Our Career Hall of Fame has been updated to take into account the final standings from 2017/18.
Here we assess the new top ten, assess their career track record and key strategies deployed over the season.
For those unfamiliar with our Hall of Fame ranking system, this is applied to everyone who takes part in our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) mini-leagues – both the free and members’ leagues.
This tracks the performances of every manager over each of the seasons they have participated and awards a “HoF rating accordingly – this is viewable to all via this link or the top menu “HoF” link.
More information about the Hall of Fame from Mark and Rate My Team’s Chris Atkinson is available via this movie.
Jay Egersdorff moves from third to first place after notching a ninth top 5,000 finish across his 12-season FPL career. Since starting in 2006/7 he has only finished outside the top 10,000 twice, with a lowest rank of 14,954 arrived in 2015/16.
While his rank of 4,150 adds this time around to an already impressive pedigree, Jay may feel a little disappointed not to end the season far higher, given that at the Gameweek 16 mark he was in 48th spot. This was achieved thanks to a well-judged first Wildcard in Gameweek 6, which was packed with Manchester City assets just as the champions were getting into their stride, earning Jay 11 green arrows in a row.
His slide out of the top 100 and eventually the top 1,000 coincided with an audacious 12-point hit in Gameweek 18 to take advantage of fixture swings, which saw him jettison Harry Kane, who went on to score back to back hat-tricks in the next two set of fixtures.
That fateful spending spree was not repeated, with Jay taking just eight other hits across the season.
In terms of the other chips he followed a popular pattern of focusing on the Double Gameweeks and blank set of fixtures. His second Wildcard was deployed in Gameweek 32, a Bench Boot followed in Gameweek 34 and a Free Hit was fired off the following week His Triple Captain chip was then handed to Kane in Gameweek 37, who delivered a 24-point return.
After making a brief return to the top 1,000 in Gameweek 35, the final rounds of the season proved to be disappointing as his chip strategy failed to avert three straight red arrows.
Using the FPL Stastistico tool we can gain a further insight into Jay’s season, to reveal that he was one of nine of this group to favour a 3-4-3 formation, which was used 21 times and netted him an average of 58.3 points. But it was 3-5-2, which he used 11 times, that was more lucrative, thanks to an average of 72.5 points.
When looking at his captaincy selection, Kane arises as a central figure once again. The Spurs striker was handed the armband more than any other player (17 times) but only brought him an average of 13.3 points. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah proved to be far more profitable, earning Jay 20.5 points on average with the armband.
Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs assets were those most used by Jay, with West Ham, Watford and Bournemouth players those barely tapped into.
Leaping from 16th spot last season to second is Grant Barclay, who finished the campaign 774th in the overall rankings, his second top 1,000 finish in a row. Across an eight-year FPL career he has only finished once outside the top 10,000.
Gameweek 7 and 8 proved to be a pivotal for Grant, seeing him moving from 171,094 into the top 50,000 where he remained for the rest of the campaign.
Four players were key to this climb, with Spurs defender Ben Davies and captain Kane bringing in 42 points between them in Gameweek 7. The following week he swooped for Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling to join Gabriel Jesus, who together netted 28 points.
He was marginally more reserved than Jay regarding points hits, taking just eight across the campaign.
Grant also deployed his first Wildcard far later, in Gameweek 19. This saw him triple up on Manchester City assets, with Leroy Sane and Nicolas Otamendi joining Sterling. He also recruited Marko Arnautovic, who had recently emerged as West Ham’s main striker following David Moyes’ appointment as manager.
Leaving the Wildcard late and focusing it on the Champions proved savvy, with Grant cementing his place in the top 5,000 within a week.
Like Jay he used his remaining chips around the Doubles and blank fixtures, starting with a Gameweek 33 Wildcard and ending with a Triple Captain chip handed to Kane in Gameweek 37.
He also mirrors Jay in terms of the captaincy, handing it to Kane more often, but getting a better average return from Salah, his next most popular choice.
Players from Manchester, Spurs and Liverpool were also his most popular targets, while the least used were assets from Watford, Brighton and Stoke.
Moving up to third is Matthew Jones (Numb). He finished in 11,009th spot in spite of a start which saw him dip to as low as 2.9m in the overall rankings and only emerge into the top one million places in Gameweek 11.
A Gameweek 4 Wildcard was a key factor in this early-season struggle. Matthew choose that time to remove Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne ahead of a strong run of results for Manchester City. Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino was backed ahead of a six-game barren run of returns.
The Reds forward stayed in Matthew’s side until his second Wildcard in Gameweek 32 and this patience was rewarded. Over that time Firmino delivered five double-digit points hauls and helped Matthew steadily climb the rankings and cement a top 50,000 berth from Gameweek 20.
Matthew’s patient approach is also shown by his points hit count, taking just five.
This dramatic ascent over the season represents a stellar achievement across his nine-year career, even if it did mean that he notched his first final overall rank outside of the top 10,000 since his FPL debut in 2009/10. Over his career he has accrued an impressive three top 500 finishes.
Matthew’s choice of captains mirrors Jay’s and Grant’s, with Kane used most often (18 times, 13.6 points average), but Salah the one who delivered better rewards (nine times, 23.8 points average).
Among the highest climbers is Marlen Rattiner, who rises from 65th to fourth after ending the most recent campaign with an overall rank of 373. This is his fourth top 1,000 finish over a 10-year FPL career.
A Gameweek 6 Wildcard, which focused on Manchester City assets, was crucial to his ascent, heralding five straight green arrows and seeing him move from 220,834 to the top 20,000 over that period.
Another was the decision in Gameweek 21 to roll out a 4-5-1 formation spearheaded by a 28-point return from Salah. This produced a 73-point haul, which saw him climb into the top 10,000, where he remained for the rest of the campaign.
His chip strategy, of using the Free Hit in Gameweek 31, Triple Captain in Gameweek 34, Wildcarding the following week and Bench Boosting in Gameweek 37, also reaped rewards and meant he only failed to achieve a green arrow twice over the final nine set of matches.
But while his chip deployment differs from the rest of the top four, his captaincy decision follows a familiar narrative – Kane being used more often, but Salah proving the more effective when handed the armband.
Marlen’s total of 16 separate points hits is the highest among the top ten.
Fifth placed Owen Walker is another of the top ten’s biggest climbers, having ended the 2016/17 season in 76th. His 323 overall rank this time around is a third top 1,000 finish in just six seasons.
Although the Triple Captain chip was used ineffectively on a nine-point return from Harry Kane in Gameweek 22, Owen made the most of his remaining chips around the Double and blank fixtures later in the season.
This included using a Gameweek 32 Wildcard to focus on maximising his Bench Boost chip two weeks later in the next Double, where he achieved a remarkable weekly rank of 12,330.
His Free Hit chip in Gameweek 35 was even more successful, as the 5,990th best score of that week, thanks to a 25-point haul from Arsenal duo Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette.
He is another to have favoured Kane for the captaincy, but gained more points when the opportunity was handed to Salah over a campaign that saw him take 11 points hits.
A 263 finish sees Richard Clarke move from 75th to sixth. Over a 12-season career he has one other top 500 finish, achieved in 2011/12 and five other top 10,000 ranks.
Savvy chip use was central to his success, including using his Gameweek 8 Wildcard to load up on Manchester City assets, who helped him climb from 143,804 into the top 20,000 within seven weeks. His second Wildcard in Gameweek 32 and subsequent Bench Boost two weeks later also proved pivotal, especially the latter, which netted him 116 points and saw him move to the edge of the top 100.
He is among the most patient of our top ten, taking a mere five hits all campaign, but was another to trust Kane more often with the captaincy, but gain more points on average from the times he handed the armband to Salah.
Paul Gee is the top ten’s highest climber, with a position as runner up in the overall rankings seeing him shoot up the Hall of Fame from 431 spot to seventh.
Although he ended in 25,015th place last season, he is no stranger to a strong finish, with three top 5,000 ranks under his belt.
He took just 10 points hits this season and is another of this group to make good use of chips. His first Manchester City-focused Wildcard, in Gameweek 8, took Paul into the top 100,000 for the first time. The remaining chips, deployed around the end of season blanks and Doubles saw him move into the top 10 and eventually just eight points away from winner Yusuf Sheikh’s final tally of 2,512.
However, his most important set of fixtures was in Gameweek 27 when he achieved a season high weekly rank of 3,031 and points tally of 121 after captaining Sergio Aguero for his four goals against Leicester.
Aguero and Sterling join Salah as his most successful captain choices, although, as with those already mentioned, it was Harry Kane he handed the armband to more often, with less success.
Our very own Mark slips from fifth to eighth after ending 2017/18 in 11,458 spot to add to his topsy-turvy pattern of recent season finishes, including reaching 115 and 42 as well as registering year end ranks of 28,329 and 192,837 over his previous four campaigns.
Like Matthew he also had a poor start that was exacerbated by an early Wildcard, in Gameweek 4, that failed to take into account Manchester City’s emerging form. It wasn’t until he invested in Sky Blues assets four weeks later that he managed to make significant inroads to his rank and eventually break the top one million milestone in Gameweek 9.
He fared a little better with his other chips, which were focused firmly on the Double and blank Gameweeks, starting with a second Wildcard in Gameweek 32 and concluding with a 24-point return from Triple Captain Kane in Gameweek 37. However, after reaching the edge of the top 5,000 with his Gameweek 35 Free hit chip, the final few Gameweeks proved disappointing and saw Mark edge out of the top 10,000.
On this week’s post-season Scoutcast, Mark, who took 14 points hits this season, says one of his biggest regrets is sticking with Alvaro Morata for too long mid-term during a barren run for the Chelsea striker.
Arguably, another factor in his season was Mark’s failure to trust Salah with the armband more often, handing it to the Liverpool star a mere five times – the lowest among the top ten. He also put too much faith in Harry Kane, who he captained 22 times but earned 5.5 points less on average than Salah.
Mark’s use of formation is particularly interesting. He is the only one of the top ten to use 3-5-2 more frequently than 3-4-3 but, with the lowest 2017/18 finish of any of this group, he had far less success with this set up. His most potent formation was 4-4-2, which indicates that one of his key strengths was defender selection.
Lester Cheng is another to slip, as he moves from sixth to ninth after ending the season with a 8,031 placing.
Over an 11-year career he has three top 1,000 finishes, with last season’s 85th placing his best.
Lester benefitted from a strong start, with an overall rank of 183,966 in Gameweek 1 thanks to captaining Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku and deploying Huddersfield’s Steve Mounie. They delivered 38 points between them.
But within two Gameweeks he had slipped out of the top one million places in what was to prove a familiar theme throughout his rollercoaster season. While he achieved a weekly rankings-high of 5,050 in Gameweek 27, he also finished outside the top three million on six occasions.
His most disastrous week was when he Wildcarded for the first time, in Gameweek 17, and could only muster 32 points.
The rest of his chips were focused around the Doubles and blanks. But while his Gameweek 32 Wildcard, Gameweek 34 Kane Triple Captaincy and Gameweek 35 Free Hit helped achieve green arrows, he slipped down the rankings slightly after using his Bench Boost in Gameweek 37.
Lester is another hits-averse manager, taking just 11 this season. He is yet another to captain Kane (15 times) more often than Salah (eight times) but gain greater rewards from the Liverpool winger.
On the subject of being hit averse, we welcome back former Career Hall of Fame number one Ville Ronka to the top ten.
The famously patient Finnish enigma took just five points hits as he steered his way to 5,928 spot in the overall rankings and tenth in our Career Hall of Fame. Over his remarkable ten-year career he has four top 1,000 finishes.
While never reaching his career high form this season he has proved to be a consistent scorer, never dipping out of the top one million in the rankings and becoming a fixture of the top 50,000 from Gameweek 15 onwards and the top 10,000 four weeks later.
A Gameweek 5 Wildcard helped his ascent, with Nicolas Otamendi among his consistent scoring new recruits. The Manchester City defender was a trusted player of Ville’s, having fielding him 29 times this season, with only Kane played more often (33 times).
Ville’s use of his other chips around the doubles and blanks also helped cement his top 10,000 status.
But, as with his fellow top ten managers, he was guilty of putting too much faith in Kane as a captain and less in Salah, who delivered far better returns when given the opportunity.
Hall of Fame FAQ
How is my rating calculated?
The “HoF Rating” is based on your points scores from previous FPL seasons, with the latest season weighted the heaviest and each corresponding season weighted at roughly 80% that of the previous season. So, in other words, those who performed best in 2017/18 will receive a bigger HoF Rating boost from those who did best in 2007/08. The “HoF Ranking” even allows for those with missing years, adapting the formula accordingly to allow to rank alongside the veterans of the FPL.
How do I join the Hall of Fame
Simply sign up to our leagues next season, either the Fantasy Football Scout Classic League or if you’re a member, the Members Classic League – the code will available on the dashboard of the Members Area once the FPL game re-opens for registration.
How do I find myself in the Hall of Fame?
The search box at the top of the ranking tables allows you to search by surname or by FPL id.
What if I don’t want to be listed?
Either notify us via support@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk or simply leave the Fantasy Football Scout league and you’ll be removed on the next update.
When does the Hall of Fame get updated?
The Career table is available to all and is updated at the end of each season to display the latest rankings. The Live version of the Hall of Fame is updated every week to use the latest season data.
5 years, 11 months agoI see he new Mcdonalds game has chips. Bench boost and One called Maximum captain where the captain is your highest scoring player on the week it is used.
Maybe that one coming to Fpl?