FPL CUPDATE

FFUKers,

Week 1: GW17

The more observant of you will have noticed that the FPL CUP kicked off with its first fixtures in Gameweek 17. Well I say that. Actually, it kicked off in GW16 with qualifying for cup entry. The top-scoring 4,194,304 teams in GW16 qualified. With c. 5,977,146 teams in the game that means 70.17% of teams qualified. The cup continues with traditional style knockout rounds through to a final in GW38.

See below for the prizes on offer for the winner of the FPL Cup!

Those that qualified for round 1 will have been randomly drawn against another qualifier with a simple points comparison (net of transfer hits) determining the winner. In the case of a draw the result is decided by most goals scored (by the team), followed by fewest goals conceded, followed by a virtual coin toss. Further rounds progress in the same way, with a random draw among remaining participants.

I have logged the progress of all 229 FFUKers to bring you this first FPL Cupdate!

First of all, I can report that 73.80% of FFUKers made the cut and qualified for round one, a little ahead of the global average as we would expect of a high-quality league like ours. However, it is with due solemnity, and a heavy heart, that I must report that some big names fell at this first hurdle. Three of our top ten (Allan Tomkins, Joseph Colliass and Neil Stewart) and 12th placed Chris Galloway all missing the mark. In total 60 teams dropped out before even the first round of fixtures – hang your heads in shame!

Of those FFUKers that made it through to round one, 38.46% were knocked out. The heaviest defeat was suffered by Glenn Johnson (currently ranked 135th) whose paltry 23 points in GW17 was spanked hard by “champions XI” who scored 57 – a hefty 34-point margin of defeat. The highest-ranked FFUKer to lose in round one was the mighty Lawrence Sprigings (currently ranked 3rd). Lawrence, and his 4-point hit, was belted 43-61 by Atletico de Rauhala, with Hazard (13), Fabianski (9) and Jimenez (9) doing the damage. The highest losing score by a FFUKer in round 1 was the 63 points registered by Aaron Barringer (ranked 93rd). Aaron lost by 2 points to Klose FC, despite Klose having Ozil and Bellerin in his team! Shaqiri (14) and a Hazard captain (26) made the difference. Tough for Aaron, but them’s the breaks.

Five FFUKers drew their first-round matches of which only two progressed, Aggie Ford (121st) and Ana Pascual-Leone (61st).

All this means that 45.41% of FFUKers are left in the FPL cup. The biggest margin of victory in round one went to Louise Wilcockson (currently ranked 111th) who beasted “Marshall elite” 70-25 – a whopping 45-point gap. An interesting fact about Marshal elite is that, despite the very low Gameweek score they are not a “Ghost Team”. A Ghost Team is one that floats in the FPL game but is inactive – it’s manager is not making any changes week to week. While a “live” team might typically expect to beat a Ghost Team, they can be quite dangerous given the random factors in their teams. For example several teams will have lost out to Ghost Teams with cheeky Mhkitarayans in their ranks this week – clearly no live team would entertain the idea of having him in their squad!

The lowest ranked team to make it through round 1 was Kris Martin, currently languishing fourth from bottom in 226th place. Kris sneaked a four-point win over AnggikcabangromaFC (no, me neither). His 8 points in transfer hits proved his undoing. Barry Clarke in 223rd also made it. Barry scored just 29 points in Gameweek 17/round 1, but, such being the nature of randomly-drawn cup competitions, drew Ghost Team ZAKI FC, and sneaked through by 2 points. ZAKI FC has a midfield including Jorginho, Kante and RLC …… and he’s a Spurs fan! Barry’s 29 points was the lowest winning score among FFUK teams.

Finally, yours truly made light work of Ghost Team “shark attack” in round one 52-30. My opponents in round two, “Mozart FC” are another Ghost Team, sporting Zaha, Vietto, Mawson and our erstwhile friend Mkhitarayan in its ranks. It’s Salah captain is the threat, but my hopes are high!

Cheers,

Bakes