After a long and hard season the 16,264 fixtures that took place in our Fantasy Premier League Head-to-Head leagues concluded in gameweek 38 and we now have the final standings in our seven 20-man leagues (as well as the Reserve League) to share with you all.
Unsurprisingly there’s plenty of movers and shakers with 70 teams in total getting relegated across the leagues, all with concurrent promotions to fill their places. We’ve put together a table graphic of the final standings [click to enlarge] and there follows a quick analysis of all the key events…
We start at the very top of the Head-to-Head tree with the most successful managers of the 2009/10 (remember that?) having a season long scrap for the title of Champion of the whole Head-to-Head heirachy. That title ultimately ended up in the lap of Jason Gomez, otherwise known as crazy88s. His victory not confirmed until the very final gameweek, as he finally pulled away from Comfy Coxy in second. Having been in the Reserve League himself just over a season ago, Jason is living proof that the route to the very top can be speedy – an inspiration to reserve league managers.
At the more unfortunate end of the spectrum is “Sasquatch” who won’t want me to dwell on his team’s fortunes as he suffers the ultimate drop into the reserve division. Moving along, six other managers face a single league drop with matzi11a perhaps the most ponderous – his disastrous gameweek 38 saw him slip down into the relegation mire at the very final hurdle.
Champion (of champions): crazy88s
Relegated to FFS H2H 2: BigAdz, matzi11a, Deppy35, JWF, MFaulkner, Verbal
Relegated to Reserves: Sasquatch
He came 84th in the world, he snatched the Scout Contributor’s title from my grubby paws – I’m Not Marshal Foch enjoyed a superb season and was dominant in this division with a giant 17 point lead over second placed (and close personal friend) tinoss. The latter is coincidentally the lowest ranked manager (by far, at approximately 209k in the world) to gain promotion showing luck can definitely play a part in a H2H campaign.
That’s a factor I certainly lacked over the year because, despite having a mediocre season, I was one of two managers to be knocked right to the bottom of the league ladder in one fell swoop; I now find myself in the Reserve League next term. I knew my fate going into gameweek 38 – all the relegation from this division was decided before the final weekend, leaving no room for some last minute Wigan-esque escapes.
Champion: I’m Not Marshal Foch
Promoted to FFS H2H 1: tinoss, Gros, Milan, Dadoune30, IMWORTHIT
Relegated to FFS H2H 3: Canucklehead, Little Lukin, Pure Olivia, HammerTime, Dashlong, Lovely Camel
Relegated to Reserves: Andy (that’s me), JN
Our third league saw another of my “foes” (the admin of my cash league) crowned Champion – Monstery left it until the last minute to gain a 58 – 31 victory over Dragonfly which was enough to see him nick the title from Anton Deco who slipped up at the final furlong with 44-54 defeat to Dino. Anorak also left it late, benefiting from a last-gasp win and superior overall rank to sneak beyond Defoe Rules to gain promotion to H2H 2.
Down at the basement, Bedknobs & Boomsticks will take little solace from the fact he had by far the highest overall rank of all the teams finishing rock bottom; luck was clearly not on his side throughout the H2H campaign. Meanwhile Ro6035 managed to escape the drop in the final gameweek, leaving Magpie36 looking forward to new surroundings next term.
Champion: Monstery
Promoted to FFS H2H 2: Anton Deco, TorresMagic, …al, Mr. Blonde, Anorak
Relegated to FFS H2H 4: Magpie36, Chinmusic, Dino, Dragonfly, Sparky, KevIRL
Relegated to Reserves: Marknlard, swindonabroad, Bedknobs & Boomsticks
Denial claimed our fourth Head-to-Head league to lead the 6-strong band of promoted teams from this division. Another late decider saw Ibracadabra snatch sixth place and a promotion spot to see off Fray Bentos who failed to keep hold of his position.
My colleague Sir Paulos did all he could to avoid the slip to our fifth league but lost out by the slenderest of margins (4 overall points) to another fellow colleague in Superior Being. Our third contributor in this division meanwhile – Greek Fan – suffered a worse fate – dropping into the reserve league along with the unfortunate Super Dunny, rez-rez and Sojourner.
Champion: Denial
Promoted to FFS H2H 3: Wes, Chancer, Just One More Thing, Higgo, Ibracadabra
Relegated to FFS H2H 5: Sir Paulos, Waggy, martin1000penalty, Rouge123, Bouncebackability, Captainmarvel
Relegated to Reserves: Super Dunny, Greek Fan, rez-rez, Sojourner
With the title still in the balance between three managers heading into the final fixtures, Don Corleone ultimately did enough to keep hold of top spot. A fairly unforgiving season for djman102 looked for a while like it was at least going to bring promotion – that was until MegaSalvi0 sneaked in at the last gameweek. Now djman102 has to face Granville all over again.
Dan B was also left ruing the aforementioned Scout contributor, as his single point loss to Granville saw him slide to relegation to H2H 6. Elsewhere, the embers of PDM Allstars’ bank-boosting 2008/09 “Can You Kick It” game victory have long been extinguished as he fell into the H2H reserve league along with TJMoray, Spence, Donnylad and Honkey.
Champion: Don Corleone
Promoted to FFS H2H 4: The Fish, Yellow Fever, Jms, Dribbler, MegaSalvi0
Relegated to FFS H2H 6: wolvesboy84, Sam (Team Sam), Dan B, Pips, Mr Cappa, Tabfitz
Relegated to Reserves: TJMoray, Spence, Donnylad, Honkey, PDM Allstars
The first of our two newly-formed select capacity leagues ended with little movement at both the top and bottom of the table. No Cesc, No Drogs kept his calm on the final day to become the inaugural champion, with a victory over resident foodie Soop. Self-confessed as being no great fan of football, perhaps Soop will be more content than most at stumbling and allowing the spiky NeedleVor to move up a ladder.
Little movement at the bottom saw the 12 teams facing relegation prior to the final gameweek suffer the drop, as results elsewhere ruled out an escape route.
Champion: No Cesc, No Drogs
Promoted to FFS H2H 5: Big Dunc, Bananaman, BilboBaggins, Don, NeedleVor
Relegated to FFS H2H 7: dave_the_bear, Bucketproof, d2b, BobB, Boss Hogg, Hugh Jarse
Relegated to Reserves: KLM, MikeyMItz, Crot, doctorphilgood, davysteen, gizmothelegend
For 19 of the 20 Fantasy managers in this league it was a case of do or die. Only one was going to stay put and that mid-table position eventually fell to Greghammer95. The title went to EasyLuckyFree – he snatched the crown from Scout contributor Da Beeeez who could only draw his last match-up – had Fernando Torres avoided his yellow card, the stateside Scout would have been champion and would have taken his place in H2H 6 as top dog.
It was a pretty successful campaign for a lot of familiar names in the community. Five of the six promoted teams represent regular comments posters; at the other end meanwhile, 13 managers joined me in the reserve league.
Champion: EasyLuckyFree
Promoted to FFS H2H 6: Da beeeez, Demented Flamingo, Gnu, Damo Fitz, rrcmc
Relegated to Reserves: eagleeyerover, Dollaz, Sepp Graham, mo, Sporting Lesbon, Ernie Schitt, Xjimmy20, Ubersmiter, Trilogist, ntownsend82, pewty, Charlie Brooker, Fesan
The Reserve League is without a shadow of a doubt the hardest division to escape from. The opportunity for promotion required managers to come inside the top 28 places out of 716 entrants – a big ask.
The cream will, more often than not, rise to the top however and with a slender 9 point (overall, tied in Head-to-Head) advantage it was Stewart Hill who took the title. Finishing with his 28th victory of the season, Stewart now earns a golden ticket and has the right to play in FFS H2H 1 next season if he takes the option. He’ll hopefully be inspired by crazy88s’ success this term.
There are some familiar names from the community who have earned the chance to take up promotion. HillBillyPete and Twisted Saltergater will be offered a place in FFS H2H 2, while other faces like Slinky Cabbage, Francois Bozize, Cunning Stunts and zophar will also be afforded stops in various leagues above. Those of you who’ve been with Fantasy Football Scout for a couple of years will perhaps pass a wry smile to see the artist formerly known as Wassup recover from his tumultuous (and forever in Scout folklore) 08/09 campaign to get a shimmy up the table.
So what to do now? If you’re already one of the 106 managers in our seven select entry leagues who managed to avoid that deep purple shade of relegation, then you can put your feet up and await an email with your new league placement next season.
If you are one of the 28 best managers from the Reserve League then you need do two things. 1) When FPL opens back up in July you must remember to register under the same username as we’ll verify your entry by checking your history. Then 2) Keep your eyes peeled to Fantasy Football Scout for exactly how to go about getting that entry included in our leagues.
If you are none of the above and want in on the action, then just keep your eyes peeled as the 2011/12 Fantasy season dawns so if/when we add a new league or two, you’ll be ready to apply or at the very least try your luck through the entirely open Reserve League.
And if you’re me – It’s time for a lie down and to ponder life in the reserve league.
Congratulations to all those on the up and up, especially crazy88s, and commiserations to those who just missed out or fell down a league or seven. See you next season.
