is typically held until the squad needs a genuine overhaul — multiple injuries, a cluster of players entering a difficult run of fixtures, or a moment when the starting XI has drifted far from what was intended. A Wildcard spent in response to a single bad Gameweek is usually a Wildcard wasted.
Free Hit
A Free Hit also allows unlimited transfers, but for one Gameweek only. At the next deadline, your squad reverts automatically to whatever it was before the Free Hit was played.
Because the squad reverts, the Free Hit is the standard answer to a Blank Gameweek — a Gameweek where multiple clubs have no fixture and their players score zero. It lets you rebuild a temporary squad of playing players without committing to permanent changes.
Effect on banked transfers: when the squad reverts, your banked transfers are unchanged. You keep whatever you had before playing the chip.
Two restrictions that catch managers out:
- The Free Hit cannot be played in Gameweek 1.
- If the first Free Hit is played in GW19, the second cannot be played in GW20. The second set refreshes at GW19, but a chip cannot be played in consecutive Gameweeks.
Triple Captain
Triple Captain multiplies your captain's points by 3 instead of 2 for that Gameweek.
In a standard Gameweek, the captain earns double points. With Triple Captain active, every point the captain scores in that Gameweek is tripled. The vice-captain plays no special role when Triple Captain is active.
Triple Captain is usually reserved for a Double Gameweek or a favourable home fixture for a premium captain — any situation where the highest realistic score from one player is at its peak.
Bench Boost
Bench Boost makes all four bench players' points count toward your Gameweek total, regardless of whether auto-substitutions would otherwise trigger.
In a standard Gameweek, bench players only contribute if someone in the starting XI does not play and an auto-sub is triggered. With Bench Boost, all four bench players score in addition to whatever the starting XI earns.
The practical implication: a Bench Boost played on a bench of minimum-cost players who all blank adds almost nothing. The chip delivers most value when the bench contains players who are actually likely to play — which is why it often follows a Wildcard, when the whole squad including the bench has been newly rebuilt.
Blank and Double Gameweeks
A Blank Gameweek is one where at least two clubs — usually more — have no league fixture. Players from those clubs score zero that Gameweek.
A Double Gameweek is one where at least one club — usually more — plays twice. Their players have two chances to accumulate points.
These two Gameweek types are the main reason the second set of chips is typically held back. A Bench Boost played across a Double Gameweek gives bench players two full scoring opportunities. A Free Hit covers a Blank Gameweek without permanent squad disruption. The second half of the season tends to have more scheduled Blanks and Doubles than the first, which is the logic behind treating the second chip set as the more valuable one.
General timing principles
These are principles, not picks.
Wildcard: held for a genuine squad overhaul rather than a single bad Gameweek. Playing it reactively — because last week was poor — usually means spending the chip before the situation that justified it has fully developed.
Free Hit: the standard answer to a Blank Gameweek. A squad of non-playing players in a Blank needs temporary cover the Free Hit can provide without committing to permanent changes.
Bench Boost: works best on a strong bench — often played shortly after a Wildcard, when the squad including bench depth has been rebuilt.
Triple Captain: usually reserved for a Double Gameweek or the most favourable single fixture of a stretch, when a premium captain has the highest realistic chance of a large score.
What happens to banked transfers when you play a chip
| Chip | Banked transfers in the following GW | |---|---| | Wildcard | Reset to 1 | | Free Hit | Unchanged — reverts with the squad | | Triple Captain | Unchanged | | Bench Boost | Unchanged |
Full detail on free transfer banking is in How FPL Transfers Work.
Related
- How to Play FPL in Nigeria — Complete Beginner's Guide
- How FPL Points Work
- How FPL Transfers Work
- FPL Deadline Time in Nigeria — WAT Conversion Table