2021/22 Awards - 500k Team of the Season

(More of the same but with players from the bargain basement.)

GK - Emiliano Martinez (San Dimas High School)

DEF - Trent Alexander-Arnold (Trusted By Millions), Reece James (Real Muppets), Jeffrey Schlupp (Trusted), Ezri Konsa (The Wateringhole Society)

MID - James Ward-Prowse (Stanley Athletic), Mason Mount (The Fabulous Artisans), Jack Harrison (Mega Buck Bandits), Phil Foden (Muppets)

ATT - Harry Kane (Markian United), Anthony Gordon (Nil Satis Nisi Optimum)

Subs: Aaron Ramsdale (Artisans); Rico Henry (Stanley); Martin Odegaard/Emile Smith Rowe (both Artisans and Bukayo Saka (Wateringhole); Joelinton (San Dimas)

Several players are making this team with as few as six counters, and there aren't many who are new to the league - is it getting more difficult to pick up a bargain?

2021/22 Awards - Team of the Season

(All awards are made on basis of contributions in all WSFFL competitions. Where there is a tie, contributions in league matches take precedence. Then I'll try to separate them by goals scored. Then by lower transfer fee or number of followers on insta. If you see two or more names in a position I still couldn't split them.)

GK - Alisson (Mega Buck Bandits)

DEF - Virgil van Dijk (Stanley Athletic FC), Andrew Robertson (Cheese Makers), Antonio Rudiger (San Dimas High School), Gabriel (The Cow-Faced Juniors)

MID - James Ward-Prowse (Stanley), Diogo Jota (Aardvark Abacus), Kevin De Bruyne (Real Muppets) Raphinha (Trusted By Millions)

ATT - Son Heung-min (Aardvarks), Cristiano Ronaldo (Claymore Athletic FC)

Subs: Edouard Mendy (The CFJs); Thiago Silva (Wheel Madrid); Michail Antonio (Mega Bucks); Mohamed Salah (Fred West LG XI)

A massive change from last year's team. Son and Salah swap round but the rest of this line-up didn't feature last time.

No players from the teams that finished top two in the league which shows how those managers marshalled their squads to be in the right place at the right time.

It's Salah's fourth appearance in this selection and the third time for van Dijk, Son, Robertson and Ronaldo.

2021/22 Awards - Players of the Season

(Awards are made on basis of contributions, 'counters', in all WSFFL competitions. Where there is a tie, contributions in league matches take precedence.)

Player of the Season and Defender of the Season

Virgil van Dijk (Stanley Athletic FC) - two goals, 22 clean sheets

Second time as Player of the Season, third time as Defender of the Season. Now a WSFFL FA Cup winner and a confirmed difference-maker for Aaron's team. Only three defenders have won this in 15 years and Van Dijk has now won twice. Heading into legend territory if he's not already there.

Golden Boot and Attacker of the Season

Son Heung-min (Aardvark Abacus) - 18 goals

A brilliant finisher having another great season and earning his place in the Hall of Fame. Ok, it's the lowest total to win this since 2007/8 but no one scored more in a seemingly defence-dominated season.

Golden Gloves

Alisson (Mega Buck Bandits) - 16 clean sheets

For the first time which seems a surprise but he's had fierce competition from Ederson (and Kasper Schmeichel) during his spell in the league. No surprise if he wins this again.

Midfielder of the Season

James Ward-Prowse (Stanley Athletic FC) - 14 goals

Three of Ward-Prowse's 14 goals came in Aaron's successful FA Cup campaign and the midfielder got two of those in the final. Yes, he's a dead-ball genius but there's more to him than that.

Young Player of the Season

Gabriel (The Cow-Faced Juniors) - five goals, 12 clean sheets

Getting into this category by a few months. Almost an ever-present in his second season he now seems to have settled in and stands every chance of becoming a big player for the Cows.

500k Player of the Season

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Trusted By Millions) - one goal, 15 clean sheets

Absolute class. Not sure what else to add. So let's add that Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling have dominated this over the last six years and Alexander-Arnold is the first defender to win this since Gary Cahill.

Signing of the Season

Cristiano Ronaldo (Claymore Athletic FC) - 17 goals

This category is based purely on goals rather than any value for transfer money metric but Clive got plenty of that for his £17m. FA Cup runners-up and within seconds of the title, the 2007/8 Young Player of the Season lifted Clive back to the league's heights from 15th the year before.

2021/22 Co-Ord Round-up Part One - Transfer Dealings

(As usual I should warn that these figures might be wrong. But they won't be wrong by much. Hardly at all in fact.)

Last time I did this I asked if we'd be tightening our purse strings post-Covid. Answer - that's what it looks like on the surface but we might have to dig a bit deeper.

Income

Across the league this figure was up £200m on last year at around £530m but is still down on the four seasons prior to that - and well down on three of those seasons. And £100m of last year was Jack Grealish so it's fair to say that transfers haven't completely bounced back.

Expenditure

At just short of £700m expenditure was £80m down on last year. It's the second-lowest sum in the last five years but isn't far below the five-year average.

Overall

We were around £160m out of pocket on dealings this season, a massive reduction on last year's £450m. However this comfortably exceeds the previous four years and you need to go back seven years to find a similar figure.

Is this a correction or are we now back to the days of the late 2000s/early 2010s and spend, spend, spend? We'll find out next year I guess.

Combined League Table 2001-2022

 For what it's worth...

	The Combined WSFFL League Table
	Seasons 2001-2022
	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	Aardvark Abacus	630	347	105	178	1431	964	467	1146
2	Trusted By Millions	630	319	107	204	1354	1051	303	1064
3	Claymore Athletic FC	630	312	112	206	1467	1140	327	1048
4	FW LG XI	630	299	121	210	1392	1097	295	1018
5	The Cow-Faced Juniors (1)	630	298	113	219	1307	1082	225	1007
6	Real Muppets	630	284	126	220	1267	1085	182	978
7	The Fabulous Artisans (2)	630	286	104	240	1176	1134	42	962
8	Markian United (8)	630	268	117	245	1241	1143	98	921
9	San Dimas High School	630	265	116	249	1151	1161	-10	911
10	Cheese Makers (6)	630	236	122	272	997	1134	-137	830
11	Stanley Athletic FC (3)	630	236	115	279	1029	1196	-167	823
12	The Wateringhole Society (5)	630	218	113	299	982	1194	-212	767
13	Mega Buck Bandits	630	215	115	300	941	1132	-191	760
14	Wheel Madrid (4)	630	198	120	312	941	1240	-299	714
15	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	630	190	110	330	883	1211	-328	680
16	YTFIB (7)	630	158	106	366	722	1317	-595	580
	TOTAL	10080	4129	1822	4129	18281	18281	0	14209

(1) includes results from Kylie Bumcheeks and Eleven Imaginary Boys

(2) includes results from Prettier Than You and SCP Marmosets

(3) includes results from Viola's Pier, Thommo's Titans, Melwood FC

Dynamo Kev and Athletico Phoenix

(4) includes results from Short Straw Rovers and Final Fantasy XI

(5) includes results from Elland Road Big Boys and The Dead Parrots

(6) includes results from 22-Legged Groove Machine and Bassett Allsorts

(7) formerly York's Returning Glory

(8) includes results from You Know Your Boston Rock FC and FCK2

Week 30 Results - Wateringhole take the title

Aardvark Abacus 2 v 3 The Fabulous Artisans

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum 1 v 3 Cheese Makers

San Dimas High School 2 v 1 Claymore Athletic FC

Stanley Athletic FC 3 v 2 Real Muppets

The Cow-Faced Juniors 2 v 3 Fred West Landscape Gdg XI

The Wateringhole Society 3 v 2 YTFIB

Trusted by Millions 1 v 2 Markian United

Wheel Madrid 2 v 4 Mega Buck Bandits

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	The Wateringhole Society	30	16	7	7	73	51	22	55
2	The Fabulous Artisans	30	17	4	9	66	53	13	55
3	Claymore Athletic FC	30	17	3	10	74	46	28	54
4	Trusted By Millions	30	16	5	9	73	52	21	53
5	The Cow-Faced Juniors	30	16	4	10	67	49	18	52
6	Cheese Makers	30	13	8	9	45	41	4	47
7	Stanley Athletic FC	30	14	4	12	55	55	0	46
8	San Dimas High School	30	12	9	9	54	45	9	45
9	Aardvark Abacus	30	14	1	15	64	52	12	43
10	Real Muppets	30	12	6	12	61	63	-2	42
11	Mega Buck Bandits	30	12	4	14	48	54	-6	40
12	Fred West Landscape Gardening XI	30	9	6	15	46	60	-14	33
13	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	30	9	6	15	33	64	-31	33
14	Markian United	30	8	6	16	36	55	-19	30
15	Wheel Madrid	30	7	7	16	40	54	-14	28
16	YTFIB	30	8	0	22	28	69	-41	24

No team spent longer at the top this season than The Wateringhole Society (21 weeks) but the title very nearly got away from Kiran. Some of his success has been down to spotting quality new players so it was fitting that Maxwell Cornet (£3m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£4m) should get the goals that took him to the top. If he keeps picking players out like this then he’ll continue to be in the mix for honours.

It’s a third runners-up spot for the Artisans in six years. Ben finished with a win with goals from Eddie Nketiah and Martin Odegaard and a clean from Emerson Royal. There’s some proper young talent in this team and that should see Ben thereabouts next year too.

Claymore fell at the final hurdle with a 2-1 defeat to San Dimas in a kind of reverse Agueroooo moment (Oreugaaaa?) but it was a fantastic turnaround after last year’s 15th place. Can Clive coax another season out of Cristiano Ronaldo to help his team take that final step next term?

Trusted would have taken the honours with a last-day win but went down 2-1 to Markian. Beef has some big players but they’re not always the most consistent. There won’t need to be much improvement for Trusted to be back among the trophies.

The CFJs needed to beat Fred but found the outgoing champs in their best form for months and went down 3-2. The team is built on strong foundations so if Chris and Co. find the striker piece of the puzzle then they could get back to the top of the table.

Cheese Makers achieved their highest points total and position with a 3-1 win at Nil Satis. Philippe Coutinho celebrated his new contract with a goal and the ever-consistent Andy Robertson was also on target. Can Matthew kick on and win a first trophy next year?

Stanley have an FA Cup to pick up at the auction but their league campaign didn’t really get going. They were perhaps the unluckiest team on the counters against measure and Aaron will be thereabouts next year. The Timo Werner situation needs solving though.

San Dimas rounded out the top half with their clean sheet win over Claymore. Like the CFJs, unless I can solve my goalscoring problems I can’t really expect too much more next season.

The Aardvarks were wildly inconsistent and lost 3-2 to the Artisans despite two more goals from the excellent Son Heung-Min. It’s only the second time Ady has finished in the bottom half. Blip or the start of a trend?

The Muppets went down 3-2 to Stanley to lose out on a top half place. Ryan has an excellent first XI but needs some of his young talent to kick on. Or get sold for big money.

Mega Bucks finished with a decent 4-2 win at Wheel Madrid. Michail Antonio and Wilfried Zaha were both on the scoresheet and Dave needs a couple players to back these up. Remembering he bought Bruno Guimaeres may help!

Fred won August Manager of the Month but fell away soon after and never looked like mounting a title defence. A final day 3-2 win at the CFJs shows that this team shouldn’t be written off.

After a decent first half of the season Nil Satis fell away badly with just one win after week 16. Always a risk when you’re banking on a single (underperforming) team for your results. It’s not going to change!

Although finishing 14th Markian seem to be on the up. Some interesting young signings and a happier Harry Kane could mark (excuse the pun) them out as a team to watch next year.

Wheel Madrid’s Jack Grealish money went on Bailey, Varane and Lukaku. Injuries and form struggles meant we didn’t see the best of them and with Jamie Vardy injured too Paul W was up against it. It still a third straight bottom three finish though.

YTFIB called themselves the Norwich of the league!. Seems harsh. They’re more entertaining than Norwich! And they score more. Julian will need to be busy in the summer as he may lose ten of his squad to relegation.