Welcome the GW38 REVIEW – A REAL HERO.
We made it. It was a tough season for many of us. But we are here at the end and there is a lot to discuss. Before all that we need a theme tune. I have been holding this one back for a while for the right occasion. And this is it. It’s an absolute beauty from Electric Youth called A Real Hero. Even if you think you don’t know it you may well recognise it from the film Drive with Ryan Gosling. If you don’t know either then I recommend both!
This review is gonna be a bit epic as there are lots of prize winners to confirm but before we do that I want to say thanks to a few FFUKing heroes. Firstly and most importantly my right hand man, Peter Cronin (23rd), who is always there for me when I need him. Love you man! Next up its a select crew who have helped me with stats, articles and GW reviews this season. I couldn’t thank Pete without also bigging up his lil bro Steve Cronin (18th) for all his stats this season, these are such a fantastic addition. Massive thanks to Stu Allen (37th) and Jamie Stewart (11th) for their help with reviews when I have been otherwise engaged. Also thanks to Paul Baker (126th) for his FPL cupdates and general help. Same goes for Matt Reid (21st) for his ownership articles – another great addition this season I am sure you will all agree. Much more to come along those lines next season!
Shall we look at the final Official FPL GW38 Dream Team of the season?
Obviously we all knew Nathaniel Mendez-Laing (16) was going to be the top scorer in the final GW away to Man Utd. No? The final GW always throws up some crazy score lines. None more so than at Old Trafford where relegated Cardiff battered Ole’s Utd. The wheels have well and truly come off now. NML’s team mate Etheridge (11) also makes an appearance on the back of his clean sheet and save/bonus points. I’m guessing very few owned let alone played either of them!
Elsewhere Liverpool were bound to feature and this week it was the turn of TAA (15) and Mane (15) to plunder the points as they both combined twice to defeat Wolves.
West Ham also provided a pair as they decided to turn up on the last day and demolish Southampton. Noble (15) and Antonio (13) were the main beneficiaries of the Saints generosity.
Former favs Schar (15) and Pereira (9) also rewarded anyone who was still holding them while up top it was left to the Batman (13) and Auba (13) to score the points.
How many of these did you own for GW38? I was happy to own a couple.
So how about the team of the season? Well fortunately the chaps at OfficialFPL have also provided us with this.
Six Liverpool players! And just two from City!
The remainder is made up of a single player from Arsenal, Chelsea and Everton.
Mo Salah was the top scoring player for the second year in succession. But its at the back that really stands out. We have never had such high scoring defenders before and you have to think that the powers that be will raise their prices possibly to an unprecedented amount next season. Robbo at 8.0 anyone?
Ok it’s time to confirm the final positions and that means prizes…
HERE WE GO!
Congratulations to all of those of you who managed to finish in the Top 10. As we know by now this competition gets tougher and tougher each season but it is wonderful to see so many familiar names (wish I could be there with you) right up there.
(Prize money confirmed in brackets)
Let’s start with A REAL HERO. Only one man can be crowned the league champion and this season it is Allan Tomkins (£400) who wins the league for the second time, his first win back in 2013, and joins a very select group to have achieved that accolade more than once. Massive congratulations and he had to work for it, Allan wasn’t top for ages, in fact he timed his run to the summit perfectly. Massive congratulations to you pal!
You have to feel for runner up Jordan Davison (£300) who looked like victory was his just a couple of weeks ago. Still, 2nd place is nothing to be sniffed at, as evidenced by the prize money on offer. Well played Jordan!
Third spot went to another former champ, Nick Johns (£200), who was lurking ominously a few weeks back and I thought he might trouble the top two but couldn’t quite get there. Still, another very strong season. Well played Nick!
Fourth goes to WhatsApp favourite Sean Colohan (£150) who didn’t even let the small matter of his stag do get in the way. Genius even planned his wedding for after all the football had finished. He nearly top scored in the final GW with 91 points scored. Remember to “Always listen to Coolers”. Well played Sean!
5th is another one of the FFUK WhatsApp community, John Harper (£100). For those keeping score that is 3 of the top 5 all in the WhatsApp group, and it’s open to everyone. Well played John!
If this was the Premier League then top 6 would be completed with Neill Goodwin (£75). But it’s not, unlike the PL, in FFUK the top 6 is still very impressive and that means a decent prize. Well played Neill!
It was 7th heaven for Mark Leathem (£60) one of our Northern Ireland contingent and he certainly did his country proud. Well played Leafy!
Next best was Vince Siracusa (£50) in 8th. A new player this season he certainly handled himself well. Very well indeed, well played Vinnie!
9th place goes to one of the old boys. Congratulations to Mr Side Game Tim McEwan (£40) who despite a late scare still finished in the money. Bet he wished he had started Schar though. Tim will be back with more side games next season but for now kick back relax and soak up that winning feeling!
The Top 10 is completed by James Amar (£30) who when he isn’t listening to Jamiroquai is quite a handy player too. Well played James and Congratulations on a solid season.
Congratulations to all of you who made the Top 10, this is the pinnacle of what we do. You 10 have bragging rights over everyone now and are all heroes! Plus hopefully you will enjoy spending your hard earned winnings! Get in touch with your bank or PayPal details and we will arrange payment.
What about the rest of the prizes? We have many more prizes to give so without further ado lets get to it.
Manager of the Month (MOTM)
For the first time ever we awarded a prize for each and every MOTM so congratulations to all of you who have won this award so far.
The MOTM for May goes to Glenn Johnson with 172 points scored. Congratulations you have earnt yourself a £25 prize. For the list of MOTM’s this season see below, you have all earnt yourself £25.
For more info check out the MOTM page
BEST GW SCORE
Please note these prizes are not confirmed until after the FA cup final this weekend as that is the rules. If you have a score that beats the below then you need to let us know. Although I don’t think anyone in GW38 troubled the leaderboard but I could be wrong it has happened before!
For now below is how it ended. Congratulations to another trio of heroes… Don Macaulay (£100), Chris Norman (£60) and Jamie Stewart (£25) – but please remember these wont be paid out until after the FA Cup Final just in case. For all the info. check out the Best GW Scores page!
Next up its the Cups and we have a couple of winners to crown.
FFUK CUP
The final was a heavyweight clash between Vince Siracusa vs Allan Tomkins, Could Allan do the double and win the 2 biggest prizes of the season. In short, YES! Vince scored 95 for May but Allan scored 110 and with that picks up £200 for winning the FFUK Cup, Vince takes £100 for the runners up prize. Fair play to both of you and this cements your successful season. Massive congratulations once more to Allan!
MILK PLATE CUP
In this cup the final was between Nick Johns and Tom Newman and the former champ has to settle for a runner s up prize this time round. Nick scored 121 points (better than Allan above) but was beaten by Tom Newman with a massive 143 scored. Tom picks up £100 for winning the Milk Plate and Nick gets £50.
We crowned our CONTS KING last week, congratulations to Robert Browne (£150). Runner up Cont is John Harper (£75) and in 3rd spot is Mark Leathem (£35). Well done to all of you.
The only other prize we need to talk about is the H2H for the select few involved. This is organised by myself, Tim and Pete for those who are most involved on the WhatsApp Group. We may have a couple of spots available next season… But any place will go to those who help us the most whether its with articles or stats or anything really, the H2H is your reward for all your efforts.
This season it was won by Sam Blake (£60) and the runner up is Matt Reid (£35). Congratulations to both of you.
That is it, please get in touch with your bank details and we will arrange payment of your prize money soon!
For those of you wondering what happened with my side bets. It was close, too close for comfort really but I am delighted to say I triumphed in both. Winnings from both my right hand man Pete and my nemesis Neil Stewart. Glorious!
Before you go have you let us know about the END OF SEASON DO yet, we are still chasing for deposits so we know we have enough for the first ever FFUK 5 A SIDE TOURNAMENT, all the info in the post here!
Finally, if you have any suggestions or ideas ahead of next season let us know via the FFUK Suggestion box, as we will be making plans soon for next season, once we have had a little break of course.
For the last time this season thank you all so much for reading this and for taking part and getting involved it wouldn’t be the same without all of you! We will be back as soon as the game is released again in July – Watch out for that and remember to look after yourself and each FFUKer!
Cheers
Chris (19th)
FFUK 