Ranking the greatest all-time fantasy football icons

Scanning the newspaper, inky fingers and fuzzled minds, scrambling for the calculator and jotting down the codes for Julian Dicks and Juninho. These lads will carry the team until you remember to pick up the house phone and cash in a transfer a few months down the line.

Before templates and triple captains there was a world of fantasy football that existed by writing out your XI and ringing in the names. Parents used it as a summer-holiday maths lesson.

Yet whether in print or online, there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of unearthing an absolute bargain. That free-kick taking defender, the undervalued forward, out-of-position goal-getter or cheap keeper posting clean sheets.

Since it began for the 2002-03 season, Fantasy Premier League has evolved into a huge database boasting millions of players across the globe, with substitutions and wildcards and the maths done for you.

But who, over the past quarter of a century of the competition's official game, are the biggest icons of all time?

With the help of our resident FPL expert Thomas Woods and some extensive research by the Fantasy Football Scout, that's what I'm digging into this week.

Based on stats and a touch of sentiment - Michu, we see you - I've ranked my top 10 below. We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments, too.

Firstly, let's look at what makes a player iconic. Is it purely posting massive numbers? Thierry Henry's total from the inaugural season, for example, still ranks seventh overall. Indeed the Arsenal man was top scorer in three of the first four campaigns, but also the most expensive.

Frank Lampard, arriving late in the box, topped the charts three times with his goals from midfield for Chelsea, while the twinkle-toed Cristiano Ronaldo did it twice at Manchester United. The pair rank fourth and fifth for best individual seasons, respectively.

It's tempting to say we should discount such "obvious" picks for this debate, but then there's Mo Salah. The Liverpool asset might have eaten up a decent chunk of your budget, but packed guaranteed points for those premium pounds.

As the Fantasy Football Scout explains, since the game began, 52 players have reached 200 points in a season at least once. Salah has done it eight times. And the Egyptian is the only player to ever top 300 points. In fact, he's done it twice.

So Mo probably deserves a go. But we're really searching for those who have offered the most value over the years - cheap picks who seriously delivered.

Some went on to become Premier League stars, others became cult heroes, one-season wonders or bargain buys who got virtual tongues wagging.

10. Harry Kane, Tottenham, 2014-15, starting price £5m

England captain and record goalscorer, three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner. Harry Kane was hardly a secret at Tottenham, right?

After a series of loans and having not yet established himself at White Hart Lane, the young Spurs striker began the 2014-15 campaign as a likely £5m back-up to Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado.

Kane didn't find the net until November in the Premier League, a 90th-minute winner after coming off the bench at Aston Villa, but it was the first of 21 goals in the competition that season as the homegrown striker established himself in Mauricio Pochettino's side.

As the Fantasy Football Scout notes, an eight-match run from gameweek 18 to 25 saw Kane notch 77 points with nine goals, four assists and 16 bonus points.

For those who gambled on him early, Kane proved a bargain. He rose from £5m to a peak £6.4m, racking up 191 points and ranking 11th on the all-time value list, despite playing fewer minutes than all those above him.

9. Charlie Adam, Blackpool, 2010-11, £5m.

The great budget enabler. Blackpool's Charlie Adam took penalties, free-kicks, corners and would probably have had goalkicks too if they let him.

He'd had a good season in the Championship, scoring 16 times, but no one really gave the Seasiders any hope on their Premier League debut and thus there was little expectation on the Scottish midfielder from FPL bosses.

Despite Ian Holloway's outfit eventually succumbing to the drop, Adam delivered a points tally that was only bettered by Manchester United's Nani that season - on the back of 12 goals, his 192 stood as the highest score by a promoted player at the time.

8. Michel Vorm, Swansea, 2011-12, £4m

Michel Vorm conceded four goals on his Premier League debut. That stacks up for a £4m keeper, you might think. Yet the Dutchman made 11 saves that day at Manchester City, more than anyone else would manage in a single game that season.