It’s the final 2024/25 article of The Great and the Good, in which Greyhead analyses the transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
The Great and The Good this season are the BlackBox pair of Mark Sutherns and Az, Scouts Joe Lepper and Tom Freeman, Scoutcaster Andy North, Pro Pundits FPL General, Pras, Zophar, FPL Harry and Lateriser, FPL “celebrities” Ben Crellin, Luke Williams and FPL Fran, Hall of Famers Fabio Borges, Jan Kepski, Markku Olaja and Seb Wassell, plus last year’s mini-league winner Geraint Owen.
“Time to say goodbye”
Goodbye. Farewell. Cheerio. Ta-ra. Toodle pip. See you later. Get lost. Good riddance. P*** off.
Yes, there are many different ways to wave off your FPL season, depending on rank, mini-league success or how long you went for Erling Haaland (£14.9m) over Mohamed Salah (£13.6m).
Anyway, let’s get straight into ‘The Great and The Good’ annual end-of-season awards, known this year as Mark Sutherns’ FPL content retirement do.
Mark is remaining stoic under a barrage of ideas of how he should run FPL coming from a Pina Colada-fuelled Az, while the FPL Wire boys are already arguing over 2025/26 macro chip strategies and Andy North is telling everyone – whether they care or not – about his ten closing green arrows.
Elsewhere, Ben Crellin is redesigning his spreadsheets in Newcastle colours, Markku Ojala is regretting bringing his cat to the party, and Joe Lepper is carefully being put in straw to be returned to his cupboard under the stairs, ready for the new season.
So, who were this year’s big winners?
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
The scene was set for a tense finale, as only four points separated Pras and Ben going into the final weekend.
Goals and excitement were expected in Gameweek 38, but most of the exhilaration happened before kick-off. Team leaks about Kevin De Bruyne‘s (£9.5m) place as a substitute led many to buy Bukayo Saka (£10.4m), who was also benched.
Unfortunately, Pras was one of those left cursing Mikel Arteta, although surely Ben’s move for the erratic Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) wouldn’t pay off? Yet it did, proving once again that Crellin has time-travelling foresight. I swear he owns a particular hot tub.
Therefore, many congratulations go to Ben for another outstanding season. He is a worthy winner and, by making it two titles in a row, matches the feat achieved only by Fabio Borges.
This was not the only drama though, as Tom Freeman finally activated his Triple Captain. Placing it on Jarrod Bowen (£7.9m) helped him become the top scorer on 79 points.
Speaking of chips, Fabio Borges continued his Assistant Manager gambles, this time on Vitor Pereira, whereas Markku made it into the top million – smiling despite one of the unluckiest seasons ever. I suspect he’ll be giving a few V-signs to variance.
TRANSFERS
A quick now at Gameweek 38’s transfers. As mentioned, Ben made the move for Semenyo, although out went the goal of Ismaila Sarr (£5.5m). The best purchases belong to FPL Harry and Joe, as both bought Bowen.
At the same time, Andy North still managed a green arrow despite bringing in Saka and the unused Danny Welbeck (£5.5m).
The ‘Hitman’ award for the season goes to Lateriser, of course, who took nine points hits over the season, as Fabio and Ben grab the ‘Dullard’ award for not doing any at all.
CAPTAIN KING
When it came to captaincy, Mohamed Salah (£13.6m) was handed 42% of this lot’s armbands, averaging the highest score at 24 points. Geraint Owen was a particular fan.
But who was the most successful of The Great and The Good? That honour went to Ben Crellin’s 784 points, contributing 30% towards his final score.
BIGGEST BANKER
FPL Harry wins this award again as his team value soared to £106.3m. I genuinely think he should consider a role in finance, such is his maniacal focus on accruing value over the 38 weeks. Compare this to Seb Wassell, whose team only reached £101.5m.
Let’s not start the debate on whether team value matters, but it clearly does to Harry and indeed Mark. These half-decent managers always look to maximise their funds.
CHIP CHAMP
Now here’s a big one, as chips played a dominant part this year with the introduction of the loved and loathed Assistant Manager.
The table below shows that Harry made the best use of his chips, with the turning point being Gameweek 24. Most opted for Assistant Manager, while he chose Salah’s 29 points for Triple Captain.
Looking around, Jan Kepski had the best Wildcards, Tom Freeman’s Free Hit led to a 58-point gain and Seb Wassell could celebrate a 32-point Bench Boost.
NEXT SEASON
Before I disappear with a dramatic bolt of lightning and cloud of smoke, I can reveal at least two new members of The Great and The Good. Huss E is joining us next time as they won the open-to-all feeder league and finished a remarkable 41st worldwide – bravo!
Meanwhile, in the invitational league, FPL Frasier triumphed over Tom Dollimore and Martin Baker. The final 6,407th position is his second back-to-back top 10k finish, making him fully deserving of his place in the major leagues.
We will find out more about him next season but I already worry about his Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) obsession, especially if the Portuguese playmaker leaves Manchester United.
As for 2025/26’s other contenders, you’ll just have to wait and see. I look forward to a summer of begging via emails and offering gifts to retain The Great and the Good, or, in the case of Andy North, have them removed.
THE GREAT AND THE GOOD – FINAL THOUGHTS
There we go, another season done and dusted. After seven seasons of doing these articles, I still enjoy watching the trials and tribulations of The Great and The Good. Additionally, I want to say a massive thank you to Top Marx, who helped start all this and keeps providing so much of the data via Mini League Mate.
Also, a big pat on the back to the editorial team, who patiently read through my rambles and correct the many misspellings of Pervis Estupinan (£4.9m).
A massive thanks go to all of The Great and The Good. They don’t complain about any of my gentle mickey-taking and are very good sports, something that is especially difficult when you’re not having a good season. Particular thanks go to Az, Mark and now Andy for sharing the latest on FPL Blackbox – you are all my favourites.
Finally, thanks to you for reading along and making nice comments along the way. I hope you enjoy the summer and, to misquote Ange Postecoglou, season eight is always better than season seven.
