At last the final whistle has now been blown on our historic 42nd 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 42 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 games of the season.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Champions LIVERPOOL drew their last league game 1-1 at home to Cup winners CRYSTAL PALCE at home. Liverpool have finished with a total of 105 goals and a goal run of 16 league/cup games. Palace finished on a total of 74 goals and a goal run of 7 league/cup games. ARSENAL finished in 2nd place after they won 2-1 away to bottom of the table SOUTHAMPTON. Arsenal finished on a total of 81 goals and had scored in all of their last 11 games. Southampton had failed to score in their last 3 league games, picked up goal number 39. MANCHESTER CITY finished in 3rd place after they won 2-0 away to Fulham. City finished on a total of 92 goals. CHELSEA won 1-0 away to Nottingham Forest and finished on a total of 75 goals and 4th place in the league. AFC BOURNEMOUTH won 2-0 at home to relegated LEICESTER CITY. Bournemouth finished on a total of 64 goals while Leicester picked up their 18th blank of the season and 46 goals. Relegated IPSWICH TOWN lost 3-1 at home to WEST HAM UNITED. Ipswich after they had failed to score in their last 2 games, finished on a total of 46 goals. West Ham finished on a total of 49 goals and a goal run of 8 league games. After they had failed to score in their previous 2 games, MANCHESTER UNITED beat 10 men ASTON VILLA 2-0 at home. United finished on a total of 63 goals. Villa picked up their 8th blank of the season and finished on a total of 79 goals. NEWCASTLE UNITED lost their last league game 1-0 at home to Everton. Newcastle picked up their 7th blank score sheet and a total of 88 goals. After they had failed to score in their last 2 league games, TOTTENHAM lost 4-1 at home to Brighton and finished on a total of 77 goals.
Championship Play-offs Final
We had just one of the teams playing for a place in the Premier League and they were SHEFFIELD UNITED who lost 2-1 against Sunderland. United went a goal up from Tyress Campbell in the 25th minute but Sunderland came back with 2 goals in the second half, their first goal came in the 76th and 90+5 minutes. Sheffield United finished on a total of 74 goals and had scored in all of their last 8 league games. They picked up 9 blank score sheets over the season and they had just 1 vote.
League One Play-off Final
We had just 1 team in the final and they where CHARLTON. They won 1-0 at Wembley against London rivals Leyton Orient with the winning goal in the 31st minute from Macaulay Gillesphey. Charlton finished on a total of 78 goals. They had 2 votes this season.
League Two Play-off Final
Again we had just the one team and they were AFC WIMBLEDON. They won 1-0 against Walsall at Wembley. Wimbledon with a goal just before half time by Myles Hippolyte. They finished on a total of 66 goals. They had just 1 vote.
SCOTTISH CUP FINAL
CELTIC in the final with Aberdeen, drew 1-1 after full time after each team giving each other a own goal. This remained after extra time but it was Aberdeen to pick up the cup after winning 4-3 on penalties. Golden Goals would like to congratulate Celtic on finishing with a total of 144 goals and they had scored in all of their last 8 league/cup games.
Premiership Play-0ff Final
ROSS COUNTY made it to the final play-off 1st leg game they drew 1-1 away to Livingston. In their 2nd leg game they lost 2-4 and 5-3 on aggregate. County finished on a total of 52 goals and had scored in all of their last 7 league games. They had 1 vote this season.
So it’s Congratulations to CLARA STEPHENS who become our 42nd Champion with Golden Goals, and becomes our 5th lady to win. Clara stayed at the top for the last 11 consecutive weeks of the season. So we can now add Clara’s name in our history book and place her in the “Champions League” where she finished in 4th place with a total of 341 goals. Clara’s winning combination was BIRMINGHAM CITY (92) CELTIC (144) and LIVERPOOL (105). Clara picked up 4 blank score sheets throughout the season.
ROAD TO CHAMPION
Our new Champion’s names, Clara Stephens is now in our history book. Clara was at the top from Weeks 32-42, but what about the other people who managed to get to that magic number one spot. We had a total of 7 players that made it there is season. The others were GEOFF DOCKERILL our 1994/95 Champion with 10 weeks from Weeks 22-31. DAVID BARRETT with 6 weeks from Week 1-6. BARBARA BARNES (2) with 5 weeks from Week 7 and then again in Weeks 13-15. GUY DOWSETT (2) also had 5 weeks at the top. They were in Weeks 8-12. With 4 weeks we had JED WEARDEN first in Week 16 and then again in Weeks 19-21. Then with 1 week we had MARK GREGORY in Week 17.
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. C. STEPHENS 97 244 341 2024/25
5. M. PEPPERRELL 91 247 338 2002/03
So what happened to our past Champion’s. Well we had 17 that played this season, which is a record for us and which 3 of them are 2 time Champions. We had 4 that finished in the top twenty-five. They were in 3rd place GOEFF DOCKERILL in 1994/95. In 6th place DAVE SOMERVILLE in 2009/10. In 13th place we had joint Champion RICKY WOOD in 2007/08 and in 16th place our joint Champion JOHN FILTNESS in 2023/24.
We then had another 4 that finished in the top 50 and they were in 26th place our double winner TONY GUY our 2010/11 and 2022/23. In 28th place ALICE STUBBS 2012/13. In 38th place our 2002/03 Champion MICHAEL PEPPERRELL. In 48th place our joint champion ANDREW HAMMOND 2023/24.
Our lowest Champion finished in 100th place who was our 2015/16 Champion Richard Williams.
At the other end of the table, we had just 6 players that landed on number 114. The player who finished rock bottom this season was once again CHARLIE FARLEY (John Woods) John was there for the last 28 weeks. John stayed there from Week 15 to 42. John picked up 5 blank score sheets. He had the combination of KILMARNOCK (46) ROSS COUNTY (52) and STENHOUSEMUIR (60) total of 158 goals. John’s combination finished in 34th place in our “Losers League” and we can now add his name in the history book. John now holds the record for finishing bottom for 5 seasons. John’s other seasons are the 2011/12, 2019/20, 2021/22, 2023/24 and now 2024/25 Seasons.
With the other players who stayed there were, Mandy Wright was there for 8 weeks from Week 7-14. With 2 weeks each we had Anne Hammond in Weeks 1-3 and Stuart Kemp (2) from Weeks 4-5. With 1 week each we had Abbey Newman in Week 1 and Alfie Dimmock in Week 6.
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 worth £25 this season was won by JAMES BLYTH in Week 38 by reaching 100 midweek goals first. We had a total of 7 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 £10 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
CELTIC (144) LIVERPOOL (105) LEEDS UNITED (96) Total of 345 goals.
We had just 2 teams that picked up 100 or more goals this season. Our top three were Scottish Champions CELTIC who finished on a total of 144 goals which beats their own record score of 143 from the 2022/23 Season. They have played a total of 47 league/cup games and had a total of just 3 blank score sheets. They had scored in all of their last 8 games and had a total of 40 votes. They have been with us for the full 42 seasons now and this is their Golden Goals record breaking 23rd season that they have scored 100 or more goals in a season. Over that time they have netted a total of 4205 goals and that now gives them an average score of 100 goals per season.
In second place came Premier League Champions LIVERPOOL who ended the season with a total of 105 goals. Liverpool played in 46 league/cup games this season which gave them an average score of 2.2 goals per game. They were our third English team again with 27 votes and they picked up just 3 blank score sheets throughout the season. This is their 9th Season out of 42 that they have scored 100 or more goals scored by the end of the season. Over the 42 seasons, they have now scored a total of 3602 goals which now gives them an average score of 85 goals per season. Last season they finished with a total of 113 goals. Their top score is 127 goals from the 1985/86 Season.
Our third team was the Championship winners LEEDS UNITED with 96 goals and they were our fourth voted team with a total of 25 votes. They picked up a total of 9 blank score sheet from their total of 49 league/cup games. They had scored in all of their last 10 league/cup games. This is their 37th Season with us and they have now scored a total of 2617 goals which now gives them an average score of 70 goals per season. Their top score is 97 goals which they have scored in 2 seasons. First was in the 2008/09 and then again in the 2023/24 Season.
So lets see what has happen to our other teams that did well this season. With our Scottish teams, DUNDEE picked up their biggest score of 87 goals smashing their previous record of 65 goals in the 2009/10 season. They had just 1 vote. EAST FIFE finished on a total of 80 goals which beats their previous score of 49 goals in the 2023/24 season. They also had 1 vote this season.
New Boys BROMLEY finished 11th place in League Two and won 17 of their 46 league games. They finished on a grand total of 72 goals. They had two votes.
THE WORST THREE TEAMS FINISHED AS
SOUTHAMPTON (39) IPSWICH TOWN (46) LEICESTER CITY (46) Total of 131 goals
Our worst teams finished as SOUTHAMPTON in their 16th appearance with Golden Goals and it will go down as their worst season as they finished on their lowest score of just 39 goals beating their previous lowest score of 49 back in the 2003/04 season. They had 2 vote.
Our second worst team was IPSWICH TOWN. With 27th appearance’s finished on a total of 46 goals which is their second lowest recorded score. Their lowest score is from the 2018/19 season with just 37 goals. They had just 1 vote.
Our third worst team was LEICESTER CITY finishing on 46 goals which is now their lowest score in their 21st appearance’s with us. Their previous lowest score was 50 goals in the 2007/08 season. They also had 2 votes this season.
Other teams that picked up their lowest score on record are LUTON TOWN with 46 goals beats their lowest record of 47 goals from the 2020/21 season. OXFORD UNITED with 52 goals beats their previous lowest score of 54 in the 1985/86 season.
Our biggest result in our 42nd Season came from MANCHESTER CITY after they won 8-0 at home to Salford City in the FA Cup 3rd Round in Week Twenty-Three.
Our worst performing team was MK DONS this weekend as they have had a total of 21 blank score sheets from 47 league/cup games. They have a total of 52 goals.
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 over 4 decades now and after a lot of work again this season with 114 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.
It's congratulations to Clara Stephens on being our Champion this season and has won the £100 prize money. Here are the top 25 players that have ended up in the winning frame.
FINAL LAST M/WEEK W/END TOTAL
WEEK SHEET NAME GOALS GOALS GOALS
1 - C. STEPHENS 97 244 341
2 - J. BLYTH 112 220 332
3 - G. DOCKERILL (1994/95) 85 245 330
4 - J. WEARDEN 85 240 325
5 - L. HAMMOND 86 238 324
6 7 D. SOMERVILLE (2009/10) 87 234 321
7 6 B. BURROUGHS 100 221 321
8 - GRANT PHILLIPS 105 213 318
9 10 S. DICKINSON 90 227 317
10 9 A. WELLARD 100 216 316
11 - S. STUBBS (2) 102 213 315
12 - M. LIPMAN 90 222 312
13 - R. WOOD (2007/08)* 107 205 312
14 - A. STUBBS (2) 91 220 311
15 - G. CARTHY 88 220 308
16 - J. FILTNESS (2023/24)* 81 226 307
17 18 G. DOWSETT (2) 73 232 305
18 17 P. WELLARD 95 209 304
19 - L. GRIMWOOD 83 220 303
20 - M. GREGORY 78 223 301
21 23 A. DAVEY 79 221 300
22 - M. JACOBSEN 89 211 300
23 26 R. MILES 82 217 299
24 21 G. DOWSETT (1) 88 211 299
25 24 B. BARNES (2) 90 208 298
