Smash & Grab

Smash & Grab is the daily football game at the heart of POACH. You start as the 20th club in a table of real Premier League history, dead last, and the only way up is to rob the sides above you. One hidden player a round, one match at a time, all the way to a real champion at the summit. It is free, there is nothing to sign up for, and everyone in the world gets the exact same ladder each day.

How Smash & Grab works

Above you sit 19 real clubs, running from a genuine 19th-placed side in round one to a real title winner at the top. Beat the team in front of you and you climb a rung. The catch is how you get stronger: you cannot buy anyone, you can only steal.

1. RAID A RIVAL. Before each match you look at the next club's real formation with every name turned face down, and pick a position to poach.
2. GRAB A PLAYER. Their best man in that role is revealed. If he beats the player you already have there he signs for you on the spot, and he goes missing from their side for the match you are about to play.
3. WIN OR BUST. Then the match is played. Win and you move up to the next rung. Lose or draw and the run is over, and you go right back to the bottom to start again.

There are 19 rounds in a full climb. Beat every side and you finish the lot unbeaten, which is the score everyone is chasing: 19 out of 19, the INVINCIBLES.

A few tips

• Raid your weakness, not their strength. Stealing a brilliant striker is no use if he cannot get into your XI. Look at your own team first and poach the position that actually needs help.
• The early rungs are gentle, so do not sleepwalk. The bottom sides are beatable, but this is a daily football challenge with no second chances. One slip and the whole run is gone.
• Think about the summit early. The club at the top is a real champion. If your team already has a ceiling well short of them, the time to gamble on a star is now, not when you are stood in front of the title winners.
• Learn the table. It is the same ladder all day and you get unlimited goes, so use a few to find where the hidden value sits, then put a clean run together once you know it.

Questions people ask

Is Smash & Grab free?

Yes. It is completely free to play, every day, with no paywall and no account to create. Your best runs are saved on your own device.

Is there a new one every day?

Yes. A fresh ladder goes live at midnight, and everyone plays the exact same one: the same starting club, the same 19 rivals, the same day.

Is it luck or skill?

Skill. The matches have no random element, so the same choices always produce the same result. Two people who raid the same way get the same outcome, which is what makes this football puzzle game fair to compare.