| If your looking for the secret to winning a fantasy
football league, whether it is at work, with your friends,
or in a national newspaper, Anthony Elliott,
of Easy Tigers A has maybe found it: Go
to the top in week 1, and, at all costs stay at the top
until the end of the season. This is exactly what he did
in the Vodka & Red Bull Premier League (now the Geordie
Fantasy League), and I'm sure what he hopes to do in 2002/03.
The Tigers got off to a stormer with JF
Hasselbaink in superb form, and by Christmas they had built
a commanding lead. Behind first place, Chickenlips
Toon, Robbos Rockets and Gadgas
Goldenboys had been jostling for position, but
the Chickenlips had a good run of form,
which put some pressure on the Tigers,
ultimately to no avail, but it cemented their runners-up
spot. Meanwhile the Goldenboys had a drastic
drop in form, which continued until the end of the season,
which seen even early strugglers Left Foot Screamers
overtaking them in the final week. Sids Sharpshooters
finished bottom of the pile, after threatening to embarrass
some fellow managers after joining the league late.
A Division 2 was formed after a group of 6 teams joined
the league late, and the top spot was changing almost weekly
for the first few months between Big Red Lob-stars,
Turbobabies and Dry White Toast in a closely
fought league. In the end it was the Lob-stars
which were victorious, followed by Dry White Toast
& Turbobabies. Lobley Lancers
were rooted to the bottom with some very strange player
and captain selections.
Assuming the same teams are entered into the 2002/03 competition,
the hot favourites have to be the Tigers,
after winning so convincingly last season, closely followed
by the Chickenlips, due to clinching the
runners-up spot last year, coming 12th in a national competition
and winning the World Cup mini league. The bookmakers have
it quite close for the next group of teams: Will the Rockets
improve on last years third, and can the Lob-stars
mount a challenge when playing with the big boys. For an
outside bet, its worth a punt on the Screamers:
They performed well below the expected level for most of
last season, but were one of the strongest finishers at
the end. Can they carry this through to next season? We'll
see.
A full rundown of the odds will appear in the coming weeks
after confirmation of entry. |
