A very, very happy and healthy New Year to our readers and site users, from me and everyone here at Fantasy Football Scout!
As we express every year, going way back to Mark’s 2009 appreciation of the donations towards the server upkeep, it’s a heartfelt thanks to all of you for your patronage – paying or otherwise – of this site in 2025.
Thank you for sticking with us over the past 12 months and beyond. Scout has gone a bit U2 over the years. It’s no longer the unpolished gem (Boy, October, War) of yesteryear. Now it’s a barely recognisable behemoth, although hopefully still a lot more wanted than the dire free giveaway Bono foisted on Apple users.
Whether you’re a consumer of the content or a complete disregarder, it’s heartening to see so many people still getting something out of the site – and to see that some things haven’t changed in the decades that have passed. The 15-year veterans still with us. The Dead Zone, still keeping the pages ticking over in the early hours. Public Stats tables still being created. The FFS Cups, now in their 17th year. Whatever Scout has become, or will become, it still serves as a ‘space’ for the Fantasy nomads and deeper thinkers, especially those eschewing the X sewerage pipe.
Speaking of the community, and quickly wrapping this up as I never did have Mark’s flair for this type of piece, I thought I’d give a shout-out to a few regulars on here who deserve their 15 minutes. If I didn’t mention you below, it’s not a slight! These are just the names that first came to mind as I compiled… the Alternative New Year’s Honours list.
COMMITMENT TO MEDIEVAL SPEAK
The Knights Template: I don’t think anyone makes me laugh on here as much as TKT. From the Willy Gnonto love to the use of the word ‘lollygaggers’, I look forward to thine posts. I’m particularly fond of the questions TKT poses to poor old Zophar in the Q&A Hot Topic, from ‘Where is the best place to get leaked Ipswich Town line-ups?’ to ‘Which is the better hotel, the Grand Oberoi in Kolkata or the Serena in Islamabad?’. One even got a response in Gameweek 19!
SERVICES TO BREAKING TEAM NEWS
Tonyawesome69: Forget NewsNow, just turn on notifications to Tony’s posts. If it’s been Tweeted by a club or a journalist, chances are Tony has relayed that information on-site before anyone else. Scout’s very own David Ornstein for injuries.
SERVICES TO PRICE CHANGES + PREAMBLE RESUSCITATION
rainy: As regular as The Shipping Forecast, rainy is there in the wee small hours, pretty much every day, with the price change round-up. And in the last month, he’s brought the much-missed Preamble back to these pages. When Mark left in 2018, and David took over with me as his deputy, it was decided that the Preamble wouldn’t continue. It was too much Mark’s baby; anyone else following on would be the Moyes to Sutherns’ Ferguson. Personally, I’ve never been able to mimic that style, to distil the pre-deadline mood. Rainy, however, is doing a damn fine job of it. It’s great to have that article back, and for someone to actually be doing it justice.
BEST STATS-BASED INSIGHTS
mookie: Frequently comes up with some crackers on here. Just as recent examples, a well researched post to dispel the notion that Fulham are solid with Sasa Lukic and Sander Berge in the middle. Then there was his call of Wolves keeping it tight at the Emirates and City having the potential to rack up goals at Palace despite the Eagles’ solid reputation.
COMMUNITY ARTICLE CHAMPIONS
FPL_Runpharm and RedLightning: RL is there, every week, with his mini-league and community round-up. More recently, RunPharm has been submitting weekly posts on everything from early transfers to going against the ‘safe’ captain. I couldn’t even keep up with his frequency over Christmas and there’s still one in the chamber, ready to be subbed. Thanks for your efforts, folks.
BENEVOLENT ACT OF THE YEAR
sandgrounder: It’s very rare for a manager to reach the finals of both of our FFS Cups but sandgrounder (aka Steve Monk), did just that in January. After scooping £250 of his prize money, he promptly divided the winnings between Parkinson’s UK, Cancer Research UK and Clatterbridge Cancer Hospital, charities close to his heart. A class act.
If you think anyone else deserves a shout out, do say so in the comments below!
I’ll end this waffle by thanking the staff and mods for all their hard work and assistance this last year, from my fellow editorial bods and the tech team who have revamped the site in 2025 to the moderators who deal with anything flung their way.
One last thing: the worst take of the year. It comes from one Skonto Rigga, back in August, who, carried away by the usual meaningless pre-season form, said he could see Niclas Fullkrug having “a really good 13/14-goal season if he stays fit”. ‘If’ was doing a lot of lifting in that sentence. Even when he’s played, he’s looked about as threatening as Tony Hibbert. Fullkrug looks set to depart West Ham United with fewer than 13/14 points, never mind 13/14 goals…
Happy New Year!
