The 'Curse' of the Champions?

It's been very difficult to win the WSFFL two years in a row. It's only been achieved three times in fact:

Claymore Athletic 2003/4 and 2004/5

Aardvark Abacus 2007/8 and 2008/9

Claymore Athletic 2014/15 and 2015/16 

But since Clive clocked up his second repeat it's been noticeable that in many instances there's been a real drop-off in performance from the title winners.

2015/16 Champions Claymore were 6th the following season

2016/17 FW LG XI fared best by finishing second the following year

2017/18 Winners the CFJs dropped to11th

2018/19 Champs FW LG XI plummeted to 12th

2019/20 Table-toppers Trusted finished third the following season

2020/21 Saw FW LG XI win again and repeat the fall to 12th

2021/22 The Wateringhole Society took their first title and finished 4th the next season

2022/23 It was another win for Fred and a fall to 13th place

2023/24 The Aardvarks were back on top but sank to 11th in 2024/25

A team going from winning the title to finishing tenth or worse had only happened twice before this*. We've had five more instances in the last nine seasons. 

Good luck Ryan!

*Records go back to 2000/1

2024/25 Co-Ord Round-up Part Eight - 1st-4th

1st: Real Muppets (up nine places on last season)

After three consecutive tenth places Ryan's team came out of nowhere to claim a second title, 18 years after the first. Three straight draws at the start of the season gave no clues as to the forthcoming improvement but by week 15 they were up to third and ready to pounce. As their rivals faltered, the Muppets kept on keeping on. It's their best ever points return and a great example of getting the job done without necessarily the best team. Flash in the pan or start of something? Ryan won't care for now.

Star Player? Erling Haaland (21 goals) was injured for a bit but was still the league's top scorer.

What happened to last year's Star Player? It was Haaland last year too.

2nd: The Cow-Faced Juniors (up one)

Three straight years in the top three but the wait for a third title enters a seventh season. Chris, Luc and Noah's outfit racked up the most 'counters' (25 more than the third most) but an inexplicable run of six straight losses from January through to March undid all the good work. There were contributors all over the pitch but perhaps a double-figure striker and a keeper at a top club could have made the difference. Can the Cows go one better next year? Transfer ins and outs might determine that.

Star Player? Yoane Wissa (17 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? After three years in a row Gabriel had to settle for second.

3rd: Cheese Makers (up nine)

Where did this come from? Matthew's 13 previous league campaigns had seen only three top-half finishes and a best of sixth place. This season Cheese made their first final (the Charity Shield) and took the title fight to the last day. The manager was very active in the transfer market and squeezed just about everything he could out of his players. Nico O'Reilly, Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb, Abdudokhir Khusanov and James Trafford give a young look to a squad that isn't going to go away easily.

Star Player? Bryan Mbeumo (18 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? David Raya Martin had another good season and was the league's top keeper.

4th: The Wateringhole Society (up one)

A rare double Cup season (the Charity Shield and FA Cup are heading to Kiran) but a treble didn't seem out of the question. Until the Wateringhole only picked up one win in the last five games that is. The Society are another team that lacked a consistent goalscorer and that meant the loss of Bukayo Saka to injury was a bigger absence than might otherwise have been. A couple of tweaks to personnel before next season will most likely see Kiran chasing the crown again.

Star Player? William Saliba 

What happened to last year's Star Player? He was this year's star player.

2024/25 Co-Ord Round-up Part Seven - 5th-8th

5th: Trusted By Millions (down one place on last season)

As with last season Beef will be scratching his head as to how he didn't get closer to taking a fourth title. After looking like favourites at the end of March there was only one win in the last seven games. Blessed with four starting strikers the boss didn't always make the right choice. Injury to Isak and Delap falling out of favour also came at the wrong time. That's four seasons in a row not breaking into the top three.

Star Player? Alexander Isak (17 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player?  He was this year's star player too.

6th: The Fabulous Artisans (down four)

The opposite to Trusted in that Ben's team dropped out of the top three after four seasons challenging for the title. There was a decent start to be fair but a run of one win in seven from November to the start of January undid all that and the form was patchy from there. Unlucky with the injury to Riccardo Calafiori, the boss will need to take a hard look at players like De Ligt, Felix and Sterling who failed to fire.

Star Player? Marc Guehi (two goals, 11 clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player?  Jarrod Bowen had another good season.

7th: Stanley and Gracie United (down one)

After Week 22 SGU had put themselves just four points from the top of the table but a collapse of just six points from the last eight games put paid to a high finish. There's quality throughout the squad but SGU were forced into playing Dominic Solanke as a single striker just about all season. Aaron has finished 6th, 7th or 8th in each of the last five seasons, if that's to improve then more goals are very much needed.

Star Player? Virgil van Dijk (three goals, 12 cleans) picked this up for the fourth time

What happened to last year's Star Player? Solanke did ok but missed time through injury.

8th: San Dimas High School (up one)

It's now seven seasons since my team finished higher than eighth, and 20 since I made the top four! Having said that I don't think I'm a million miles away. San Dimas made a shocking start (again), just six points in the first 11 weeks, but 'the Saints' had the joint-second best return after the mid-point. Like many teams I'm a striker light with most of my signings in that department just too midfieldy.

Star Player? Josko Gvardiol (five goals, 12 clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player?  It was another solid campaign from Dan Burn.

2024/25 Co-Ord Round-up Part Six - 9th-12th

9th: Claymore Athletic FC (down two places)

Clive will be delighted with the Paul Cartmell Memorial Trophy heading back to Chippenham Park but it was another underwhelming league campaign with just two weeks spent in the top six. Stats show that the Swordsmen were a bit unlucky in the 'counters against' department but scoring-wise they were only around average. More to do in that area for Clive and his squad.

Star Player? Daniel Munoz (three goals, nine clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Manuel Akanji missed a chunk of the season through injury

10th: Markian United (down two places)

For the second year running there was a great start to the season for Ian's team before a collapse after the turn of the year. They topped the table after week 13 but it was a slow slide down the table after that. Darwin Nunez and Alejandro Garnacho have shown little sign of replacing Harry Kane while the midfield (with the exception of Ismaila Sarr) has a bit too much of a defensive look about it.

Star Player? Maxence Lacroix (11 clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Fabian Schar was edged out by Lacroix this year

11th: Aardvark Abacus (down ten places)

It's been a curious theme in recent seasons, the champions not coming close to defending the title. Ady's team lived up (down?) to that recent trend. The bare stats might point out a bit of bad luck but there was a dramatic drop-off in the 'counters for' column. Heung-Min Son certainly wasn't as effective, Ben White missed a chunk of the season and the choice between three keepers proved a problem.

Star Player? Ollie Watkins (12 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? There may have been fewer goals but Watkins still topped the Aardvark chart.

12th: Garth Crooks' Team of the Week (up one)

Ollie made a storming start to his first season in the hot-seat, topping the table in five of the first ten weeks and being fourth at the mid-point. It was downhill from there though. Sticking to a 5-4-1 formation and giving many of the previous manager's players a chance, he'll know what level of surgery is needed before next season. A couple of talented youngsters are already through the door.

Star Player? Mohamed Salah (21 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? See above. It's eight seasons in a row now!

2024/25 Co-Ord Round-up Part Five - 13th-16th

My annual assessment of the WSFFL teams starts with the bottom four.

13th: YTFIB (up three places on last season)

Never looked like propping up the table which is an accomplishment for Julian's outfit. YTFIB were even chasing a top ten place for the first time in six seasons but faded badly with just four wins in the second half of the season. Now that Julian's transfer policy has moved on from York connected players they're could be more to come.

Star Player? Jamie Vardy (11 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Injury robbed YTFIB of Joe Gomez for much of the campaign.

14th: Nil Satis Nisi Optimum (up one)

Never out of the bottom five, a late flurry of wins kept Paul off the foot of the table. Never one to change his team much (see also Wheel Madrid) if his starters aren't firing (or playing) the boss seems happy to keep it that way. An Everton revival was jey to the improved form and will probably be key to next season's finishing position too.

Star Player? Vitali Mykolenko (one goal, 12 clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Jarrad Branthwaite had another solid season

15th: Mega Buck Bandits (down four)

Dave's team were bumping along in the bottom four all season and eventually dodged last position with a last day win. It’s 15th place twice in the last three seasons for Dave though. It’s not a positive trend. The Bournemouth connection (Evanilson and Kerkez) served the team well but the boss needs more players to step up.

Star Player? Milos Kerkez (two goals, eight clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player? It was an injury hit season for Nathan Ake

16th: Wheel Madrid (down two)

The Wheelmen were bumping along in the bottom three all season and eventually succumbed to last position for the first time. It's five out of the last six seasons in the bottom three though. The signing of Chris Wood shows that Paul can spot a player and isn't afraid to splash the fantasy cash where needed. Needs to do more of it though.

Star Player? Chris Wood (17 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Thiago Silva left for Brazil.

2024/25 - Co-Ord Round-up Part Four - the Value for Money (counters per £m) table

Same as before but with counters this time.

		P	Ctrs	Wage Bill (£m)	Ctrs per £m
1	YTFIB	30	61	2.50425	24.36
2	Cheese Makers	30	95	6.0615	15.67
3	Stanley and Gracie United	30	84	6.65025	12.63
4	The Wateringhole Society	30	93	7.371	12.62
5	Trusted By Millions	30	103	8.6892	11.85
6	The Cow-Faced Juniors	30	110	9.84825	11.17
7	Real Muppets	30	90	8.79975	10.23
8	Aardvark Abacus	30	84	9.42825	8.91
9	Wheel Madrid	30	44	5.24475	8.39
10	San Dimas High School	30	78	9.34425	8.35
11	Mega Buck Bandits	30	47	5.63925	8.33
12	Garth Crooks' Team of the Week	30	79	10.308	7.66
13	The Fabulous Artisans	30	83	10.9245	7.60
14	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	30	50	6.70275	7.46
15	Claymore Athletic FC	30	78	10.70925	7.28
16	Markian United	30	64	9.417	6.80

Julian's team top of the tree again but the Cheese Makers certainly packed a punch for their fantasy wage outgoings. The rest of the title contenders (plus SGU) make up the top seven, there's not a huge difference between the rest of us.

2024/25 - Co-Ord Round-up Part Three - the Value for Money (pts per £m) table

Not a surprise to see Julian's team topping the pile but interesting that 1st, 2nd and 4th in the proper table are in the top four here too. Fantasy money well spent!

	Team	P	Pts	Wage Bill (£m)	Pts per £m
1	YTFIB	30	34	2.50425	13.58
2	Cheese Makers	30	55	6.0615	9.07
3	The Wateringhole Society	30	53	7.371	7.19
4	Real Muppets	30	60	8.79975	6.82
5	Stanley and Gracie United	30	45	6.65025	6.77
6	Trusted By Millions	30	52	8.6892	5.98
7	The Cow-Faced Juniors	30	55	9.84825	5.58
8	San Dimas High School	30	43	9.34425	4.60
9	Wheel Madrid	30	23	5.24475	4.39
10	Markian United	30	41	9.417	4.35
11	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	30	29	6.70275	4.33
12	Mega Buck Bandits	30	24	5.63925	4.26
13	The Fabulous Artisans	30	46	10.9245	4.21
14	Aardvark Abacus	30	39	9.42825	4.14
15	Claymore Athletic FC	30	42	10.70925	3.92
16	Garth Crooks' Team of the Week	30	39	10.308	3.78

2024/25 - Co-Ord Round-up Part Two - The 'counters' tables

Here's the table if that was all that mattered in the game was positive 'counters'. Don't worry it won't be. (Well, not on my watch!)

1. The Cow-Faced Juniors - 110 (one place higher than real table, 18 counters more than last season)

2. Trusted By Millions - 103 (three places higher, 15 fewer)

3. Cheese Makers - 95 (same place, 25 more)

4. The Wateringhole Society - 93 (same place, three fewer)

5. Real Muppets - 90 (four places lower, four more)

=6. Stanley and Gracie United - 84 (one place higher, six more)

=6. Aardvark Abacus - 84 (five places higher, 41 fewer)

8. The Fabulous Artisans - 83 (two places lower, 12 fewer)

9. Garth Crooks' Team of the Week - 79 (three places higher, five more)

=10. San Dimas High School - 78 (two places lower, 14 fewer)

=10. Claymore Athletic FC - 78 (one place lower, three fewer)

12. Markian United - 64 (two places lower, 17 fewer)

13. YTFIB - 61 (same place, eight more)

14. Nil Satis Nisi Optimum - 50 (same place, four more)

15. Mega Buck Bandits - 47 (same place, 26 lower)

16. Wheel Madrid - 44 (same place, 18 lower)

The CFJs and Cheese Makers significantly upped their totals on last season. The Aardvarks, Markian, Mega Bucks and Wheels took a big hit on their last year's scores.

The average counters per team is just short of 78. You can judge how you did against that.

Counters against plays a part in deciding the league - how did that list shake out and can you feel hard done by?

1. Real Muppets - 58

2. Markian United - 65

3. The Wateringhole Society - 69

4. Cheese Makers - 71

5. YTFIB - 73

=6. The Fabulous Artisans - 76

=6. San Dimas High School - 76

8. Trusted By Millions - 78

9. Wheel Madrid - 80

10. Stanley and Gracie United - 81

11. The Cow-Faced Juniors - 82

12. Garth Crooks' Team of the Week - 83

=13. Aardvark Abacus - 86

=13 - Mega Buck Bandits - 86

15. Nil Satis Nisi Optimum - 87

16. Claymore Athletic FC - 92

Ryan's team very much making the most of their opponents' lack of firepower. Markian less so. Only Claymore seem overly-inconvenienced by their leakiness.

2024/25 - English Team of the Season

(Same rules as before but England-qualified players only.)

GK - Nick Pope (YTFIB)

DEF - Trent Alexander-Arnold (Trusted By Millions), Marc Guehi (The Fabulous Artisans), Dan Burn (San Dimas High School), Levi Colwill (Aardvark Abacus)

MID - Cole Palmer (Trusted), Harvey Barnes (The Wateringhole Society), James Maddison (Wheel Madrid), Eberechi Eze (The Cow-Faced Juniors)

ATT - Ollie Watkins (Aardvarks), Jamie Vardy (YTFIB)

Subs: Jordan Pickford (Aardvarks); Jarrad Branthwaite (Nil Satis)/Tyrick Mitchell (San Dimas); Morgan Rogers (Aardvarks); Jarrod Bowen (Artisans)

Eight make it from last year's selection. There's a surprise recall for Jamie Vardy who last featured in 2022. 

2024/25 - £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), Nikola Milenkovic (Cheese Makers), Marc Guehi (The Fabulous Artisans), Daniel Munoz (Claymore Athletic FC)

MID - Harvey Barnes, Kaoru Mitoma (both The Wateringhole Society), Tomas Soucek (The Cow-Faced Juniors), Bukayo Saka (Wateringhole)

ATT - Jorgen Strand Larsen (CFJs), Raul Jimenez (Cheese)/Jean-Phillipe Mateta (Trusted)

Subs: Nick Pope (YTFIB); Murillo (Trusted); Facundo Buonanotte (YTFIB); Jimenez/Mateta 

Pope, Saka and Mateta were in last year's 15.

While there are plenty of 500k defenders available It's getting more and more difficult to find a bargain in the other positions.

2024/25 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 followers on TikTok. If you see two or more names in a position I still couldn't split them. And I always do these in 4-4-2. I'm a traditionalist like that.)

GK - David Raya Martin (Cheese Makers)

DEF - William Saliba (The Wateringhole Society), Josko Gvardiol (San Dimas High School), Trent Aleaxander-Arnold (Trusted By Millions), Virgil van Dijk (Stanley and Gracie United)

MID - Bryan Mbeumo (Cheese), Yoane Wissa (CFJs), Cole Palmer (Trusted), Alex Iwobi (YTFIB)

ATT - Erling Haaland (Real Muppets), Mohamed Salah (GC TotW)

Subs: Alisson (Mega Buck Bandits); Nikola Milenkovic (Cheese); Harvey Barnes (Wateringhole); Alexander Isak (Trusted)

With just one player from the champions featuring it shows how well Ryan's team contributed across the board. Raya, Saliba, Palmer and Haaland were all in the XI last year as was Isak who drops to the bench this time

Van Dijk makes the selection for the fourth time while Salah has one more appearance if you include his substitute inclusion. Will the Egyptian be joining John Terry and Frank Lampard on the record-holding number of six in a season's time?

2024/25 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, Golden Boot, Attacker of the Season

Erling Haaland (Real Muppets) - 21 goals

Missed a chunk of the season with injury but still came out on top again for a third straight year. Albeit only beating the excellent Mohamed Salah by virtue of scoring one more league goal.

Golden Gloves

David Raya Martin (Cheese Makers) - 13 cleans

Another year where clean sheets were at more of a premium. Raya won this for the second season running and comfortably too.

Defender of the Season

William Saliba (The Wateringhole Society) - four goals, 14 cleans

A first win in this category for the always excellent Saliba. He edged out previous three-time winner Virgil van Dijk among others.

Midfielder of the Season

Bryan Mbeumo (Cheese Makers) - 18 goals

I can't imagine many of us would have backed Mbeumo to pick this award up before we kicked off last August. A great season almost propelled Matthew's team to an unlikely title.

Young Player of the Season (21 or under at start of the season)

Milos Kerkez (Mega Buck Bandits) - two goals, eight cleans

A shining light in Dave's team as he battled at the foot of the table. Can the Bandits hang on to him as other clubs take interest?

£500k Player of the season

Trent Alexander-Arnold (Trusted By Millions) - two goals, 15 clean sheets

A second win in this category for Beef's long-serving defender. A farewell present as he signs off from his WSFFL career (for now at least.)

Signing of the Season

Chris Wood (Wheel Madrid) - 17 goals

Dumped by Claymore after one week of the season, Paul W shelled out £15m for the Forest forward and it turned out to be a bargain.

2024/25 Co-Ord Round-Up Part One - Transfer Dealings

Last year I confidently predicted that the 2024/25 season would be our first billion fantasy spend transfer spend year. I was wrong. Both transfer income and expenditure was (slightly) down on the previous season.

Income

Across the league transfer income was down around £120m on the (record-breaking) year before. Four teams brought in more than £100m with one narrowly beating the £178.3m previous best.

Four other teams had income of £70m+ with seven not making it £50m this season.

Expenditure

A third year in a row of transfer spend in the 900m+ bracket. The smallest of those three though.

Two teams smashed the previous spend record of £143m in a single season. One other forked out in excess of £100m and two more broke the £70m barrier. At the other end of the scale ten teams spent less than £45m.

Overall

While not a record it's another chunky profit across the league of £160m+. One team made a nine figure profit on their dealings and nine more were on the happy side of the ledger, albeit only two over £25m.

Of the six making a loss, three were tiny, two were middling and one was hefty!

I'm going to say it again - Surely the £1bn spend barrier will be broken next season.

(Bear in mind that these figures might be wrong. But they won't be wrong by much. Hardly at all in fact.)

Overall Table - 2001-2025

 

	The Combined WSFFL League Table
	Seasons 2001-2025
	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	Aardvark Abacus	720	394	120	206	1660	1141	519	1302
2	Trusted By Millions	720	364	125	231	1603	1226	377	1217
3	The Cow-Faced Juniors (1)	720	350	126	244	1546	1249	297	1176
4	Claymore Athletic FC	720	347	125	248	1626	1323	303	1166
5	GC TotW (9)	720	339	140	241	1588	1264	324	1157
6	Real Muppets	720	325	142	253	1470	1253	217	1117
7	The Fabulous Artisans (2)	720	335	112	273	1389	1298	91	1117
8	Markian United (8)	720	308	129	283	1411	1315	96	1053
9	San Dimas High School	720	302	131	287	1322	1334	-12	1037
10	Stanley and Gracie United (3)	720	280	125	315	1218	1381	-163	965
11	Cheese Makers (6)	720	271	141	308	1164	1297	-133	954
12	The Wateringhole Society (5)	720	264	131	325	1205	1357	-152	923
13	Mega Buck Bandits	720	239	131	350	1064	1319	-255	848
14	Wheel Madrid (4)	720	219	138	363	1049	1448	-399	795
15	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	720	212	123	385	981	1409	-428	759
16	YTFIB (7)	720	180	123	417	833	1515	-682	663
	TOTAL	11520	4729	2062	4729	21129	21129	0	16249
	(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, formerly Stanley Athletic FC
	(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
	(9) includes results from FW LGXI