Not Long Now

The countdown to the New Season has now started and we have a total of 14 days left before Season 40 entry forms are sent out on 8th July 2022. We have now had the full league fixtures for English and Scottish teams and here they are.

The Scottish League Cup first round group stages will start on the 9 July with all the leagues fixtures starting on 30 July.

The English Premier League will start their league fixtures on 6^th August. Championship with Leagues One and Two will start on 30^th July with the First Round of the League Cup starting on 9^th August.

If you would like to be part of our 40^th consecutive season of Golden Goals then please email me at goldengoals1983@gmail.com.  

All will be welcomed. The Entry Fee will once again be just £8 (UK) to join in all the fun.

  

Countdown to Season 40

To celebrate Golden Goals Season 40 we are going to have the biggest pay out in our 40 year history. 

The Champion will win £240

Second place £120 and Third Place £60 

So it’s time for you to start thinking about your three teams as we have a total of 18 days before the entry forms are sent out on the 8^th July 2022.

This unique competition has now been running for thirty-nine consecutive seasons and with forty just around the corner Golden Goals has stood the test of time.

The Competition first started way back in 1983 and has built up a regular fan base of an average total of 87 players per season but we would like more, much more. We would like to beat our top season with 149 players from the 2017/18 Season.

It’s not an easy task to pick three teams that could make you our 40th Champion, but that’s how football goes. As always it’s first come, first served so it’s important to get your teams in as quick as you can once the forms are out. 

How does the competition work? All you have to do is pick three football teams here in the UK from any English or Scottish leagues or you can mix up your choice from the two. Once you have picked your three teams and sent your entry form (Via email) with the entry fee, these teams will be unique to you as no-one else will have them three teams. These three teams could make you our 40^th Champion by scoring as many goals as they can.  Where do these goals come from? They will come from any league game, and from the two English and Scottish domestic cup competitions.

We will have prize money throughout the season and if you have been following last season’s blog entries then you will know what I mean.  Each week I will send you a News Sheet via email which will tell you where you are in our table and how your teams are doing. Once the entry date has passed, you will not be able to join in.

Even if you just look at the simple rules and decide not to join in, there will be no pressure to join Golden Goals.

We have had over 54,500 hits on our blog and it would be really great that some of you could get together and represent your family or even better your country. 

You can e-mail me here at goldengoals1983@gmail.com to find out more about the competition 

 

Update on Season 40

The New 2022/23 Season of Golden Goals which will be our 40^th consecutive season is nearly at kick-off time.  News of the Scottish League Cup first round group stages will start on the 9 July while their league season will all start on the 30 July with Champions Celtic taking on Aberdeen at home in their opening game on the following day. Meanwhile with the English Leagues, Champions Manchester City take on West Ham away with their first league game of the season on 7 August with the rest of the league playing the day before. The Championship with League’s One and Two, have yet to be published.

The new entry forms will be available when we have all the dates for Cup/League fixtures, so keep an eye on this blog for further details.

SEASON 40 COMING SOON

 

Last update of Season 39

At last the final whistle has now been blown on our historic 39^th  Season of Golden Goals and another covid season has passed without too much trouble this time round. But it was not the season that we managed to beat our highest ever recorded number of entries of 149 players. The success of this season was all down to you. The good news is that we do not have to wait long for the next season to start. Although we once again lost a few friends this season, we have also gained some new ones. Lets hope that we can continue with this nice run as we have had a lot of success over our full 39 year history of Golden Goals. 

We did have a couple of records that have been broken this season, but more on this later. I hope that you have had a lot of fun watching your name go up and down the table and as shown above is where your combination of teams have left you standing in the final position of the season. But before we go all into that, lets take a look at what happened to the last few games of the season. 

PREMIER LEAGUE

What a crazy Sunday we had for our very last Premier League games of the season. Congratulations to MANCHESTER CITY on being this seasons Champions. They won their last game of the season 3-2 at home to ASTON VILLA after going down 2-0 at half time. City finished on a total of 121 goals and a goal run of eleven games. They had a total of 41 votes. Villa finished on a total of 58 goals. One point behind City came LIVERPOOL who also won their last game 3-1 at home to WOLVES after going a goal down. Liverpool finished on a total of 117 goals while Wolves finished on a total of 47. CHELSEA finished in third place after they won 2-1 at home to WATFORD. Chelsea finished on a total of 97 goals while relegated Watford finished on a total of 37. TOTTENHAM finished in fourth place as they won 5-0 away to Norwich. Tottenham finished on a total of 80 goals. After failing to score in their previous two games, ARSENAL won 5-1 at home to Everton and finished the season on a total of 77 goals. BRENTFORD lost 2-1 at home to Leeds Utd and they finished on a total of 65 goals. BRIGHTON won 3-1 at home to WEST HAM and finished on a total of 51 goals while West Ham finished on 67 goals. CRYSTAL PALCE finished on a total of 60 goals as they win 1-0 at home against MANCHESTER UNITED. United picked up their 10^th  blank score sheet and a they finished with a total of 59 goals. LEICESTER CITY won 4-1 at home to Southampton and they finished on a total of 74 goals. 

Championship Play-Offs

We had had just two of the four teams playing for a place in the Premier League and they had to play each other. NOTTINGHAM FOREST won 2-1 against SHEFFIELD UNITED from the first leg but it was Sheffield Utd that won the second leg 2-1 away. This meant that the teams drew 3-3 on aggregate and even after extra time there was no shift in the score line. So it went to penalties where Forest won 3-2. Sheffield United finished on a total of 69 goals and they had scored in all of their last seven games.

In the Final, Nottingham Forest played Huddersfield in the final after Huddersfield won their tie 2-1 on aggregate against Luton. Forest will be playing in the premier league next season as Huddersfield scored an own goal just before first half in which they gave Forest the game as they won 1-0. Forest finished the season on a total of 86 goals. 

League One Play-Offs

We had three of the four teams here with SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY, SUNDERLAND and WYCOMBE Sheffield Wednesday lost 2-1 on aggregate in their two games against Sunderland. Wednesday finished on a total of 81 goals and they had three votes. Wycombe won their play-offs 2-1 on aggregate against MK Dons.

In the Final, SUNDERLAND took on WYCOMBE and won 2-0 to get promoted back into the Championship. Sunderland finished on a total of 91 goals and had scored in all of their last six games. They had a total of 11 votes. Wycombe picked up their 13^th blank and two in a row. They finished on a total of 82 goals and they had just one vote. 

League Two Play-Offs

Only one of our teams made it through to the play-offs here and they were SWINDON TOWN. They won their first leg game 2-1 at home against Port Vale and lost the second leg 1-0 away. Meaning the game finished 2-2 on aggregate. That score remained after extra time. Swindon then lost 6-5 on penalties. Swindon had a total of nine blank score sheets and finished their season on a total of 85 goals and they had one vote. 

SCOTTISH CUP FINAL

RANGERS have won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 13 years.  Rangers took on HEARTS and won 2-0 in extra time after they drew 0-0 in normal time. Rangers finished on a total of 102 goals and a goal run of  eighteen games. They had a total of 54 votes. Hearts picked up their 9^th blank score sheet and finished with a total of 75 goals. They had just one vote. 

So it’s Congratulations to JULIA WOOD as she now becomes our 39^th Champion with Golden Goals and she becomes our fifth lady to win. Julia stayed at the top for the last five weeks of the season. So we can now add her name in our history book and in the Champions League where Julia finished in fifth place on 335 goals. Her winning combination was  CHELSEA (97) LIVERPOOL (117) and MANCHESTER CITY (121)  Julia picked up six blank score sheets throughout the season. In the end she finished just 6 goals clear of  our 2005/06 Champion Keamus Setna who finally finished in second place with a total of 329 goals. 

ROAD TO CHAMPION

Our new Champion’s name, JULIA WOOD is now in our history book, but what about the other people who managed to get to that magic number one spot. We had a fantastic total of ten players that made it there is season.

We already know that Julia Wood was at the top for just five weeks from 38 to 42. But it was CHRIS BOLBERY that picked up the most number of weeks with ten. Chris started in week 1 and then from weeks 3-11. Then we had SCOTT THOMSON (2) for six weeks from weeks 30 to 35. LYANNA  GRIMWOOD came next with a total of five weeks staying there in week 12 and then again from weeks 25 and 26 and again from weeks 28 and 29. We then had GUY DOSWETT (2) and KEAMUS SETNA both had four weeks each. Guy had week 1 and 13. He then also has weeks 19 and 20. Keamus our 2005/06 Champion stayed top in weeks 21 to 24. MANGO (Paul Moran) had three weeks from weeks 14 to16. For two weeks we had ANN WELLARD and STEVE STUBBS. Ann was there in weeks 17 and 18 while Steve was from weeks 36 and 37. We then had one player that had just one week and that was PETER WELLARD in week 27. 

Below is the list of our top five champions of  Golden Goals. 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 

                                  NAME                    M/W            W/E           TOTAL 

                              1. L. KING                  116              239              355      2001/02

                              2. P. DAVEY                132              216              348      2013/14

                              3. J. WOOD                   92              252               344       2016/17     

                             4. M. PEPPERRELL       91              247                338      2002/03

                              5. J. WOOD  (Mrs)        94              241                 335      2021/22 

So what happened to our past Champions. Well we had just fourteen that played this season and only two finished in the top twenty-five. They were KEAMUS SETNA 2005/06 Champion in 2^nd place and our 2002/03 Champion MICHAEL PEPPERRELL in 25^th place. We then had two more that finished in the top 50 and they were in 36^th place CHRIS BOLBERY our 2017/18 Champion and followed by MIKE HARRINGTON our joint 1997/98 Champion in 41^st place. Our lowest Champion finished in 105^th place who was our two time Champion STEVE REEVE (ME) Yup, winning in the 2008/09 Season and in our last season of 2020/21. It all went wrong for me this time and that was mainly Hull with only 44 goals and Manchester United that finished with a very disappointing 59 goals. So thanks to Rangers 102 goals that kept me near bottom on the second page. 

At the other end of the table, we had just four players that landed on number 113. The player who finished rock bottom this season was ZIGGY (John Woods) John was there for the last 36 weeks but 38 over the season. John stayed there in weeks 4 and 5 and the from weeks 7to 42. Over the season John picked up six blank score sheets. He had the combination of  CRYSTAL PALACE (60) SCUNTHORPE (29) and STENHOUSEMUIR (55) total of 145 goals. 

John’s combination finished in 38^th place in our losers league and we can now add his name in the history book. John has beaten our previous lowest record score of 131 goals by John Nicholls in the 2020/21 covid Season. John has now finished bottom for three seasons and now equals Freda Hillier and John Nicholls records.  John’s other seasons were the 2011/12 and 2019/20. 

With the other players, Sam Leghorn stayed there for two weeks from  week 2-3. June Tighe was there in our first week and Sandra Nicholls was there also for a week in week 6. GRAEME BRITTON holds the record for the highest score of our losers league with 214 goals from our 2004/05 season. 

100 MIDWEEK GOALS JACKPOT

The Prize Money for the 100 Midweek Goals Jackpot was worth £25 this season and it went to LYANNA GRIMWOOD in Week 32 by reaching 100 midweek goals first. Lyanna finally reached a total of 131midweek goals. Bob Soper came next with a total of 117 goals. We had a total of 16 players to hit 100 this season. The Golden Goals record for the number of players reaching 100 midweek goals came from last season with a total of 63. Daryl Nicholls holds the highest midweek record with 136 goals from our 2016/17 Season. 

BEAT THE SCORE 

The fantastic sum of  £65 cash prize money for BEAT THE SCORE has not been picked up once again this season. The prize money will go to the first player who scores 19 goals or more at the weekend. So I hope that we can add more cash to the pot next season. The holder of this record is Mark Rymer with 18 goals scored way back in our 1998/99 season, so it’s about time that some-one beat that score now. 

THE TOP THREE TEAMS FINISHED AS 

MANCHESTER CITY (121) LIVERPOOL (117) CELTIC (111) Total of  349 goals. 

We had five teams that picked up 100 or more goals this season. Our top three were MANCHESTER CITY who ended the season with a total of 121 goals. City have played in 45 league/cup games this season which gave them an average score of 2.6 goals per game. They were our top English team with 41 votes and they picked up just five blank score sheets throughout the season. Last season they finished on 106 goals and they have now scored over 100 goals in their last five consecutive seasons.  This is their 8^th Season out of 28 that they have scored 100 or more goals scored by the end of the season. Over the 27 seasons, they have now scored a total of 2444 goals which now gives them an average score of 87 goals per season. In second place was LIVERPOOL with 117 goals and they had a total of 30 votes. They picked up a total of four blank score sheet from their total of 50 league/cup games. This is their second best score after they scored a total of 127 goals back in the 1985/86 Season. This is their 7^th Season out of the full 39 that they have scored 100 or more goals. Liverpool have now scored a total of 3303 goals which now gives them an average score of 84 goals per season. Our third team finished with Champions CELTIC who finished on a total of 111 goals. They have played a total of 45 league/cup games and had a total of five blank score sheets. They had scored in all of their last 12 games and had a total of 9 votes. They have been with us for the full 39 seasons now and this is their Golden Goals record breaking 20^th time that they have scored 100 or more goals in a season. Over that time they have netted a total of 3808 goals and that now gives them an average score of 97.5 goals per season. 

So lets see what has happen to our other teams that did well this season. FULHAM have made another Golden Goals record by beating their top score of 105 goals in the 2000/01 Season. It’s their second season of netting 100 goals in a season. They had eight votes this season. CHELSEA finished on a total of 97 goals which is their best since the 2016/17 Season on where they finished on a total of 109 goals. SUNDERLAND finished on a total of 91 goals which is their best since their highest score of 108 goals in the 1998/99 Season. NOTTINGHAM FOREST finished on a total of 86 goals which is their best since the 1997/98 Season with 95 goals. PLYMOUTH finished on their biggest score of 80 goals beating their previous best score of 78 goals in the 1995/96 Season. SALFORD CITY picked up their highest score with 66 goals beating last seasons covid score of 56 goals. RANGERS have picked up their 17^th 100 goals in 38 seasons with a total of 102 goals.

New Boys Kelty Hearts became Champions in league wo and finished on a grand total of 82 goals. Sutton United finished on a total of 73 goals. Both teams had just one vote each.

THE WORST THREE TEAMS FINISHED AS 

SCUNTHORPE (29) WATFORD (37) BARNSLEY (38) Total of 103 goals 

Our worst teams finished as SCUNTHORPE in their 13^th appearance with Golden Goals and it will go down as their worst season as they finished on their lowest score of  just 29 goals. They are relegated to National League football  and they had just 1 vote. Next came WATFORD with 22 appearance’s finished on a total of 37 goals which is their lowest recorded score. They had just one vote. Our third worst team was BARNSLEY finishing on 38 goals which is their lowest score in their 8th appearance’s with us. They also had just one vote this season. Other teams that picked up their lowest score on record are MANCHESTER UNITED with 59 goals. HULL with 44 goals. CARLISLE UNITED with 42 goals. PETERBOROUGH with 47 goals. 

Our biggest result in our 39th Season came from FULHAM who have scored 7 goals three times this season. They first won 7-0 away to Blackburn Rovers in the league in Week Fourteen and they have also won 7-0 away to Reading in the league in Week Twenty-Four. They have now added a 7-0 home win against Luton in Week Forty. CELTIC who won 7-0 at home to St Johnston in the league in Week Thirty-Six. OXFORD UNITED won 7-2 away to Gillingham in the league in Week Twenty-Six. MANCHESTER CITY won 7-0 at home to Leeds Utd in the league in Week Twenty. CHELSEA won 7-0 at home to Norwich in the league in Week Twelve. BRENTFORD won 7-0 at home to Oldham in the third round of the Carabao/League Cup in Week Eight. 

PETERBOROUGH have picked up the most number of blank score sheets this season with 25 out of their 50 league/cup games played. 

Well that’s it, another season of GOLDEN GOALS has finally finished. I still can not believe that I have been doing this competition for 39 year’s and after a hell of a lot of work this season not only with 113 players taking part, but also with the virus that hit our football again in the early part of the season, I will still be looking forward to the next big one and hoping that we can beat our record of 149 players from the 2017/18 Season. 

We have finally ended up with a total of 25 winners all picking up some cash. Here they are

       FINAL     LAST                                                 M/WEEK    W/END    TOTAL                

        WEEK    SHEET           NAME                          GOALS      GOALS   GOALS          

                  1              -                JULIA WOOD                94               241          335         

                 2             3                 K. SETNA (2005/06)        112             217          329

                 3             2                 P. WELLARD                   113             215          328           

                 4              -                S. THOMSON (2)             98               228          326          

                 5              -                S. STUBBS                       88               237           325            

                6              -                 L. GRIMWOOD               131             191           322            

                7              -                 M. UNSTEAD                  100             220           320            

                8             9                 M. JOHNSTON                 92               226           318          

                9             8                 D. MORBEY                     90               226            316            

              10           11                 V. CRUICKSHANK          100             209            309

              11           10                 MANGO                            109             200            309            

              12              -                 R. NETTING                     94               214            308            

              13              -                 M. ADKINS                      84               221            305            

              14           15                 D. HARRINGTON            105             200            305            

              !5           14                 G. DOWSETT (2)              81               220            301            

             16           17                 A. WELLARD                    96               205            301            

             17           16                 J. BLYTH                            88               212            300            

            18              -                 GRAHAM PHILLIPS         90               210            300            

            19              -                C. DICKER                          88               209            297            

            20              -                G. BOLBERY                       90               207            297            

            21              -                S. SEYEDI                            87               209            296            

            22           26                C. SETFORD                        98               198            296            

            23           25               T. GUY (2)                              90               205           295            

            24           22               G. DOWSETT (1)                    82              212           294            

      25           28                M. PEPPERRELL (2002/03)   106           188            294