Martin's footy stuff

LAST MAN STANDING – NEW GAME!

The fixtures are out and the new season starts on Friday 16th August! This also means its time to start a new game of Last Man Standing!

We managed to get five games squeezed in last season (although one game resulted in our first ever rollover jackpot – which remains unclaimed as game 5 will continue on in a separate game into this new season). We averaged 106 players per game with an average payout of £531.

For those that haven’t played before – you need to pick a team that you think will win their game that weekend – they win and you go through: draw or lose and you are out. Rinse and repeat for subsequent rounds until the last person is standing and takes the prize pot – you cant pick the same team twice. Full rules can be viewed here, previous games can be viewed in the Hall of Fame.

Entry is £5 and you must send me an email (martin.grierson@gmail.com) by 7pm on Friday 16th August (an hour before the first game of the season kicks off) with your selection for Round 1. First four sets of fixtures below, to let you plan ahead (you only need to let me know Round 1 to start with though!).

I will also be running a Fantasy Football league again, along with a Super 6 league. Both these competitions are still preparing for the new season, see here for more details on how to enter either of them competitions.

Any issues/feedback then please let me know!!

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES
Full fixtures can be viewed here:
https://www.premierleague.com/fixtures

ROUND 1
Friday 16 August 2024
Man Utd 20:00 Fulham
Saturday 17 Aug 2024
Ipswich 12:30 Liverpool
Arsenal 15:00 Wolves
Everton 15:00 Brighton
Newcastle 15:00 Southampton
Nott’m Forest 15:00 Bournemouth
West Ham 17:30 Aston Villa
Sunday 18 August 2024
Brentford 14:00 Crystal Palace
Chelsea 16:30 Man City
Monday 19 August 2024
Leicester 20:00 Spurs

ROUND 2
Saturday 24 August 2024
Brighton 12:30 Man Utd
Crystal Palace 15:00 West Ham
Fulham 15:00 Leicester
Man City 15:00 Ipswich
Southampton 15:00 Nott’m Forest
Spurs 15:00 Everton
Aston Villa 17:30 Arsenal
Sunday 25 August 2024
Bournemouth 14:00 Newcastle
Wolves 14:00 Chelsea
Liverpool 16:30 Brentford

ROUND 3
Saturday 31 August 2024
Arsenal 12:30 Brighton
Brentford 15:00 Southampton
Everton 15:00 Bournemouth
Ipswich 15:00 Fulham
Leicester 15:00 Aston Villa
Nott’m Forest 15:00 Wolves
West Ham 17:30 Man City
Sunday 1 September 2024
Chelsea 13:30 Crystal Palace
Newcastle 13:30 Spurs
Man Utd 16:00 Liverpool

ROUND 4
Saturday 14 September 2024
Southampton 12:30 Man Utd
Brighton 15:00 Ipswich
Crystal Palace 15:00 Leicester
Fulham 15:00 West Ham
Liverpool 15:00 Nott’m Forest
Man City 15:00 Brentford
Aston Villa 17:30 Everton
Bournemouth 20:00 Chelsea
Sunday 15 September 2024
Spurs 14:00 Arsenal
Wolves 16:30 Newcastle

New Season!!

It’s now just over three weeks to the start of the new football season and time to launch my usual footy comps again! As per previous seasons, I will be running a Fantasy Football league, a Super 6 league and a Last Man Standing competition. More detail on each below.

FANTASY FOOTBALL
I will be running this again in conjunction with the official Premier League competition. As per the past couple of seasons, it’s a £10 entry fee. There will be a league competition along with two cup competitions – one in the style of the Champions League (with a group stage) and the other a straight knockout competition (this will be administered by the Premier League site towards the end of the season). 57 people joined in last season – meaning a prize fund of £570 was available across the league and cup competitions. Details of last season’s competitions can be viewed here. Send your entry fee across and make sure you join up into the league before the deadline (payment details at the foot of this post). The league code is zqim5u. This is a new league – you will need to add yourself in! Any queries, drop me a message.

SUPER 6
I will be running this again in conjunction with the Sky Super 6 competition. As per the past couple of seasons, it’s a £10 entry fee. There will be a league competition along with two cup competitions – one in the style of the Champions League (with a group stage) and the other a straight knockout competition. 45 players joined in last season – meaing £450 across the league and cups. Details of last season’s competitions can be viewed here.
Send your entry fee across and make sure you join up into the league before the deadline (payment details at the foot of this post). The league code is Z2T7HK. This is a new league – you will need to add yourself in! Any queries, drop me a message.

LAST MAN STANDING
I have created a separate post with more detail for this but a new LMS game will start on the opening game of the season. 5 games were played last season, with a total prize fund of £2655 (with £932 still to be paid out on a separate game that will continue into the new season!). Entry fee will remain as £5. More information is in a separate post but (for those that haven’t played before) you need to pick a team that you think will win their game that given weekend – they win and you go through: draw or lose and you are out. Rinse and repeat for subsequent rounds until the last person is standing and takes the prize pot – you cant pick the same team twice. Full rules can be viewed here, previous games can be viewed in the Hall of Fame.

Payment details:
Please make banking payments to:
Account Name: Martin Grierson
Sort Code: 12-60-50
Account Number: 03697698

NB: This account is at Sainsburys Bank – they are not part of a system that checks names when sending payments, so you may get a warning that they can’t check the name, please disregard that warning, it is safe!!

If you prefer to use Paypal then please send to martin.grierson@gmail.com (use Friends & Family option to avoid fees).

Fantasy Euro 24 – Final Update

So that’s that then – another international football tournament over and more heartache for England!!

The final table is below – there was no change in the top 5 after the final.

Congratulations to the top 5 players!!

1st £180 Charlie Folksman
2nd £100 Josh Cheal
3rd £50 Ewan White
4th £30 Owen Donnelly
5th £20 Alan Evans

If the prize winners can get in touch and let me know their bank details, I can arrange to get their winnings across to them.

The new footy season kicks off on Friday 16th August – I will be in touch soon with details of my Fantasy Footy league – as well as the Super 6 league and my Last Man Standing competition!

Fantasy Euro 2024

I have been asked by a number of people whether I will be running a Fantasy Footy comp during the Euros. I normally host my own version for these tournaments but I will be a bit limited on time to create the spreadsheets behind them – as well as being away for a week smack bang in the middle of the tournament, so it would be difficult to maintain/update it whilst away.

However, UEFA.com are running a competition – which will allow for leagues to be created, so I have set a league up in that competition and will be happy to administer that.

If you are interested then you will need to create your team here and use code qn9EAh for entry into the league, or use this link to join. Make sure you read and understand the rules – they are nothing to do with me!!!

Entry to the competition will be £10 – prizes will be dependent on how many people enter. 60 teams were entered in the 2021 version I ran – with £600 in prize money paid out to the top 5 (1st – £300, 2nd – £150, 3rd – £90, 4th – £45, 5th – £15) – so would be hoping for at least something similar for this tournament.

Feel free to share with anyone you feel might be interested – more entries = more prize money! Entry fees to be paid to the usual footy comp account or Paypal. If you aren’t one of my regular players then drop me an email with your contact details.
Account Name: Martin Grierson
Sort Code: 12-60-50
Account Number: 03697698
(NB: you may get a warning about the account name, it is fine (I don’t think Sainsburys Bank have signed up to the account name checking system!)
Paypal: martin.grierson@gmail.com

Super 6 – End of Season

The fat lady has sung and the season is now complete!

Peter Wooldridge had a 5 point lead going into the final round of games – he ended up on 491 points and is the champion by 2 points! Congratulations to Peter as he takes £130 for his winnings!
Jordan Laite was 4th but his 18 points left him as the round’s top scorer and he leapfrogged into the runners up position and bags £50.
Peter Carroll was 2nd but had to settle for 3rd place, and £30. Similarly, Trevor Faulkner dropped a place to 4th and won £25. Stuart Davies clung onto 5th place and won £15.

Both cup competitions are complete. The league cup was settled when Shaun McGee beat Paul Maiden in the final. The final of the knockout competition was also recently completed when Paul Murphy beat Matthew Kitching. Both cup winners get £75 each, with the runners up taking £25.

I will be in touch with all prize winners to sort out their winnings.

Fantasy Football – End of Season

And that’s that! The season is now over!

In the league, there was no change in the top 5 money places.
Owen Donnelly is this season’s champion. He finished on 2559 points – 36 points ahead of 2nd place and takes the top prize of £170 – as well as the £75 from winning the Fantasy League Cup. Congratulations to Owen!
Greg Tarka finished in 2nd place on 2523 points and takes £100 in prize money.
Martyn Dring took 3rd place – and £50 – with 2509 points.
Ewan White finished 4th place on 2498 points and wins £30.
Melvin Pool takes the final money place as he finished 5th and wins £20.

The final of the knockout competition was played over the final weekend and was contested between 4th and 5th place – Ewan White and Melvin Pool. Both managers had 9 players the same!! It was all down to the other 2 players – Ewan scored 2 points from Ben White and 14 points from Alexander Isak. Melvin scored 14 points from Pedro Porro and 2 points from Cody Gapko. This meant that both teams scored 62 points – but Melvin made an extra transfer which cost him 4 points so Ewan won – 62-58. Ironically, it looks like one of Melvin’s transfers was Gapko for Isak – if he had left Isak in he would have won the final! Congratulations and £75 to Ewan! Commiserations and £25 to Melvin!

The league cup was already settled, a couple of weeks back with Owen Donnelly beating David Grice in the final. They won £75 and £25 respectively.

I will be in touch with the winners to arrange prize payouts!

LMS – Game 5 – Round 7 Results

Web Site

LMS Rules

LMS Hall of Fame

19th May

33 players were still standing for Round 7 – the final round of this season. Four different teams had been picked in this round – all of them playing at home.

All games kicked off at 4pm on Sunday this week.
Arsenal faced Everton at the Emirates – Ewan White, Jack Horsler, Joey O’Brien and Olly Woodward were hoping the Gunners could keep their title dream alive with a win and after going a goal down went through with a 2-1 win. Chelsea hosted Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge – eleven players were hoping the Londoners could bow out with a win and were rewarded with a 2-1 win. Liverpool took on Wolves at Anfield – sixteen players were hoping the Reds could handle the emotion of Jurgen Klopp’s last game in charge and a 2-0 was enough for them. Manchester City played West Ham at the Etihad – only two players could still pick the Champions and both James Murphy and Kenny Rogers took a 3-1 win for City.

Rushing to get this out before heading to work – I will contact all 33 players for a final decision on what they want to do but, based on the survey, the majority of players will continue this game at the start of next season (alongside a brand new game) with a slightly reduced pot (as some players indicated they would like to take their share now). A full update can be viewed here.

		Round 7
		19-May
1	Alex Ramsden	Chelsea
2	Andrew Wilkinson	Liverpool
3	Andy Burns	Chelsea
4	Chris Grierson	Liverpool
5	Chris Mowles	Liverpool
6	Dan Milton	Liverpool
7	Dave Brown	Chelsea
8	Dave Nicholls	Liverpool
9	Dave Phillips	Liverpool
10	David Hayhoe	Chelsea
11	Ewan White	Arsenal
12	Gemma Jackson	Chelsea
13	Gerry Doherty	Chelsea
14	Jack Horsler	Arsenal
15	Jackie Milton	Chelsea
16	James Murphy	Manchester City
17	Joey O'Brien	Arsenal
18	Josh Wignall	Liverpool
19	Kenny Rogers	Manchester City
20	Kevin Robinson	Liverpool
21	Lauren Haigh	Liverpool
22	Lisa Mensah	Chelsea
23	Martin Grierson	Liverpool
24	Martin McShane	Liverpool
25	Michael Thomas	Liverpool
26	Neil Metcalf	Chelsea
27	Olly Woodward	Arsenal
28	Paul Hallett	Chelsea
29	Pauline Jackson	Liverpool
30	Sandra Emmett	Liverpool
31	Steve Smith	Chelsea
32	Tony Raybould	Liverpool
33	Tony Smith	Liverpool

TEAM	PICKS	%
Arsenal	4	12%
Chelsea	11	33%
Liverpool	16	48%
Manchester City	2	6%
	33	100%

ROUND 7
Sun, May 19
Arsenal 16:00 Everton
Brentford 16:00 Newcastle
Brighton 16:00 Man Utd
Burnley 16:00 Nott’m Forest
Chelsea 16:00 Bournemouth
Crystal Palace 16:00 Aston Villa
Liverpool 16:00 Wolves
Luton 16:00 Fulham
Man City 16:00 West Ham
Sheffield Utd 16:00 Spurs

LMS – Game 5 – Round 7

Web Site

LMS Rules

LMS Hall of Fame

19th May

33 players are still standing for Round 7 – the final round of this season. Four different teams have been picked in this round – all of them playing at home.

All games are kicking off at 4pm on Sunday this week.
Arsenal face Everton at the Emirates – Ewan White, Jack Horsler, Joey O’Brien and Olly Woodward are hoping the Gunners can keep their title dream alive with a win. Chelsea host Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge – eleven players are hoping the Londoners can bow out with a win. Liverpool take on Wolves at Anfield – sixteen players are hoping the Reds can handle the emotion of Jurgen Klopp’s last game in charge. Manchester City play West Ham at the Etihad – only two players could still pick the Champions elect and both James Murphy and Kenny Rogers will be hoping for a City win.

All remaining 33 players have been emailed with a survey link to see what they would want to do in the expected situation that a large amount of players will still be standing after this final round of the season and be entitled to a share in the pot. I have had 24 responses – 6 of those indicating that they would like to take a share (although a couple of respondents have said they would like to see what it looks like after this round), so the rest would continue into next season with a reduced pot after others have taken their share. I will confirm with all remaining players after the game is concluded. There is an outside chance that all 4 teams could fail to win and the pot would roll over to next season!! A full update can be viewed here.

		Round 7
		19-May
1	Alex Ramsden	Chelsea
2	Andrew Wilkinson	Chelsea
3	Andy Burns	Liverpool
4	Chris Grierson	Liverpool
5	Chris Mowles	Liverpool
6	Dan Milton	Liverpool
7	Dave Brown	Chelsea
8	Dave Nicholls	Liverpool
9	Dave Phillips	Liverpool
10	David Hayhoe	Chelsea
11	Ewan White	Arsenal
12	Gemma Jackson	Chelsea
13	Gerry Doherty	Chelsea
14	Jack Horsler	Arsenal
15	Jackie Milton	Chelsea
16	James Murphy	Manchester City
17	Joey O'Brien	Arsenal
18	Josh Wignall	Liverpool
19	Kenny Rogers	Manchester City
20	Kevin Robinson	Liverpool
21	Lauren Haigh	Liverpool
22	Lisa Mensah	Chelsea
23	Martin Grierson	Liverpool
24	Martin McShane	Liverpool
25	Michael Thomas	Liverpool
26	Neil Metcalf	Chelsea
27	Olly Woodward	Arsenal
28	Paul Hallett	Chelsea
29	Pauline Jackson	Liverpool
30	Sandra Emmett	Liverpool
31	Steve Smith	Chelsea
32	Tony Raybould	Liverpool
33	Tony Smith	Liverpool

TEAM	PICKS	%
Arsenal	4	12%
Chelsea	11	33%
Liverpool	16	48%
Manchester City	2	6%
	33	100%

Fantasy Football

As we head into the final round of games of the season, a quick update on where things stand…….

In the league, Owen Donnelly sits in top place on 2503 points with a 47 point lead over 2nd placed Greg Tarka – surely he has done enough to take the title (and complete a league and cup double)? Greg will be anxiously looking over his shoulder as he has a 7 point lead over 3rd placed Martyn Dring. Ewan White is in 4th place – 13 points behind Martyn and Melvin Pool sits a further 18 points behind Ewan, in the 5th (and final) money place. Melvin has a 23 point lead over Dianne Sparkes so will be hoping he can’t be caught himself!

The league cup was already settled, a couple of weeks back with Owen Donnelly beating David Grice in the final. The final of the knockout competion is to be played over the final weekend and will be contested between Ewan White and Melvin Pool (Ewan made it through the semi final after drawing 144-144 with Martyn Dring but progressed based on least goals conceded by his players!).

Good luck to all of those still with an interest in the final weekend’s events! I will update next week with the final standings!

Super 6 Update

As we head into the final round of games of the season, a quick update on where things stand…….

In the league, Peter Wooldridge sits in top place on 483 points with a 5 point lead over 2nd placed Peter Carroll. Peter himself has a 5 point lead over 3rd placed Trevor Faulkner. Things get even tighter then as Jordan Laite sits 2 places further back in 4th and Stuart Davies just 2 points behind him! Only 8 points separate 5th from 10th place so a good week for Stephen Corbett, Paul Maiden, Richard Gibbons, Debra Haigh or Paul Murphy could see any of them move into the money places.

Both cup competitions are complete. The league cup was settled when Shaun McGee beat Paul Maiden in the final. The final of the knockout competion was also recently completed when Paul Murphy beat Matthew Kitching.

Good luck to all of those still with an interest in the final weekend’s events! I will update next week with the final standings!