Promotion War

by Paul Price, Chief Football Reporter, SPFA.

In the Neville Southall championship you have to think of spfa new boys FC Hotspur as favourites for the title. They will be looking for prolific striker Alvaro Vargas to fire them into the premiership at their first attempt. As well as Vargas, manager Shane Darby has also spent £135,000 on Sam Vokes to make a rather explosive strike force. Along with FC Hotspur - transferring from eefa to the spfa - comes another three sides. One of those is Watts Wanderers who will also be considered as title contenders. Last seasons playoff final losers Enugu Rangers will be hoping to go one better this campaign although as of yet they haven't made any new signings of any note. With plenty of transfer activity, Harold Hill fc were the busiest spending just short of £400,000 on seven players. The highest fee paid was the £500,000 Hasar Utd spent on striker Mohsen Mosalman.

Many think the Ivan Zamorano championship will be a no contest with Zahid's Samba FC being made 2/1 odds on favourites to take the crown. Some bookies are offering as little as 5/1 for them to go all season without losing a league game. Looking beyond Samba FC is Matt Coggins' Gooners fc. After relegation on the final day of last season, Matt will be hoping he can bounce straight back up and has signalled his intent by spending the bulk of his budget on midfield playmaker Adel Taarabt. England are the ones to watch in this season. Back from a long absence due to problems at home, Matt Payne has bought no fewer than nine reinforcements spending a cool £1.6m. His 'all English' policy has made him a favourite with the neutrals therefore regularly packing out his current 13,200 seater stadium. Work is currently undergoing at Wembley to increase the capacity to 17,680. Another active team in the transfer market was Hornstulls Eagles who made a total of eleven new signings. A total of £6.28m was spent on transfers in pre season by Zamorano championship clubs!

Last but definitely not least is the John McDermott championship. This is by far the hardest league to predict. Looking at the title you could back any from F.C Phoenix, Py United, Aye Ready FC, Enterprise and I could carry on through the whole list. It would take a fool to bet against even Yaktopian Yaks and Rangers88. One of three big signings during pre season includes Aye Ready FC. Unwilling to risk a possible wage auction Steven Scott decided to make an offer that couldn't be refused, signing creative striker Aaron for £1m. Chris Schofield went a little bit younger in signing Daniel Cornejo also for £1m from the youth academy that is Real B.O.C.A. In a bid to cure his sides rather leaky defence, Rangers88 manager David Cooper signed experienced French goalkeeper Steve Mandanda for £1.2m.

It's going to be exciting at the top this season in the championships and I just want to wish all sides good luck in their bid for reaching the promised land!

The League Of Death

by Paul Price, Chief Football Reporter, SPFA

So, onto another new season, season 9, and the premier competition in the Lineker game world just seems to get harder and tighter as the seasons go on. You only have to look at the members to see how much quality there is in the league. Four of the five top teams in the world and only four teams out of the top 100.

It's hard to predict winners and losers but for the title you can't really look beyond Emerson Park fc, The Tangerine Candyfloss, Atletico Beer Barrel and Tensixty. All four teams will be right up there challenging for the title but the current favourites have to be champions Emerson Park. With possibly the best strike partnership around in Pato and Noorlander, they have the ability of terrorising any defence. Unlike Emerson Park, The Candyfloss have strengthened their side with three new signings, including fullback Jerome Boateng - a £1.2m signing from Fulham fc. Tensixty have so far decided against any real changes - although the season is still a couple of days away - with the philosophy of "if it aint broke, don't fix it." Talk of "Atletico Agers" has been laughed of by manager Dan Taylor. The squad still posses speed throughout and as long as Jovetic is supplied the ball, he will supply the net. Add to that the new signing of Ismail Aissati for £1.5m and you've got one excellent attacking force.

Moving to the other end of the league, it is again hard to predict. Some say Paul Price doesn't have the tactical know-how to keep his Groove Machine in the top division and it looks like it will be a long hard season for them, even after the £1.6m signing of goalscorer Jozy Altidore. The tactical assistant all clubs receive once the season starts cannot come quick enough. Other favourites for the drop are The Wheatsheaf fc and newly promoted Anfield Rovers who have the youngest manager in the league at just 13. Jac will be hoping his two new signings N'Gossan and Dialiba will produce the goods to keep them above the bottom six.

Another side worth noting is FC Ballaghkeen. Manager Michael O’Connor has recruited no fewer than five new players, spending just over £2m in the hope of breaking into that top 7. Looking around it is difficult to find any major changes in personnel, with many deciding to stick with what they already have. Mark Benson deserves a note though with his £1.4m signing of goalkeeper Rene Adler. With an already quality and well disciplined side, they could well emerge as dark horses in the title race.

It's going to be hard to better last season's last day heroics at both ends of the table, but it will be an exciting year where every lost point could cost a team dearly.

Let battle commence!

Ivan Zamorano Championship Awards Season 8

The awards for the Ivan Zamorano Championship Season 8 are as follows:

Most Valuable Player (MVP):
Inter Reisha's Omar Koroma scores the highest season average rating with 7.49 from his 28 games. Enugu Ranger's Brian Sarmiento was next with 7.40 from 30.

Least Valuable Player (LVP):
Of the players that played in the majority of games, Bjarni Vidarsson of West Woodland Wanderers played 27 games achieving a poor rating of 6.42.

Golden Boot:
Inter Reisha's Omar Koroma netted 26 goals in his 28 games to win the Golden Boot, while Insideout FC's Vladimir Yurchenko was runner up with 25 from 30 games.

Man of the Match :
Omar Koroma had 11 MOM's from his 28 games, followed by 10 from Enugu Rangers' Bojan Malinic.


Playmaker:
Enugu Rangers' Hayden Sheridan finished with 16 assists during the season while Anfield Rovers' Faton Toski was next setting up 15.

Scum Award:
Joint winners, or joint hated players are Hugo of Inter Reisha & Emeghara of Enugu Rangers who both committed 67 fouls in their 30 matches! City Rangers' Spillane was the only player to see 2 red cards this season, not very social!


Sympathy Award:
Francesco Lodi of City Rangers was fouled 90 times in his 30 games! John Pantsil of Cydonian Knights was next with 78 fouls from 28 games.

Most optimistic:
FC Phoenix's Ched Evans was waved offside the most times (80 in total) with Beto of Perth FC 19 behind on 60! I must sort him out!


Good luck to Novy in the Prem next season, and whoever joins him out of Jac & Ed