GW38 REVIEW – EPIC

Welcome to the Gameweek 38 review. It was the final gameweek, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Thanks to everyone in the FFUK league for taking part in what has been an EPIC season. After the final whistle on Sunday the OfficialFPL Twitter delighted in informing us that there were just 83 days until the next season starts. Before that the fixtures are revealed, player prices are announced and the game will re-open week commencing 10th July. So in reality there really isn’t long to wait until we do it all again. What a relief! Thanks to the wonderful Kamasi Washington for providing the soothing sax to accompany my “final thoughts” of the season from his EPIC album, check the big man out if you fancy something Jazzy. Nice.

Over 4.5 millions managers played the official game this season and there can only be one overall winner. We expect the number of players to increase further next season as the game grows year on year. But for many of us what is most important is our own individual battles, whatever they may be. It is what makes the game. Doing well in a mini-league or a head2head, winning a side bet or simply beating a rival. Whether it’s with colleagues, school mates, a football team, family or the rabble that you call your group of friends. The FFUK league has grown from that idea and is now something bigger than we could ever imagined. So at this point, I’m gonna go a bit Gwyneth, bear with me as I will get to the actual GW Review eventually, including a look at the final Top 10 who finished in the money. I did warn you that it was an EPIC.

I would like to thank everyone who makes this all possible, I think I have covered the players but it is worth a reminder that without all of you guys this isn’t the same, it would just be Pete and I bickering over which transfers to make and crowing over who is above who. But I am going to start with my right hand man Peter Cronin (7th). For many years we have honed our FPL skills side by side and more often than not I came out on top, but this year Pete took his performance to a new level, one I was unable to compete with. Big congratulations on your success this season mate and I look forward to renewing rivalries again next time round, I will need to up my game. But Pete is more than just a rival, he is one of my oldest friends, a fellow Chelsea fan, trustworthy and generous, someone to bounce ideas off, keep me in check (and vice versa), we have built this league up together and I hope he is as proud of his efforts as I am. Well played mate and long may it continue. I bet he is blubbing like a baby right now reading this. Well this saves me saying it at the party, I will leave Pete and JPC do the honours that night.

Next up is another from the same mother, Pete’s little brother Steve Cronin (60th). Massive thanks for all of your help this season. Not content being just an agent, not just a contributor to the site, Steve beavers away behind the scenes providing gameweek stats just like the one below. I’ll get to these stats again later but suffice to say they are a thing of beauty mate and like it or not you are now a vital cog in the FFUK machine and we really appreciate all your efforts.

Now we come to the rest of the agents. Namely Daron Russell (48th), Tim McEwan (31st), James Page-Chatton (79th), Matt Cox (41st), Neil Gordon (82nd), Ian Galloway (114th), Paul Baker (40th) and Lester Deeble (4th). Massive thanks to all of you who are absolutely pivotal to the continued success of the league by signing up your guys each and every year and arranging payment of the entry fees, not to mention all the other ways you get involved. As readers should know by now, entry to the FFUK league is by invitation only and by being part of this league you are welcome to invite anyone who you think may be interested next season, that way everyone in the league knows at least one other player or rival, if you get a few signed up we may approach you to become an agent. It’s the circle of life. Sort of.

Next up its two more of the FFUK team. Big thanks to both Matt Reid (3rd) and Duncan Hannigan (62nd) who, as well as WhatsApp regulars, have both contributed fantastic articles on the website throughout the season. Again this is a vital part of what we do and Pete and I have most of our spare time taken up already so these additional posts are great to read and provide alternative opinions. You don’t want to be hearing from just Pete and I all the time, trust me. Moving forward if you would like to write an article for the site about any aspect of fantasy football then we would love to hear from you, whether its just a few words or a full on rant we would love to read it. Come and join the team.

I would also like to thank those that have helped with our MEET THE FFUKERs videos this season. As well as many of the agents above we have been joined by Stu Allen (16th), who you will be hearing more from very soon as he has just got an FFUK promotion, along with Coolers (2nd), Rich Green (10th) and Neil Stewart (26th). Once again we really appreciate your efforts boys. We plan to do a pre-season video and then 3 or 4 again throughout the season, as always if you want to help us with one let me know and I can send you details of how it all works. Thanks also to Dan Calabrese (127th) for his technical assistance with the FFUK WITH US videos.

Finally its the rest of the WhatsApp crew. Many of which I have already spoken of but there are a few other regulars who definitely need a shout out… Dazzer’s phrone updates definitely deserve a mention. Jamie Stewart (6th) is always on hand to tell us exactly what we need to know, “Countdown” knows the score. Sam Blake (44th) nearly always wins the award for fastest poster of team news and goal alerts. Then there is the most improved manager in the league Sean Colohan (2nd), not forgetting Arsenal fans James Amar (28th) and Mark Tarbox (119th) who somehow managed to remain relatively calm in the face of some particularly scathing comments about their team. But everyone deserves thanks from Fordy, Donald MacAulay, Jake, Bealer, John Harper, Jonny McEwan, Jordan Davison, Mark Turnbull, Rich Harrison, Rob Harding, Sills, Barry, Andy F, Toby and Andrew to new boy Neil Freeland. The group is a better place for all of your involvement (apologies if I have forgotten anyone). For anyone else who wants to join the group next season get in touch and make sure you know how to mute messages as it can get seriously busy in the build up and on match days. Did you know that 7 out of the Top 10 in the FFUK league are in the WhatsApp group? That is some serious knowledge you are missing out on. One last quick thanks – How could I forget The Phoenix, Scott Volker (52nd)? You could have been forgiven for giving up but you are an inspiration to us all of what can be done with perseverance in the face of adversity.

For all those above we have some exciting news concerning a new FFUK Contributors league ahead of next season, watch this space. Moreover, Pete and I hope to see as many of you as possible at the End of Season Do on Saturday 3rd June. Please, if you haven’t already, let us know if you can make it.

Are you ready to actually read about GW38 now? Well before we do I should tell you all that Pete is currently putting together a PRIZES post where he is going to confirm all of the prize winners of the cups, manager of the month and best GW scores. So forgive me if I gloss over you winning a prize. Lets concentrate on the EPIC scoring in GW38 and what it all means. First up the final league table. Please print this off and pin it on your bedroom wall for the Summer. Never forget.

First up huge congratulations to Nick Johns (1st £400) who is the FFUK LEAGUE CHAMPION 2016/2017 and ended the season 355th in the world! Amazing season and incredible achievement Nick, once again thanks once again for your recent interview. At one point I thought giving away all your secrets was going to de-rail your title challenge but I am delighted that you managed to see it through and in fact finished the season in style with 93 points in the final gameweek, level best among the Top 10. The chasing pack tried to close the gap on several occasions and Coolers got incredibly close but to no avail. The glory, the trophy and a big pile of cash is all yours. You will also get a place in the FFUK Hall of Fame and all the adulation that comes with that. FFUKING CONGRATULATIONS! What is more you are now the man everyone wants to beat next season, and be assured Pete will know your team lineup better than you do each week. Johnsy’s Giants ended the season with Kane Captain (34). The Spurs striker was the most popular pick with 52 FFUKers giving him the armband, a wise move as he went on to top score with 17 points after another hat-trick and the inevitable max bonus meaning he will be the first name on many team sheets in August. But Nick could also rely on attacking points from Jesus (11), Coutinho (11), Eriksen (9), Sanchez (9), We hope to see you at the End of Season Do on 3rd June Nick where we can present you with the Trophy and buy you a pint (otherwise we will have to bubblewrap it and send it to you, the trophy that is, not the pint!). Sorry Nick I couldn’t find a video a video of Everton celebrating a trophy so below is 13 minutes of Chelsea’s Title celebrations from Sunday. OLE OLE!

Obviously the rest of the Top 10 need congratulating but before I get to them let’s look at the top scores in the league for this final gameweek. This weeks top scoring manager is Dan McBrearty (15th) with an awesome 119 points, a truly amazing single gameweek score. EPIC. Not only is that the top score of this gameweek but it is actually 2nd best gameweek score of the season. Dan, thanks for your email, I have updated the best GW tab and I suggest you look out for Pete’s Prizes Post coming very soon 😉 Next best was Mr Side Games himself, Tim McEwan (31st) with 111 points who will be delighted with his strong finish to the season and to top it all off with a mention in the review. Looking at your GW history Tim it certainly was a season of two halves with just 4 red arrows in the second half of the season compared to 11 in the opening half. Thanks To Tim for all his efforts this season, especially organising the H2H and LMS, both fantastic additions to the league which will be back again next season.

In fact there were 11 new members of the 100 club in the Top 50 (although strangely none in the top ten). All of them finished the season in style and can go off on holiday safe in the knowledge that they knew what they were doing at the business end of the season, when it really matters. Congratulations therefore to Tom Wollin (11th), Matt McKenna (13th), Stuart Newton (14th), Robert Simpson (20th), Josh Kelly (23rd), Richard Harrison (30th), Marc Speer (33rd), Alexander Thomas (37th) and Sam Blake (44th) for joining the 100 club.

Ok TOP 10. Lets look at it up close.

Our worthy runner up is Sean Colohan (2nd £250) who takes the title for most improved manager this season and ran our Champion very close indeed. What an amazing turnaround and an example to all of us.  It was his 4th season playing the game and the Newcastle fan certainly has the bragging rights for a while at Shaftesbury FC – we hope to see more of the SFC squad in the FFUK league next season.

Next up was our very own Owl, Matt Reid (3rd £150), a veteran of the game who has been playing since 2006 but in fact had his best season yet this time around with a 4k finish. Congratulations Matt and I am sure you have your sights on going one or maybe even two better next season.

Lester Deeble (4th £100) once again finished well and for a newbie has a formidable record. In his second season playing he improved on his 11k finish last year to end this season at 6k and once again scoop prizes in the FFUK league. The Watford fan could even afford to throw away his last AOA chip. Well done Lester, enjoy your summer off, I hear you haven’t got much planned.

Sean Griffin (5th £75) is another seasoned veteran who had his best season yet. In fact his 8k finish smashed his previous best of 19k. Sean moved out to Dubai and the warm weather seems to have improved his game. Well done buddy. Have a beer in the sun for us!

Jamie Stewart (6th £60) wins the bragging rights in his family for the year ahead and although he didn’t quite get to the dizzy heights of his best ever finish of 127 back in 2009/10, it was still a very solid season finishing in the top 20k and we all know he will be back again and hoping to hold his own with the big boys once more.

Level on points with Jamie was Peter Cronin (7th £50) who finishes below him based on more transfers made over the season. Still, I’m guessing Pete is still in seventh heaven after his strong end to the season. In fact he smashed his previous best finish of 86k to end up in the top 20k. Impressive stuff.

Phil Smith (8th £40) is one of Jamie’s mates and another veteran of the game in his 8th season. But once again it was his best ever finish of 24k which when you consider his previous best position was over 100k you realise these guys at the top of the FFUK league have really had to earn their prizes.

Continuing a theme is WhatsApp new boy Neil Freeland (9th £30) who in his 7th season playing the game once again gets a new personal best. His previous of over 200k is no more and a 27k finish is much more like it. As a fellow Chelsea fan that’s a pretty successful season Neil well played!

Completing the Top 10 is Rich Green (10th £20), and so as not to disappoint readers, he also smashed his previous best finish of 83k back in 2012 with a 30k finish! So you have to be in the top 30k of the game to finish Top 10, now we know what is required, let that be a benchmark. Well played Rich for holding off the hordes of FFUKers behind you who were desperate for that Top 10 spot.

If you want to check your own FPL history to see how it compares click on “View Gameweek History” which is just below your team name on the FPL site and scroll to the bottom to see previous season’s finishing positions.

Please note all prizes will be paid out after the FA Cup Final (week commencing 29th May).

So that is it. We made it through. As Dunc says “It’s been Emotional”. Don’t be sad. We will find a way to fill the deadzone that is the next couple of months. We have some exciting fantasy nuggets coming your way very soon, plus there is the end of season do on Saturday 3rd June, plenty of transfer tittle-tattle, pre-season opinions, new FFUK Spotify playlists, more contributors and predictions for next season. There is even talk of an FFUK golf trip which you will be hearing more of if that is your thing, and before long, with your help, we will be getting ready to do it all over again, even bigger, even better. Epic.

Big Love

Chris