The 2011 National Football League is set to get underway the weekend after next and, in anticipation of this (and with thanks to Mick for the prompt the other day), it’s time to sort out arrangements for the accompanying prediction mini-league, hosted as always by those good people at facetheball.com.

Regulars on the site here will know the crack by now: you need to log in (or register if you haven’t already done so) on facetheball.com, join the 2011 NFL competition and then click to enter it, then click on the “Join Mini-League” option on the panel on the left-hand side.  When prompted to do so, enter the code DgTgFBvLblaQ (the easiest thing to do is copy it directly from here and paste it into the box) and that should be that.  If you encounter any problems, just leave a message here or drop me an email and I’ll do what I can to sort it out.

This is the third year that the mini-league is being run so it’s your chance to join the Hall of Fame along with the 2009 champion SixPointsUp and last year’s victor MickC (who, for good measure, won the wider facetheball competition as well). Seeing as it is the league, there’s sure to be plenty of banana skins in the form of unexpected results but sure that only adds to the fun.

As you may recall, I galloped away with last year’s championship mini-league and so my avaricious mindset means that I now have this one in my sights as well.  Unfortunately the prize fund this time is unlikely to be all that hot, what with the six-week Caribbean cruise and juicy defined benefit pension that was on offer for last year’s championship competition.  Not to worry, there must be a DVD or a book or something lying round that could be used this time round.

If you fancy joining in the fun, make sure you submit your Week 1 prediction by midday on Saturday, 5th February.  Best of luck to all who do.