2025/26 - Co-Ord Round-up Part Eight - 1st-4th

1st: The Fabulous Artisans (Up five places on last season)

After finishing second in the league four times the Fabulous Artisans finally lifted the championship trophy. Ben will be grateful that he built up such a lead as final day defeat to Trusted meant he picked up just one point from his last four games. The Artisans title win was based on an outstanding defence. No team picked up more clean sheets which accounted for two-thirds of his counters. There's an argument that this isn't Ben's best team so some useful additions could bring about the elusove back-to-back title win.

Star Player? Riccardo Calafiori (one goal, 17 clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Marc Guehi had another very good season

2nd: Real Muppets (down one)

The Muppets are the first side to finish runners-up after a title win the year before since Fred in 2018. The Artisans’ drop-off meant that Ryan’s team was one win short of retaining the title. Back to back defeats to SGU and Cheese Makers in weeks 24 and 25 left them with too much to do. Injury to Jurrien Timber and an Erling Haaland scoring drop-off were unhelpful in the latter stages of the season. If Haaland continues in Golden Boot form then the Muppets have enough to be be right there again next year.

Star Player? Erling Haaland (24 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Yep, it was Haaland.

3rd: Aardvark Abacus (up eight places)

After a worst-ever finish of 11th last season the Aardvarks bounced back to third with a last day win over SGU in a seven-goal thriller. Ady’s team finished strongest of all (five wins in a row) in a tight tussle for the minor placings. A difficult choice between Henderson and Pickford in goal may have cost clean sheets but Morgan Rogers more than made up for it in midfield. Being on the happy side of the luck ledger probably helped them but there's enough here to build on.

Star Player? Micky van de Ven (four goals, eight cleans)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Ollie Watkins nearly retained but fell a goal short

4th: The Cow-Faced Juniors (down two)

The CFJs are unbeaten in the league since Week 20 but four draws in that run ended their hopes of making the top three for a fourth straight year. They did pick up the PCMT for the third time though. Gabriel starred again in defence, the evergreen Danny Welbeck hit double figures up front and record signing Viktor Gyokeres started repaying his fee after a slow start. It went wrong for the Cows around the turn of the year with a run of just four counters in six games. Without that, who knows?

Star Player? Gabriel (three goals, 18 cleans)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Yoane Wissa never looked like repeating the feat.

2025/26 Co-Ord Round-up Part Seven - 5th-8th

5th: The Wateringhole Society (down one place on last season)

No team scored more counters than The Wateringhole Society but Kiran’s team faded this year winning just four of their last 14 league games. Built around a strong defence and a usual 5-4-1 formation the mighty society spent 22 weeks in the top three but couldn't keep the pressure on the champions. £70m record signing Hugo Ekitike was solid but unspectacular and will need support next season. No reason why they won't be at the sharp end again next season though.

Star Player? William Saliba (one goal, 17 cleans)

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

6th: Stanley and Gracie United (up one)

SGU looked set for third place two minutes into the second half and leading the Aardvarks 3-0 but they couldn’t hold on. Aaron’s team have finished sixth or seventh for the last five years. Often played five at the back to make up for a lack of firepower and relied on goals from Harry Wilson, Dominik Szoboszlai and Enzo Fernandez when the likes of Maguire, van Dijk and Aina weren't chipping in with cleans. Can the boss turn his usual steady season into something better?

Star Player? Virgil van Dijk (four goals, eight clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player?  It was a fifth award in this category for van Dijk

7th: Cheese Makers (down four)

Cheese Makers stuck an incredible 15-game unbeaten run together but the damage had been done by a poor start. They do have their first trophy, the Charity Shield, to show for their season but put in a rare poor performance in the FA Cup Final. The second-most counters only being good enough for seventh shows that Matthew's team had some poor luck along the way. Quality in every department but at least two of the front three will need replacing in the summer.

Star Player? David Raya Martin (20 cleans)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Bryan Mbeumo put in another good shift

8th: Trusted By Millions (down three)

Apart from that record-breaking 10-0 win over Nil Satis it was a rotten start to the season for Trusted. Beef’s team turned 13 points at halfway into 44 at the end to take the last top-half spot. A main driver of the 3-4-3 formation vote he could never seem to pick the right three up front. Had some poor luck with Mateta, Gittens, and Estevao missing time through injuries and Delap and Palmer not firing but the fact that the keeper was the star player speak volumes.

Star Player? Gianluigi Donnarumma (12 clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Isak was sold, joined Wheel Madrid and missed most of the season

2025/26 Co-Ord Round-up Part Six - 9th-12th

9th: Claymore Athletic FC (same place as last season)

Claymore probably deserved better than ninth if we look at bare numbers. Clive’s team never really found their groove, with their best unbeaten run only stretching to three games. But dig deeper and we'll see that Claymore scored two or fewer counters on 14 occasions - that's not going to get the job done. A fantastic season from Igor Thiago, Matheus Cunha chipped in too but is the Claymore financial department having too much of a say in transfers?

Star Player? Igor Thiago (17 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Daniel Munoz was steady but unspectacular

10th: Garth Crooks' Team of the Week (up two places)

GC TotW finished two places better but one point worse than last season. Morgan Gibbs-White starred as Mohamed Salah faded. The boss didn't have as much time as he'd have hoped this season otherwise a top half finish might not have been out of the question. Ollie was saddled with an expensive squad when he joined and many of those names are still on the books. Some may need to be moved on so a Salah replacement can be found.

Star Player? Morgan Gibbs-White (12 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? The years finally started to catch up with Salah 

11th: San Dimas High School (down three places)

San Dimas fell out of their usual 8th or 9th place to 11th. Somehow won the FA Cup but scored the fewest actual goals of any team in the league. Last year I said that 'I wasn't a million miles away' and my strikers were 'too midfieldy'. The second part is true, the first less so. Injuries to Merino and Havertz didn't help the goals for column and £20m signing Giovanni Leoni was ruled out before a ball was kicked. Easy to see where improvements need to be made. 

Star Player? Sepp van der Berg (nine clean sheets)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Josko Gvardiol missed a chunk of the campaign with injury

12th: Markian United (down two places)

Markian were fourth after Week eight but a run of just two wins in 13 games from December to March killed off any hopes of a decent finish for Ian. The squad gives the feel of a team that deserved better but counters for and against were both just over average. Robin Roefs was a great buy in goal, record signing Benjamin Sesko improved over the course of the season and Rayan looks a star in the making. A cup final next season should be the least Ian aims for.

Star Player? Ferdi Kadioglu (one goal, ten cleans)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Maxence Lacroix

2025/26 Co-Ord Round-up Part Five - 13th-16th

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

13th: Mega Buck Bandits (up two places on last season)

Mega Bucks were in the top half as late as Week 17 before settling into their usual late season malaise, only notching three counters or more once in the last 13 games. Dave has just one finish that doesn’t start with a 1 in the last 19 seasons. Likes to operate with a smaller squad but the midfield has a defensive look to it and Evanilson wasn't quite so effective leading the Mega Bucks frontline this year.

Star Player? Bruno Guimaraes (eight goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Milos Kerkez was sold and joined the champions.

14th: Nil Satis Nisi Optimum (same place)

Nil Satis have just one top ten finish in the last 15 seasons. This season did show promise until week 17, Paul's team picked up just four more points after that. Dominic Calvert-Lewin stayed fit and led the line superbly, Jeremy Doku started fulfilling his promise while the Everton defensive reliance paid dividends for a while. Options away from the blue side of Merseyside could be useful if the Toffees start to struggle.

Star Player? Dominic Calvert-Lewin (ten goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Vitali Mykolenko wasn't quite as effective.

15th: YTFIB (down two)

YTFIB spent the first five weeks out of the bottom three before slipping into familiar territory. Probably a bit unlucky to be this low in this table. (Julian's team were one of only two to pick up at least one counter each week.) Antoine Semenyo did his bit for the cause but we saw a bit less of Nick Pope this season and while Neco Williams had a good season in defence he needs some support.

Star Player? Antoine Semenyo (15 goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Jamie Vardy was relegated then went to Italy.

16th: Wheel Madrid (same place)

Bottom for the second season running but shorn of last season’s top scorer, this season’s record signing and one of his top midfield options through injury it was always looking difficult. Paul’s team also recorded the fewest clean sheets to add to the issues. The boss has yet to commit for another season and has lost this year's top scorer to relegation. Has he the appetite to put things right.

Star Player? Callum Wilson (seven goals)

What happened to last year's Star Player? Chris Wood spent most of it injured.

2025/26 - Co-Ord Round-up Part Four - the Value for Money (counters per £m) table

Same as before but with counters this time.

1	YTFIB	30	68	3.13575	21.69
2	Cheese Makers	30	96	6.84975	14.02
3	Real Muppets	30	93	8.34975	11.14
4	Mega Buck Bandits	30	63	5.8965	10.68
5	Stanley and Gracie United	30	87	8.54625	10.18
6	Aardvark Abacus	30	87	9.3585	9.30
7	The Wateringhole Society	30	104	11.44425	9.09
8	San Dimas High School	30	69	8.1675	8.45
9	Claymore Athletic FC	30	90	11.08125	8.12
10	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	30	51	6.30825	8.08
11	Trusted By Millions	30	89	12.189	7.30
12	Garth Crooks' Team of the Week	30	62	9.477	6.54
13	The Fabulous Artisans	30	94	14.73375	6.38
14	Markian United	30	82	13.05225	6.28
15	The Cow-Faced Juniors	30	90	15.84825	5.68
16	Wheel Madrid	30	38	8.57475	4.43

A fourth straight year at the top for Julian making it seven out of the 12 seasons I've done this.

The 21.69 is toward the lower end of winning totals though. Mega Bucks notched up 33.12 counters per million in 2016/17.

Ben won it in 2017/18, now he's won the title.

2025/26 - Co-Ord Round-up Part Three - the Value for Money (pts per £m) table

Julian tops this (rather pointless) table for the fifth time in seven seasons (the sixth time in the 13 seasons I've put this together.)

1	YTFIB	30	26	3.13575	8.29
2	Real Muppets	30	60	8.34975	7.19
3	Cheese Makers	30	49	6.84975	7.15
4	Stanley and Gracie United	30	50	8.54625	5.85
5	Aardvark Abacus	30	54	9.3585	5.77
6	Mega Buck Bandits	30	34	5.8965	5.77
7	San Dimas High School	30	36	8.1675	4.41
8	The Wateringhole Society	30	50	11.44425	4.37
9	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	30	27	6.30825	4.28
10	The Fabulous Artisans	30	62	14.73375	4.21
11	Garth Crooks' Team of the Week	30	38	9.477	4.01
12	Trusted By Millions	30	44	12.189	3.61
13	Claymore Athletic FC	30	40	11.08125	3.61
14	The Cow-Faced Juniors	30	52	15.84825	3.28
15	Markian United	30	34	13.05225	2.60
16	Wheel Madrid	30	18	8.57475	2.10

Second-sixth were all chasing down the Artisans late in the season., the bottom five might have expected more for their money.

It's the first time that all the points per million spent dips below 10. (Final Fantasy's 2014/15 total of 17.98 is unlikely to be beaten.)

The CFJs league wage bill is the highest in league history.

2025/26 - 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'. It wouldn't be much of a game but it might be of interest.

1. The Wateringhole Society - 104 (four places higher than real table, 11 more than last year)
2. Cheese Makers - 96 (five places higher, one more)

3. The Fabulous Artisans - 94 (two places lower, 11 more)

4. Real Muppets - 93 (two places lower, three more)

=5. The Cow-Faced Juniors - 90 (one place lower, 20 fewer)

=5. Claymore Athletic FC - 90 (four places higher, 12 more)

7. Trusted By Millions - 89 (one place higher, 14 fewer)

=8. Aardvark Abacus - 87 (five places lower, three more)

=8. Stanley and Gracie United - 87 (two places lower, three more)

10. Markian United - 82 (two places higher, 18 more)

11. San Dimas High School - 69 (same place, nine fewer)

12. YTFIB - 68 (three places higher, seven more)

13. Mega Buck Bandits - 63 (same place, 16 more)

14. Garth Crooks' Team of the Week -  62 (four places lower, 17 fewer)

15. Nil Satis Nisi Optimum - 51 (one place lower, one more)

16. Wheel Madrid - 38 (same place, six fewer)

Average counters this year were around 79, a tiny bit higher than last year. You can judge your performance against that. The CFJs, Trusted and GC Totw took big hits on last year's numbers, Markian and Mega Bucks were big improvers.

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

=1. Real Muppets - 68

=1. The Cow-Faced Juniors - 68

3. The Fabulous Artisans - 69

=4. Aardvark Abacus - 72

=4. Garth Crooks' Team of the Week -  72

6. Wheel Madrid - 73

=7. Stanley and Gracie United - 76

=7. Trusted By Millions - 76

9. Mega Buck Bandits - 80

10. Cheese Makers - 81

11. Markian United - 82

12. San Dimas High School - 85

13. Nil Satis Nisi Optimum - 86

14. The Wateringhole Society - 89

15. Claymore Athletic FC - 92

16. YTFIB - 94

The Muppets top this list for the second year running. Clive concedes 92 counters for the second year running. Kiran's chances clearly damaged by the 89 in the against column.