The FFFL - Manager History
As we approach the 26th
Fareham Fantasy Football League and before we review the season ahead, let us
look at the history of the league, the honours won and the consistency of the
managers over the past 25 years.
To do this the stats over each season are
averaged via each managers league position within their participation in the
league.
In order of best performing
league position average:
Manager: Ian Thompson
FFFL appearances: 25
Best League Position: 1st
Honours:
League Title: 1995/1996, 1997/1998, 2000/2001, 2003/2004,
2013/2014
FA Cup: 1997/1998, 1999/2000,
2001/2002, 2005/2006, 2006/2007
CNDP Cup: 2016/2017
League Cup: 1996/1997
Manager of the month: 33.5
Average League Position: 3.64
Total Trophies Won: 12
Verdict: Although significantly behind
the special one (AKA Foxy) in league titles, Thompo is one ahead in overall
trophies won. Consistency of league position has given him the top spot and his
honours list are not to be argued against. The Brummies’ in their 25 seasons have only
been out the top 6 on 3 occasions.
Manager: Sir Ian Fox
FFFL appearances: 25
Best League Position: 1st
Honours:
League Title Winner: 1993/94,
1999/2000, 2002/2003, 2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2008/2009, 2011/2012, 2017/2018
FA Cup: 2000/2001, 2010/2011
CNDP Cup: 2017/2018
Manager of the month: 35
Average League Position: 4.45
Total Trophies Won: 11
Verdict: There is no doubting Ian can
proclaim his self-named title as the “Special One.” 8 titles won over a course of 25 years,
averaging a title win every 3.12 seasons.
The average league position has only been brought down by the shocking
2003/2004 season where his auction was somewhat a daze due to the heat and
alcohol as the FFFL were left shocked with the No-Hopers taking the wooden
spoon. Foxy has only finished 6 times out of the top 6 and is the champions of
champions.
FFFL appearances: 25
Best league position: 1st
Honours:
League Title: 2009/2010
FA Cup: 2004/2005, 2009/2010
Unicum Cup: 2014/2015
League Cup: 1999/2000
Manager of the month: 19
Average league position: 4.92
Total Trophies Won: 5
Verdict: When you have managed
finishing runner-up in the league on 7 occasions the average league position over
25 years should be decent. Along the way
5 trophies have been won, with the long overdue title finally achieved in
2009/2010. After the title win a further
4 league runner up spots were achieved within 5 seasons. Banham has only been
out of the top 5 once in the last 13 seasons.
Manager: Mark Sager:
FFFL appearances: 14
Best league position: 1st
Honours:
League Title: 2012/2013, 2014/2015,
2016/2017
FA Cup: 2011/2102
Manager of the month: 6.5
Average league position: 5.21
Total Trophies Won: 4
Verdict: It would be interesting to see
the track record of Mr Sager had he been in the league over 25 years. 3 title wins and the only manager (other than
the “Special One”) to directly retain the league has guided the Tigers manager
to become the third most successful title winning manager. Mark has never been out of the top 8 in his 14
seasons, 8 of those within the top 6.
FFFL appearances: 11
Best League Position: 1st
Honours:
League Title: 2001/2002
Manager of the Months: 10
Average League position: 5.90
Total Trophies Won: 1
Verdict: Duncan came into the FFFL in
fantastic fashion, third place in his debut season (2000/2001), he then
followed it up with winning the title (2001/2002) and then two consecutive
runners up seasons. On departing the
league after the 2005/2006 season, N17 returned in 2011/12 with some
inconsistent performances. This was
until last season where he appeared to have his mojo back as he finished runner
up to some tattooed madmen. It appears
Dunk is now back on track and is averaging just outside the champion league
positions.
FFFL appearances: 25
Best League Position: 1st
Honours:
League Title 2004/2005, 2010/2011
FA Cup: 1996/1997, 2012/2013
Manager of the Months: 20
Average League Position: 6.76
Total Trophies Won: 4
Verdict: It is never easy when your South London
rival has lifted the title a record 8 times.
Living in the shadow of Sir Ian, Darrell has still secured 2
title wins, as well as 2 FA Cup wins. Recent
rumours have suggested that due to the South London rivalry Darrell was so fed
up with Foxy winning the title, he kept the shield himself and declared it
lost. Until last season’s disappointing
9th place finish (although it was celebrated as Foxy came 10th),
Darrell had not been out the top 7 since 2008/2009.
Manager: Jason Toman
FFFL appearances: 22
Best league position: 1st
Honours:
League Title: 2007/2008
FA Cup: 2007/2008
Unicum Cup: 2013/2014
Manager of the month: 6
Average league position: 7.27
Total Trophies Won: 3
Verdict: Very much an entertainer in
his FFFL strategy, Jase has always looked at goals from midfield and in more
recent seasons key contributions. The
other key criteria to make a Jase squad is if a player has a surname that makes
him chuckle. The Brian Clough of
Droxford has 3 trophies to his name, a league title and is a winner of cups in
both the old FA Cup and the new Champions League format. A league average could have been higher if
goalkeepers had not been an issue in the last 2 seasons. This season could see that change.
Manager: Iain Deuchars
FFFL appearances: 12
Best league position: 2nd
Honours: None
Manager of the month: 4
Average league position: 7.5
Total Trophies Won: None
Verdict: Unlike the other 2 Ians with
just one I, Iain has not been as successful since arriving in the league 12
seasons ago. There were seasons where it looked like Jiggy would triumph, but
it ended in heartache after finishing runner up in both the league and cup in
2010/2011 and again in 2015/2016. Due
to this a change of team name was made, and they became Jiggy’s Bottlers. Since such disappointment there has never
been a real challenge under his management, with recent form similar to his
real-life team Arsenal. A new team name
is now in place for the season ahead, could this change fortunes?
FFFL appearances: 14
Best league position: 3rd
Honours: None
Manager of the month: 6
Average League Position: 8.28
Total Trophies Won: None
Verdict:
Very similar to Jiggy, silverware is very much overdue for Leon as
he approaches his fifteenth season in the FFFL.
Pressure has mounted on the man who last season took a sabbatical over
in Las Vegas to get away from the stress of running a fantasy football league
team. The strain has shown over the
years with Leon, he joined the league with brown hair which has now turned completely
grey. Pressure had been so much that the
FFFL chairman use to have annual contact around April time, with Mr Garner resigning
from the league only to then change his mind with days to go before the auction. After having finally taken that sabbatical,
could this be Leon’s year for a trophy?
Manager: Benny Hutchings
FFFL appearances: 25
Best League Position: 2nd
Honours:
League Cup: 2000/2001
Manager of the months: 10
Average final league position: 9.28
Total Trophies Won: 1
Verdict: Although Ben was pipped to the post by Pat
for pride of Berkshire last season, the average final league position and
League Cup victory still has Jumpers For Goalposts leading the bragging
rights………. just. After Pat’s performance
last season there might be a need for Benny to up his game, although last
seasons 8th place was his best performance since 5th
place back in 2010/2011.
Manager: Steve Hennessy
FFFL appearances: 25
Best league position: 2nd
Honours:
FA Cup: 2003/2004
League Cup: 1993/1994
Manager of the month: 10
Average league position: 9.84
Total Trophies Won: 2
Verdict: What happened to the
Plunderers under Steve? A league cup triumph in 1993/94, FA Cup 2003/2004,
finishes of 2nd, 4th (three
times) and 5th, there always appeared to be some optimism for Mr
Hennessy. Yet since finishing 4th back in 2005/2006 his best finish has
been 8th in 2011/2012 and since then it has been 9th or
below. On lookers have suggested he
failed to change his style, where he used to have kickers in his team, he has
introduced more flamboyant players, yet he has still asked the likes of David
Silva to play hoof football. What can we
expect with De Bruyne this season? Can they play football or shall Steve resort
to the long ball?
Manager: Pat Whelan
FFFL appearances: 2
Best league position: 7th
Honours: None
Manager of the month: 1
Average league position: 10
Total Trophies: None
Verdict: With only 2 seasons in the
league after joining in 2017/2018, it is hard to review the consistency of Pat
in the FFFL. After a debut season where
13th place (second from bottom) was achieved, Pat went on to have a
great second season, finishing 7th and making the CNDP Cup Final. With the significant improvement it shall be
interesting to see how Pat fares in his third season, with him now being
totally comfortable with how the league works.
Manager: Tony Smithers
FFFL appearances: 17
Honours:
League Title: 2018/2019
FA Cup: 1996/1997
CNDP Cup: 2018/2019
Manager of the month: 11.5
Manager of the month: 11.5
Average league position: 10.29
Total Trophies Won: 3
Verdict: It seems strange to see Tony’s
league average rating down at second from bottom. Last seasons double winning
manager had a phenomenal season. The
reason is due to historical league positions between 1993 – 2007 where apart
from seasons finishing 4th and 5th it was mainly 12th,
13th, 14th place finishes. Even though they were poor placings the big
man still managed an FA Cup win in 1996/1997, no surprise that it was also
Chelsea who won the FA Cup Final that season.
Those who were in the league then shall recall whilst at Butlins
watching Di Matteo scoring after just 43 seconds, with Tone returning from Wembley
singing Suggs’s Blue Day (Chelsea Chelsea).
Since being back in the league though Tone is a different animal, hoping
to continue his trophy winning form.
Manager: Alan Lee
FFFL appearances: 25
Best League Position: 3rd
Honours:
FA Cup: 2008/2009
League Cup: 1994/95
Manager of the month: 8
Average league position: 12.6
Total Trophies Won: 2
Verdict: It shall come as no surprise to some to see Alan at the
bottom, but in amongst those wooden spoons there have been reasons for him to
celebrate. Victory in both the league
cup and FA cup, as well as a league finish as high as 3rd back in
2011/2012. Al usually has a strategy
that includes a top-class Premiership forward, it just so happens that when he
signs them, they seem to obtain long term injuries. It is well known though if Alan put in a team
most weeks and avoided ghosts his league position average would be a higher.
Conclusion: Over the 25 years the stats confirm that Ian Fox and Ian Thompson are miles ahead as the most successful managers.
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