Detailed Version - Things Can Only Get Better……Season 25/26....
- Steve Prestidge
- May 31
- 20 min read
Updated: Jul 28
24/25 saw Liverpool win the League, with only 1 more point than they got in 23/24.
They managed this, despite Arsenal celebrating winning it in October at The Emirates.
Chelsea and Forest battled it out for a Champions League spot on the final day (seriously how does a team finishing fourth/fifth in any division deserve to be playing in a competition reserved for last season's Champions), whereas Spurs settled for 17th, and then rightfully took their place in the next year's competition by becoming Champions of Europe (ish).
PSG won the Champions League, only the 12th team to Qualify as Champions from the previous season to win it (over 2/3rds of the titles have been won by clubs that didn't).
This despite Arsenal celebrating winning it at The Emirates & The Bernabau in April.
Chelsea are able to claim they’re the only team to win all Europe’s trophies by taking the Conference League. Real, Barcelona, Inter, PSG, Bayern and many other teams have had their boards googling the Conference League to find out why they haven’t won it, and how bad do they need to be to have a go at winning it.
Apparently Todd Boehly is hoping to enter his Hotel Singers into Eurovision next year so they can claim that as well. Hold on, do they have a hotel now.
And finally Arsenal became Champions of Europe, making Robbie proud, and Chelsea’s women went unbeaten. Hold on. I thought they sold them. So surely it’s was the Blue Co that went unbeaten
Meanwhile
In the 'Our' World, we had New Champions
In The GuessWork The Grooneys hit the front early in 2025, and held on for the most of it. Challenges came from 58 Years Of Hurt and 2 T'Wire, 58 Years even taking top spot a couple of times during the run in, but in the end The Grooneys held out. And, for the third season on the spin, 2 T’Wire were left as runners-up (no they don't support Arsenal) 😳, by the smallest of margins from 58 Years.
In The Picks, newbie, MullenVoid was obviously inspired by the luxury of sitting round my pool whilst they made their selections for the season, and took the title as a result. They were run close by Moves Like Saka, Lard Lovers XI and Racing Todabogs as it was more of a battle this time round than last. But the reigning Champs from last season edged out Moves Like Saka and they took 2nd & 3rd
In the cups, TumbleDwyer won the first one, The Grand Prix Trophy. They had a storming start to the season, when they also claimed the record for the most points, ever, in a single round (119.33) and then watched nobody else really put a run of results together to catch them.
SpursCollectables won The Last Team Standing Trophy last time, and were first out this!!!
The competition run in the second half of the campaign, saw Hazard's Arse surviving elimination by staying out of the bottom 2/3 players every round from New Years Day to the end to win the Trophy this time round.... (I obviously don’t mean they actually win a trophy…)
It was Cup Glory for 2 T'Wire. In a competition that had half of the 32 taking part on negative points going into the last round, they scrambled TWO Guaranteed scores in the final round, to get the points required. It was close. Addick Fan took second and The Grooneys were left ruing not banking, as they predicted 6 correct scores in the final round out of the 16 Finals taking place, and ended up settling for third.
2 T'Wire also beat Bachman & Robin in the Head2Head Final of The Cup, with Borussia Munchingflapjack grabbing 3rd Place.
If you're new, and you're actually reading this far, you'll be thinking WTF does that all mean. In truth most of the 60 involved last time round will probably think the same, if they actually read this. So let me explain, or at the very least make an attempt to, and, at the same time, cover what's in store for 25/26.
But, before I start, let me confirm the charity being supported by us for the new Season. We’ve settled on 8 different charities we rotate between each season/competition, and this time it’s the turn of MacMillan Cancer Support.
Season 24/25 sign-ups raised £670.58 for The British Heart Foundation largely from a percentage of all signing on fees and other kind donations you added. I'm sure we'll match that sum again from 25/26.
If you're a new joiner, then the donation will increase to £20.00
It will bring the total raised to just over £8,500 over the last few years from the competitions you've joined in, more than any individual has managed to win in the same time. Thanks everyone. (Details of sums sent to the eight charities so far are on Home page on the website, as well as links to each of their sites)
OK, here's what you'll be getting involved in during the 25/26 season, if/when you decide to come and have a go.
AND, this year you can earn a £10.00 credit to any future competition when you introduce a new player as a player for the new season. All they need to do is confirm you nominated them in the comments.
THE GUESSWORK LEAGUE
This is the Rolls Royce of the Competition. And It's Simple. Really. Honest .
Every round, there are 12 games selected by me for you to predict the scores on. An expanded Super Six if you like, without the £250,000 pay out.
Most of the time it's the 10 Premier League games plus two others from across Europe, but there are some rounds when we go rogue, and either include a mid-week Carabao Cup round, or a full European Cup round, or even, when needs be, an International round at the weekend, when qualifiers are being played.
Sometimes the result of the Venezia versus AC Milan on a Sunday night could become a key part of your weekend 🤔
AND NEW THIS SEASON - I’VE ADDED THE PLAYER OF THE ROUND pick. Every time it's a Premier League Round, there will be a short list of players from the games in the round, and, you will get to choose one, who will win you points. The order of the players will be decided by the points they win in The Picks/Fantasy Manager (see below), and if you have the best player, you'll get 10 points. Second is worth 7, third worth 5, 4th worth 3 and fifth a point.
START DATE
It just gets earlier and earlier, well it feels like it does, and perhaps with a World Cup coming in 2026 there's a planned earlier end to everything. League 1 and League 2 games start over the weekend of 1st (FIRST) August, and The Championship starts the following weekend, with The Premier League starting 7 days later.
Our First GuessWork Round will focus on teams that have been promoted and relegated, in the EFL, and will start on 8th August. We end again with the final round including playoffs and finals across Europe with the very last game of Round 52, and The GuessWork Competition, being the Champions League Final.
Effectively we’re taking it from the first kick off the season, to the very last, and have extended the competition by 2 rounds this season
Here's the 25/26 Schedule.
Therefore, your Mission, should you choose to accept it, is, well it’s simple really. Get as many scores, and if not scores, results, correct as you can from the 12 games you need to predict each round.
Scores are obviously worth more points than just getting the result right, and if you can pick some ‘special ones’ then the points haul can be lucrative. And, If you bank on these scores then you can double or treble the amount. There's more on Banking a bit later.
Avoid really wrong guesses (you say it's a home win, but it ends up an away one), as these will result in a points deduction, and if you're going to Bank, get it right, the penalties for getting wrong hurt.
Guess correctly, and do it consistently, and you might just be crowned Champion when the final ball is kicked in Budapest on the 30th May.
And, each round, your predictions/guesses (delete as you feel appropriate) also automatically enter you into a few other competitions
GRAND PRIX & LAST TEAM STANDING
Your ‘predictions’ will decide how you fair in the two cup competitions held during the season. In the first half of the season, The Grand Prix Trophy awards the same points each round to the players finishing in the top 10, that the first ten drivers get in the F1 races
So 25 points for first, 18 for second, 15 for third down to 1 point for 10th
Come Boxing Day, the final round of this competition starts and then the eventual winner is declared before we get into 2026.
These Points per Round differ from the Main points slightly though, as there are based on Pure Points only. Effectively it ignores Bankers (right or wrong) and Wrong Predictions and just focuses on games you got right, and the points you won on them.
So the best points scorer in the GuessWork each round might not be, and usually isn't, the winner of the Grand Prix each round
The Last Team Standing competition then begins in the New Year and runs through to the final round. The worst players fall by the wayside each round, and we end up with 6/7 survivors in the Final round, with the team then performing best being declared the winner
AND, in 23/24 over the last seven rounds of the season, we introduced The Magnificent 7. It was tweaked last season to give everyone the Final Chance of winning some pennies from the Season... It will be contested again, this time, with all the players split into 7 groups, with 7 rounds to go, so the best in the league at the end of Round 43 go into Group A, the Worst in Group G, with the winners from each Group over the next six rounds then shooting out in the Final Round.
There's always plenty going on......
TO BANK OR NOT TO BANK
There can be some huge rewards when you 'Bank' on correct scores, but as we all found out so often last season, huge pain when you get it wrong. Points won can be doubled or trebled when using Bankers, but penalties are higher the more daring you get.
There's always been 2 options, well 3 if you include not picking one.
An Enhanced Banker, costs you a point, and will double any points won. If you get it wrong, then typically you'll lose around 5/6 points on one of these.
A Guaranteed Banker, costs you two points, and will treble any points won. Get this wrong, it's likely to cost you around 10/12 points.
NEW FOR 25/26, is the option of An Immune Banker. It's going to cost four points, and will treble any points won. Get this wrong though, and you won't get hit with the penalty points, you'll just be deducted the 4 points you spent on picking it.
You will be able to spend up to 6 points each round on Bankers, or choose not to. It's up to you.
THE PICKS
However, before a ball is kicked, you'll need to make 'Your Picks'. I said you’ll need to. You can leave it all to chance if you prefer, or make some Picks, but then go Random for certain groups
The trick is to pick teams that will 'excel' beyond expectations Every team has a coefficient set by the previous seasons performance and these ‘handicaps’ influence the points the teams (and players of those teams) get every game
These rankings are set to reward the unexpected, but worthy, predictions and results, and level the playing field a little. I think we’d all agree that Liverpool beating Burnley 2-0 at Anfield is much more likely than Burnley beating Liverpool 2-0, so the coefficients reflect that. You’ll get more points for a Burnley 2-0 win (17.43) than you would a Liverpool 2-0 win (9.09), based on their ratings at the start of the season.
So you're looking to spot teams that will perform above and beyond what they did in 24/25. Wrexham was the top team across all the divisions covered last year, (and third best the year before) just ahead of Stockport and Sunderland. These teams far out played the positions from the previous season. Crystal Palace, Exeter & Tamworth were the highest points scorers in the FA Cup, Palace scored nearly twice as many points as the second placed team, AND NOBODY PICKED THEM!!
Tamworth's draw with Spurs (we stop cup games at end of normal time) was worth 36 points if you had them as a cup choice (nobody did). Newcastle and Spurs were the best in the Carabao, Newcastle by some margin, Spurs mainly because they did face City, United and Liverpool, and beat all three.
In Europe Domestic Leagues, Bayern & Napoli won their leagues and were also the highest scoring teams here, but Marseille outscored PSG in France and Villarreal outscored Barcelona in Spain.
Across the three European Competitions, Chelsea, Tottenham & PSG were the greatest value, no surprise I guess as they took the honours.
Coefficients are set with the top team from last season in each division being set as 1.00, then the rest of the teams benchmarked against that. However, NEW THIS YEAR, they will adjust as the season progresses, game by game to take account of the new season. Game 1 in the Premier League will be all 24/25, Game 2 though will be made up of 37/38ths from 24/25 and 1/38th 25/26. By midway through the season it will be 50/50.
Promoted teams get the same coefficient as the team that just survived relegation in 24/25 (Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland have Tottenham’s coeff), relegated teams get the same coefficient as the team that just missed out on promotion (Southampton get Sheffield United’s coeff) .
We need to Pick League Teams, Cup Teams, and Players, from across Europe to make up our Picks. All then win (or lose) us points whenever they play in their League or the Cups. Player Picks will only score points in League games.
Teams will come from the top five tiers of the English League, and the top three tiers in Scotland, In Europe you’ll have two teams from the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A and La Liga, with one from the top half of last seasons table, and one from the bottom.
I've dropped the Women's and Saudi Pro Leagues from last season....
Picks for the domestic equivalents of the FA Cup across Scotland, France, Germany, Spain & Italy are all included, as is the Carabao Cup. The Champions League and the Europa Competitions are also included, with Picks from home and abroad needed, across both competitions, as well as the Europa League thing
In all the cup competitions, the points increase for wins and draws as the rounds progress, so teams going deeper into competitions will score more and bigger points.
FANTASY LEAGUE
The Fantasy League Manager started last season, and I'm building on it this time. and have edged a little closer this season to full on FFM with more transfer windows introduced, for those that want to play with it
The option to pick players FROM OUTSIDE THE PREMIER LEAGUE is still included, and I've lifted some of the restrictions on picks, and ditched a few all together.
Players will again earn points every league game that have been awarded by SofaScore (the app I use to collate most of the match data).
The player scores will be adjusted to reflect the time spent on the pitch, and also be further influenced by the opponent, and outcome. (This is where the coefficients kick in)
A 10 from SofaScore for a Arsenal player in a win against Leeds would not, once the coefficients have taken affect, be worth as much as a 10 in a win for a Leeds player against Arsenal, in my scores. (well not at the beginning of the season anyway)
Goals will be worth an additional 7 points, for the first goal in a game, and then 4 points for every other goal in the same game. Assists will be worth 1 point. These points will also be adjusted by coefficients, a Haaland hat trick against Spurs won't be worth as many points as as Maddison one against City.
All players will also have their own XG points deducted from their goals points total
If you’re a Uruguayan forward playing for a Merseyside club and it takes you 20 attempts to hit the target, your XG is going to hurt.
So your forward choices may be influenced by who they play for, and whether they have a habit of scoring regularly, or not so regular but when they do score it’s hat tricks all the way
You will need to pick 4 Forwards, and you're not restricted to the Premier League. But they must play for different clubs (when you pick them)
You will also need to pick two Goalies, again, not restricted to the Premier League.
Clean sheets (reduced this year as keepers seemed to have a slightly unfair advantage last time) will be worth 4 points for a keeper, 2.5 points for a defender and 1 point for a midfielder.
The points will be adjusted to reflect the time on the pitch for each player, and adjusted by team coefficients
Keepers will also get 1 point for every save they make, 2 for a penalty save, but they will be penalised a point per goal conceded. Their scores will either be added to, or reduced by, their Goals Prevented number.
You will then need to pick 5 more players as Wild Cards and again you can choose from across Europe.
You can pick any player, as long as they are not listed in the shortlists on the Entry Form for the Forward or Keeper selections, and, therefore, obviously any defenders or midfielders. The only rule is that all the 'Wild Cards' must play for different teams. So no, you can't have five Liverpool players (but if you had a Liverpool keeper and/or Forward, you can have one Liverpool player as a Wild Card)
For 25/26, players from the Premier League, The Championship, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A, German Bundesliga, Belgium's Pro-League, the Dutch Eredivisie, the Liga Portugal Betclic and the Super Lig Turkiye are all available for selection.
Transfer Windows will be open before every 4th or 5th Round, and made with the GuessWork Predictions for the round. The first window will be between Picks 4 & 5, the second between 9 & 10, and so on. Four transfers per window will be allowed, but you will not be able to Pick from groups higher than the one your player was in. So if your axing a Wild Card C player, you will only be able to Pick your replacement from the Wild Card Pools C, D or E. The pools will be on the website, and players will move up and down in the Pools based on their overall performances.
It's possible you could end up with all your Picks being in Pool A.... if you've been meticulous in your transfer windows
The Best Manager will be confirmed at the end of the season as a result of 'just' the player points won and lost, there is a FFM prize pot which will be split between the top three managers, and it’s being increased this season
There’s none of this FFP Rules rubbish to worry about (yet) 😉, you can have as many stars as you want as long as you read and adhere to the rules (listed at the end of this document for anyone that wants to read them)
So after the Summer Break we'll be BACK
Well there is the RIch Kid's World Club Summer Camp, Women's Euros, U19 Euros, England's Cricket, The Golf, oh and the F1 so if you've been involved in them, what summer break.......
So perhaps after no break at all, we’re BACK
25/26 gets underway 8th August, with deadlines for Picks and Round 1 due then.
Time to get moving.
Almost forgot, £45.00 for the season gets you into everything above. That's the same as last season. And, if it’s easier, you can send it in instalments. I will send out payment details at the beginning of August.
For Now, I just need to know if you're up for it, and if so complete the form below so I can get you set up.
Now for those of you really bothered, the rules and full on detail on points and stuff is below the joining form.
The Scoring & The Rules (The SmallPrint).
I'd recommend everyone has a read through, although it's not compulsory, and I mainly write it up to remind me of how it all works
FootyCompetition 24/25
The Competition will be made up of 2 parts, The GuessWork & The Picks.
You will need to make League Team, Cup Team & Player Picks before a ball is kicked.
There will then be 12 games every round that you will need to submit your predictions/guesses (delete as appropriate) on.
In the Premier League Rounds, there will also be a Player of The Round Pick.
Deadlines will be set for the guesswork to be submitted, and once all guesses have been received then ALL guesswork will appear on the website, before the Round Kicks Off.
In addition there will be Cup Competitions that your Guesswork will automatically enter you into, there's no need to do anything additional
Notification of receipt of your GuessWork will be shown on the GW Page on the website and on the League Table on the website.
You can request an emailed copy of your own guesswork when you submit it, which will be sent to you by return
I will chase a few times before the Deadline for outstanding predictions arrives
If GuessWork is received after the Deadline, no bankers will be allowed in the Round.
If GuessWork is received after Game 1 has kicked off, no bankers will be allowed, AND the results for the games that have kicked off will be treated as Wrong Guesses, with the penalty points applied
The more correct scores and the more correct results you 'guess', the more points you win.
A correct score is worth 10 points, plus an additional point per the margin of the win.
If you don't get the score right, but the margin of victory is correct, you guessed 2-0 instead of the 3-1 final score, you'll get 4 points plus the margin.
If you got the result right, but not the margin (you said 1-0 in the example above), you'll get 2 points,.
A correct draw earns you 4 points for each team plus the goals they score.
All points scored are then adjusted by the teams coefficients and enhanced again by 10% if the points won are in an away game.
I think we’d all agree, for example, that predicting a Tottenham 2-1 win at Chelsea, should carry more points than predicting a Chelsea 2-1 win at home to Spurs. The coefficients and the away win enhancement reflect this.
If the game ends in a draw, and you predicted a win, then you lose no points, you only got your guess wrong.
BUT if you get the outcome totally wrong, you guess a home win, and it's an away win, then you’ll lose points, equivalent to the ‘correct result points’ for this game.
This will be recorded in the table as 'Wrong Result' ('WX')
Every round you can use points to buy 'Bankers' that will increase the points you win if you're correct.
New for 25/26, there's a 6 point limit on Banker spends per round.
An Enhanced Banker costs you 1 point. It will double any points you win. But get the prediction wrong, and as well as the point you spent, you’ll lose the ‘correct’ margin points for that game.
A Guaranteed Banker costs you 2 points, and it will triple the points you win. Get this wrong and you lose points equivalent to the correct score for that game.
New for 25/26, An Immune Banker costs you 4 points, and it will triple the points you win, But get this wrong, then you only lose the banker points you spent it.
The winner will have the most points at the end of the season (52 rounds).
Before the Season begins, The Picks must be submitted.
Deadline for the Picks will be Friday Midday (UK Time) 1st August 2025
Teams you select in the Leagues will earn points in every league game they play, calculated in the same way as the Points described above.
Defeats will result in a points deduction
Wins for your Cup Teams will be worth the same as league games, in the first round played, and then increase as the rounds progress, x2 round 2, x3 round 3, and so on.
The round played is relevant to the team, not the cup round, so in the FA Cup 3rd round, if Wolves were drawn to play Bromley it’s the first round for Wolves but the third round for Bromley
The result used, will be the score at the end of Normal Time, therefore extra-time and penalties will be ignored
Replays WILL NOT count as additional games
Teams will be awarded additional points for away wins, as per the League games, and coefficients will count, making 'Giant Killers' extremely valuable.
Champions League and Europa League/Conference Group games will count as Round 1 Cup Games.
Points for the Knock-out games will increase each round as per cup games and both legs will count as 'Individual' games..
The Qualification Rounds will not be included, either pre-group stage, or the 9th - 24th place play-offs.
Player points will be scored in league games ONLY
Player Points will be given as per points awarded on SofaScore.
All players will receive 7 additional points for a goal scored in a game, 4 for any additional goals scored in the same game. Assists will be worth 1 point.
The XG (Expected Goals) for the player during the game will be deducted from points won before coefficients are applied.
Player Points will then be enhanced if the game was won, reduced if the game was lost. (Minus points will be INCREASED if games are lost)
The XG factor will reward the spectacular, and adjust points won for penalties being scored and missed. (A penalty has an XG of 0.79, a shot from 30 yards typically carries an XG of 0.02)
Goalkeepers will get 4 points for a clean sheet.
In addition they get a point for every save made in the game. A penalty save is worth an additional 2 points.
Each goal conceded carries a 1 point penalty, and obviously the clean sheet points have been forfeited as well
Keeper scores will also be adjusted by their Goals Prevented score.
Defenders will score 2.5 points for a clean sheet, midfielders will score a point. (Positions will be determined by the position shown on SofaScore/Me)
Team coefficients will be taken into account, and the amount of time spent on the pitch will also adjust the points finally won each games, as well as the outcome of the game (win, draw or loss)
Wild Cards can be a player from any position, including Forwards or Keepers if they ARE NOT shortlisted in the Forward or Goalkeeper groups on the Entry form.
All Wild Card players 'MUST" play for different teams, but can play for same teams as any Forwards or Keepers that have been chosen.
IF, at any time, players change clubs, which brings you in breach of the same club rule above (say you Pick Maddison and Bellingham as Wild Cards and then in January Bellingham joins Spurs as well), you DO NOT HAVE TO CHANGE any of the players.
The Player & Their club for your Picks will be determined at the time they have been received by me
There will be transfer windows opened during the season, where transfers can be made, roughly every fifth round
Four transfers per window will be allowed (none of this PSR/FFP stuff here)
The only restriction will be the pool you can transfer in from. If you're getting rid of a Forward from Group C, you can only sub in a forward in the current Forward Group C or D set. You can't sub in a player from a 'Higher' set. The players will move up and down the groups based on their performance across the season. Tables will be on the website
The first window is expected to be at the end of Round 4, the second at the end of Round 9 and so on
If your Picks are on the bench for the game and do not get on the field, they will be awarded 2 points, adjusted by coefficients and result, Getting on for the final minutes in a game might be more harmful than staying on the bench.
If they are suspended, they will not be awarded any points.
The Bonus/Tie-Breaks are worth 50 Points for each if you're spot on, a higher percentage of the points the closer you get to the correct answer. Guess there will be 1500 goals, and there are 1500 goals, it's worth a fifty points. Guess 1000, you'll get 33.33 of the points.
The Six this season will be
The Number of Goals scored in the 624
The Total XG of the teams from the 624
The Number of Own Goals scored in the 624
The Number of Penalties scored in the 624
The Number of times a team scores 4 or more in the 624
The Number of times a team fails to score in the 624
Any Cash Prizes Won during the season, will be paid out after The Champions League Final and the final places have been settled
Any monies won by Sutton Who ??? will result in half the winnings (subject to a maximum of £50.00) going to charity, with the 'next' team in the the competition being promoted to the prize winners and the balance of the money from the charity win being spread across the winning places, proportionately.
You can claim 25 points in The Picks to start the season off with a bonus if you've read the rules, to claim just message RULE 66 in the WhatsApp Group with no explanation, or message me back, and as long as I've got it before 7th August, I will add your 25 points to your Picks total.
Most important rule last. It is all just for a bit of fun really, and ultimately, whatever I say, goes.
There should be a Rule 69..... shouldn't there
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