At last the final whistle has now been blown on our historic 41st Season of Golden Goals. 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 the last 41 years 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 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, let’s take a look at what happened to the last few games of the season.
Championship Play-offs Final
We had both of the teams playing for a place in the Premier League and hey were LEEDS UNITED who won 4-0 on aggregate against Norwich in their 2nd leg final and SOUTHAMPTON, who won 3-1 on aggregate against West Brom in their 2nd leg final.
In the Final, Leeds United played Southampton in the final with Southampton winning 1-0 with a goal in the 24th minute from Armstrong. Southampton finished on a total of 100 goals while Leeds picked up their 11th blank of the season and a total of 97 goals. Southampton will be playing in the Premier League next season.
FA CUP FINAL
It was a replay of last season’s FA Cup final between the two MANCHESTER teams CITY and UNITED. Last season City won the cup 2-1 against United.
At the start of the game both teams came out fighting but with a bad defensive mistake by City gave United their first goal of the game on the half hour mark. The goal scorer was Garnacho. City then fell apart as first Rashford’s goal was disallowed, offside, then United’s scored again by Mainoo in the 39th minute. Although City put the pressure on United just in the last five minutes before half-time, the score stood at 2-0 to United and who would of thought of that score line? In the second half as you expected, City came out with all guns blazing. The United’s crossbar stop City with their first goal in the first 10 minutes into the second half. City finally scored in the 87th minute by Doku but the game ended 2-1 to United. What a cup final game, one of the best I have seen for some while now. City finished the season with a total of 112 goals and they had scored in all of their last 11 league/cup games. They had a total of 44 votes this season. United finished on a total of 76 goals and they had a total of 12 votes.
SCOTTISH CUP FINAL
CELTIC had to play in the old firm game with RANGERS. It was all to do in the second half as it ended 0-0 at half-time. In the second half Rangers had a goal disallowed after a VAR check in the 60th minute. Celtic won the cup in the 90th minute with a goal from Idah. Celtic do the double once more as they finished on a total of 110 goals and they had scored in all of their last 12 league/cup games. They had a total of 39 votes. Rangers after a goal run of 6 games, picked up their 4th blank of the season and a total of 107 goals. They had a total of 15 votes.
Premiership Play-0ff Final
ROSS COUNTY made it to the final play-off after they had failed to win their last league game. They won their 1st leg 2-1 away to Raith Rovers. In the 2nd leg they won again, 4-0 to win 6-1 on aggregate. County finished on a total of 62 goals and had scored in all of their last 6 league games. They had 2 votes this season.
So it’s Congratulations to JOHN FILTNESS and ANDREW HAMMOND as hey both become our 41st Champion with Golden Goals. Although we ended up with joint winners, it was John that stayed at the top for the last 8 weeks and 16 weeks over the season. So we can now add their names in our history book and in the “Champions League” where they finished in 11th place on 328 goals. John’s winning combination was LEICESTER CITY (103) LIVERPOOL (113) and MANCHESTER CITY (112) John picked up 4 blank score sheets throughout the season. Andrew in his very first season had CHELSEA (103) LIVERPOOL (113) and MANCHESTER CITY (112) Andrew picked up 5 blank score sheets though-out the season.
ROAD TO CHAMPION
Our new Champion’s names, JOHN FILTNESS and ANDREW HAMMOND are now in our history book. John was at the top in Weeks 27-34 and then again in Weeks 36-43. But what about the other people who managed to get to that magic number one spot. We had a total of 8 players that made it there is season.
The others were RICHARD WILLIAMS our 2015/16 Champion with 8 weeks from Week 2 - Week 9. JAMES SOMERVILLE with 6 weeks. With Weeks 21-23 then Weeks 25-26 and then again in Week 35. PETER PORTER was there for 4 weeks from Weeks 10-13. SCOTT THOMSON (2) also had 4 weeks there from Weeks 17-20. Then we had LUCIFER (John Wood) with 3 weeks from Weeks 14-16. Then with 1 week each we had CHARLIE FARLEY in Week 1 and BAILEY MORAN in Week 24.
Below is the list of our top five champions of Golden Goals.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
NAME M/ W W/E TOTAL SEASON
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. Julia WOOD 94 241 335 2021/22
So what happened to our past Champion’s. Well we had just fifteen that played this season and three of them are 2 time Champions. We had 3 that finished in the top twenty-seven. They were TONY GUY our 2010/11 and 2022/23 in 21st place. PHIL REEVE our 1987/88 and 2011/12 in 23rd place and our 2002/03 Champion MICHAEL PEPPERRELL in 25th place. We then had another 5 that finished in the top 50 and they were in 30th place RICKY WOOD in 2007/08. TOBY BICKNELL in 2014/15 in 36th place. GOEFF DOCKERILL in 1994/95 in 40th place and JOHN WOOD in 2016/17 in 46th place. STEVE REEVE (Me) winning in the 2008/09 and in 2020/2 Season’s just got in, 50th place. Our lowest Champion finished in 100th place who was our 2012/13 Champion Alice Stubbs.
At the other end of the table, we had 10 players that landed on number 110. The player who finished rock bottom this season was CHARLIE FARLEY (John Woods) John was there for the last 24 weeks. John stayed there from Week 20 to 43. John picked up 5 blank score sheets. He had the combination of KILMARNOCK (62) ROSS COUNTY (62) and STENHOUSEMUIR (53) total of 177 goals. John’s combination finished in 18th place in our “Losers League” and we can now add his name in the history book. John has now finished bottom for 4 seasons and now equals that record with John Nicholls. John’s other seasons are the 2011/12, 2019/20, 2021/22 and now 2023/24 Seasons.
With the other players who stayed there were, John Nicholls was there for 6 weeks from Week 10-13 and then again from Weeks 18-19. For 3 weeks each we had Stalky 2 (Bob Burgin) from Weeks 5-7 and our 2012/13 Champion Alice Stubbs stayed there from Weeks 15-17. Ryan FC was there for 2 weeks in Weeks 2-3 next with 1 week each we have Tim Wood was there in week 1 followed by Jacqui Rattle in Week 4. Stalky 1 (Bob Burgin) in Week 8, Steven Stubbs in Week 9 and Tony Guy (3) in Week 14.
GRAEME BRITTON holds the record for the highest score of our “Losers League” with 214 goals from our 2004/05 Season. JOHN NICHOLLS holds the record for the lowest score of 131 goals in the 2020/21 Season.
100 MIDWEEK GOALS JACKPOT
The Prize Money for the 100 Midweek Goals Jackpot was worth £25 this season and it was shared between 2 players. They were TONY KING and JAMES SOMERVILLE in Week 36 by reaching 100 midweek goals first. We had a total of 30 players to hit 100 this season. The Golden Goals record for the number of players reaching 100 midweek goals came from the 2019/20 (Covid) 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 sum of £5 cash prize money for BEAT THE SCORE has not been picked up this season. The prize money will go to the first player who scores 24 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 Simon Dickinson with 23 goals scored in our 2022/23 Season. So that is going to take some beating now.
THE TOP THREE TEAMS FINISHED AS
LIVERPOOL (113) MANCHESTER CITY (112) CELTIC (110) Total of 335 goals.
We had 10 teams that picked up 100 or more goals this season. Our top three were LIVERPOOL who ended the season with a total of 113 goals. Liverpool played in 48 league/cup games this season which gave them an average score of 2.3 goals per game. They were our third English team with 29 votes and they picked up just 3 blank score sheets throughout the season. This is their 8th Season out of 41 that they have scored 100 or more goals scored by the end of the season. Over the 41 seasons, they have now scored a total of 3497 goals which now gives them an average score of 85 goals per season. Last season they finished with a total of 81 goals. Their top score is 127 goals in the 1985/86 Season.
In second place came Champions MANCHESTER CITY with 112 goals and they were our top team with a total of 44 votes. They picked up a total of 4 blank score sheet from their total of 45 league/cup games. They had scored in all of their last 11 league/cup games. This is their 10th Season out of the 30 that they have scored over 100 goals and they have now scored 100 or more goals in their last 7 seasons. City have now scored a total of 2674 goals which now gives them an average score of 89 goals per season. Their top score is 137 goals in the 2018/19 Season.
Our third team finished with Champions CELTIC who finished on a total of 110 goals.They have played a total of 44 league/cup games and had a total of 5 blank score sheets. They had scored in all of their last 12 games and had a total of 39 votes. They have been with us for the full 41 seasons now and this is their Golden Goals record breaking 22nd Season that they have scored 100 or more goals in a season. Over that time they have netted a total of 4061 goals and that now gives them an average score of 99 goals per season. Their highest score is 143 goals in the 2022/23 Season.
So lets see what has happen to our other teams that did well this season. LEICESTER CITY have made another Golden Goals record by beating their top score of 98 goals in the 2013/14 Season with a total of 103. It’s their first season of netting 100 goals in a season. They had 18 votes this season. CHELSEA finished on a total of 103 goals which is their 4th season with 100 or more goals. Their best score is 128 goals from the 2009/10 Season. They had a total of 10 votes. BARNSLEY finished on a total of 94 goals which is their best since the 2018/19 Season with 89 goals. They had a total of 8 votes. WREXHAM finished on their biggest score of 93 goals beating their previous best score of 84 goals in the 2002/03 Season. They had a total of 9 votes. SOUTHAMPTON picked up their first 100 goals beating their top score of 99 in the 2011/12 Season. They had a total of 6 votes. AFC WIMBLEDON picked up their highest score with 78 goals beating last seasons score of 63 goals in the 2011/12 Season. They had just 1 vote this season. LEEDS UNITED equal their best score of 97 goals from the 2008/09 Season. They had a total of 9 votes. SALFORD CITY also equal their best score of 75 goals from last season. They had a total of 2 votes.
With our Scottish teams, RANGERS have picked up their 18th 100 goals in 40 seasons with a total of 107 goals. They have now scored 100 or more goals in their last 4 seasons. Their highest score is 126 goals from the 1992/93 Season. They had a total of 15 votes. FALKIRK finished on 108 goals which is their first 100 goals, beating their highest score of 92 in the 2002/03 Season. They had just 1 vote. KILMARNOCK finished on 62 goals which beats their highest score of 59 goals in both the 2007/08 & 2021/22 Seasons. They had 1 vote this season. EAST FIFE finished on a total of 49 goals which beats their best score of 44 goals in the 2003/04 Season. They also had just 1 vote.
THE WORST THREE TEAMS FINISHED AS
EAST FIFE (49) SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (52) STENHOUSEMUIR (53)
Total of 154 goals
Our worst teams finished as EAST FIFE in their 3rd appearance with Golden Goals and it will go down as their best season as they finished on their highest score of just 49 goals and they had just one vote. Our second worst team was SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY. With 20th appearance’s finished on a total of 52 goals which is their lowest recorded score. They had three votes. Our third worst team was STENHOUSEMUIR finishing on 53 goals which is their fourth lowest score in their 17th appearance’s with us. Their lowest score is just 34 goals in the 2020/21 Season. They also had just one vote this season.
Our biggest result in our 41st Season came from NEWCASTLE after they won 8-0 away to Sheffield United in a league game in Week Eight.
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY and SUNDERLAND both picked up the most number of blank score sheets this season with 19 each out of Wednesday’s 51 league/cup games and Sunderland’s 48 league/cup games.
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 41 year’s and after a lot of work again this season with only 110 players taking part, 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.
So it's congratulations to John and Andrew our joint Champions for this season. Here are the top 27 players that ended up in the winning frame.
FINAL LAST M/WEEK W/END TOTAL
WEEK SHEET NAME GOALS GOALS GOALS
1 - J. FILTNESS 117 211 328
2 - A. HAMMOND 119 209 328
3 6 GRAHAM PHILLIPS 103 222 325
4 3 D. MORBEY 119 204 323
5 4 A. STUBBS (2) 111 211 322
6 - L. GRIMWOOD 85 236 321
7 - S. THOMSON (1) 109 210 319
8 - C. NUNN 90 228 318
9 - D. WOOD 90 228 318
10 11 M. JOHNSTON 130 188 318
11 12 B. MORAN 125 192 317
12 10 G. CARTHY 124 192 316
13 - J. SOMERVILLE 121 194 315
14 24 TIM WOOD 90 223 313
15 14 T. KING 127 185 312
16 15 R. NETTING 96 215 311
17 16 J. WEARDEN 106 204 310
18 17 T. GUY (4) 91 218 309
19 18 A. EYLES 123 186 309
20 19 P. O’DONOGHUE 101 207 308
21 20 T. GUY (1) (10/11 & 22/23) 87 220 307
22 21 P. PORTER 119 188 307
23 22 P. REEVE (87/88&2011/12) 97 209 306
24 23 S. NICHOILLS 99 207 306
25 28 M. PEPPERRELL (2002/03) 87 218 305
26 - S. THOMSON (2) 94 211 305
27 - JAMIE WOOD 94 211 305
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