At last, the final whistle has now been blown on our historic 43rd Season of Golden Goals. But once again, 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. Let’s hope that we can continue this nice little run, as we have had a lot of success over the last 43 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, as shown above; this is where your combination of teams has 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
The last games of the season have now been played. After 22 years, ARSENAL have become this season’s Champions. They won their last game 2-1 away to CRYSTAL PALACE and finished on a total of 91 goals. Arsenal had scored in all of their last 8 league games. Palace finished the season with a total of 47 goals. MANCHESTER CITY finished in second place after they lost 2-1 at home to ASTON VILLA and finished the season as our top team with a total of 113 goals. They had scored in all of their last 23 league/cup games. Villa finished in fourth place with a total of 60 goals. In third place we had MANCHESTER UNITED who won 3-0 away to BRIGHTON and finished with a total of 72 goals. Brighton picked up their 11th blank of the season and finished with a total of 66 goals. In fifth place came LIVERPOOL, who drew 1-1 at home to Brentford. Liverpool finished with a total of 75 goals and had scored in all of their last 7 league games. NEWCASTLE UNITED lost 2-0 away to Fulham and picked up their 10th blank of the season. Newcastle finished on a total of 69 goals. NOTTINGHAM FOREST drew 1-1 at home against AFC BOURNEMOUTH and finished with a total of 53 goals and a goal run of 8 league games. Bournemouth finished with a total of 61 goals and a goal run of 8 league games. SUNDERLAND won 2-1 at home against CHELSEA and finished the season with a total of 45 goals. Chelsea finished with a total of 90 goals. The battle for relegation is finally over with TOTTENHAM remained in the premier league after they won their last game 1-0 at home to Everton and finished on a total of 52 goals. They had scored in all of their last 6 league games. WEST HAM UNITED are relegated after they won 3-0 at home to Leeds Utd. West Ham finished with a total of 55 goals. WOLVES are already down after they drew 1-1 away to Burnley who are also down. Wolves finished with a total of 43 goals.
Championship Play-offs Final
We had just one of the teams playing for a place in the Premier League, and they were MIDDLESBROUGH. (Due to the Southampton spygate they lost their place in the final.) Middlesbrough played Hull City and lost 1-0 after a late goal in injury time in the 95th minute. Was justice done? Middlesbrough picked up their 14th blank of the season and finished with a total of 74 goals.
League One Play-off Final
We had the two teams in the final, and they were BOLTON WANDERERS and STOCKPORT COUNTY. It was Bolton that have won promotion as they win 4-1 at Wembley. Bolton’s goals came in the 3rd 64th 81st and a penalty in the 94th minute. Bolton have finished on a total of 81 goals and had scored in all of their last 7 league games. County’s goal came in the 29th minute, and they finished with a total of 81 goals, and they had scored in all of their last 6 league games.
League Two Play-off Final
Again we had just the one team in the final, and they were NOTTS COUNTY. They won 3-0 against Salford City at Wembley, County’s goals came in the 32nd 45th 70th. They finished with a total of 80 goals.
SCOTTISH CUP FINAL
The only team we had in the final this seasons were champions CELTIC. They have done the double this season after they won 3-1 against Dunfermline at Hampden Park. It’s their 43rd time of winning the cup. Celtics goals came in the 19th 36th and 73rd minutes. Dunfermline got their single goal in the 8oth minute. Celtic finished the season with a total of 98 goals, and they had scored in all of their last 9 league/cup games. Celtic had 70 votes this season.
So it’s congratulations to VINCENT CRUICKSHANK who becomes our 43rd Champion with Golden Goals. Vincent stayed at the top for the last 6 consecutive weeks of the season, one in Week 17. So we can now add Vincent’s name in our history book and place him in the “Champions League” where he finished in 36th place with a total of 289 goals. He has beaten our 1984/85 Champion Martyn Gent’s score of 289 goals. His winning combination was, CELTIC (98) MK DONS (93) and SOUTHAMPTON (98). Vincent picked up just one blank scoresheet throughout the season.
ROAD TO CHAMPION
Our new Champion’s name, Vincent Cruickshank, is now in our history book. He was at the top for 7 Weeks, from Week 17 and then again in Weeks 37-42, but what about the other players who managed to get to the top.
We had a total of 8 players that made it there this season. The others were HAYLEY ADKINS, who stayed there the longest with 11 weeks. Hayley was there from Weeks 8-13 and Weeks 18-21. Here final week was in Week 24. GRAHAM PHILLIPS came next with a total of 10 weeks. They were in Week 16, Weeks 25-28, Week 30 and finally Weeks 32-34. DAVID BARRETT had 9 weeks from Weeks 1-7 and Weeks 14-15. KEITH RATTLE was there for two weeks, Weeks 35-16. Then with just one week each we had BARBARA BARNES (1) in Week 23. TONY GUY our double Champion from 2010/11 and 2022/23 with his second selection. That was sin Week 29. GARY BOLBERY from Week 31.
Below is the list of our top five champions from 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 Champions? Well, we had 17 that played this season, including 3 two-time winners. We had 4 that finished in the top 25. They were in 4th place KEAMUS SETNA in 2025/06. In 12th place DAVE SOMERVILLE in 2009/10. In 20th place our two time Champion TONY GUY our 2010/11 and 2022/23. In 22nd place ALICE STUBBS 2012/13.
We then had another 4 that finished in the top 50 and they were in 37th place our joint Champion JOHN FILTNESS in 2023/24. in 39th place we had CHRIS BOLBERY in 2017/18. in 42nd place another double winner PHIL REEVE in 1987/88 & 2011/12. in 45th place was our 2002/03 Champion, MICHAEL PEPPERRELL. Our lowest position that a Champion finished was in 94th place, GOEFF DOCKERILL in 1994/95.
At the other end of the table, we had just five players that landed on number 111. The player who finished rock bottom this season was once again CHARLIE FARLEY (John Woods) John was there for the last 22 weeks. John was there from Week 22 to 42. John picked up just 3 blank score sheets throughout the season. He had the combination of COVE RANGERS (49) EAST FIFE (39) and STENHOUSEMUIR (66) total of 154 goals.
John’s combination finished in 38th place in our “Losers League” and we can now add his name in our history book. John now holds the record for finishing bottom for 6 seasons. John’s other seasons are the 2011/12, 2019/20, 2021/22, 2023/24, 2024/25 and now 2025/26 season.
With the other players who stayed there are, Ann Wellard was there for eight weeks from Week 4-10 and also Week 13. Anne Hammond was there for seven weeks from Weeks 15-2. Next we had Mandy Wright for the first three weeks of the season, and lastly, Stalky (1) (Bob Burgin) was there for two weeks from Weeks 11-12.
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 not won this season and the cash will be added to next seasons jackpot. The nearest player to 100 goals was KEITH RATTLE, with a total of 99 goals. His teams were Chelsea, Rangers and Wrexham. In second place we had BARBARA BARNES (1) with a total of 97 goals. In third place we had PHIL COLLINS, with a total of 89 goals.
It’s not the first time that we have not picked up the Midweek jackpot. In the 2015/16 season, Daniel Goodson failed to get there with 96 goals. The Golden Goals record for the most number of players reaching 100 midweek goals came from the 2019/20 (Covid) season, with a total of 63. But the jackpot was cancelled due to the virus. Daryl Nicholls holds the highest midweek record with 136 goals from our 2016/17 season.
BEAT THE SCORE
The £15 cash prize money for BEAT THE SCORE has not been picked up again 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
MANCHESTER CITY (113) CARDIFF CITY (100) CELTIC (98) Total of 311 goals.
We had just 2 teams that picked up 100 or more goals this season. Our top three were MANCHESTER CITY who finished on a total of 113 goals. This is the 11th season out of 32 that they have netted 100 or more goals in a season. Their biggest score was with a total of 137 goals. They scored them first in 2013/14 and then again in the 2018/19 season. They have played in a total of 50 league/cup games and had a total of just 4 blank scoresheets. They had scored in all of their last 23 league/cup games and had a total of 19 votes. Over their 32 season’s they have netted a total of 2879 goals and that now gives them an average score of 89 goals per season.
In second place came League One second placed CARDIFF CITY who ended the season with a total of 100 goals. Cardiff played in 52 league/cup games this season which gave them an average score of 1.9 goals per game. They were our 35th voted English team with just 2 votes and they picked up 7 blank scoresheets throughout the season. This is their 24th Season out of 43 and this is their second time, that they have scored 100 or more goals. Their best score is 106 from the 2000/01 season. Over their 24 seasons, they have now scored a total of 1735 goals which now gives them an average score of 72 goals per season. Last time out was in the 2021/22 season when they finished with a total of 56 goals.
Our third team was the Scottish Premiership winners CELTIC with 98 goals and they were our top voted Scottish team with a total of 70 votes. They picked up a total of 6 blank scoresheet from their total of 47 league/cup games. They had scored in all of their last 9 league/cup games. This is their 43rd Season with us and they have now scored a total of 4303 goals which now gives them an average score of 100 goals per season. Their top score is our record breaking total of 144 goals which they scored last season.
So lets see what has happen to our other teams that did well this season. BARNET have picked up their highest score with 73 goals beating their previous record of 69 goals in the 1992/93 season. BROMLEY finished with 74 goals, which beats last seasons score of 72 goals. MK DONS have picked up their biggest score of 93 goals which is their best since their record breaking score of 115 goals in the 2015/16 season. With our Scottish teams, HEARTS picked up their best score of 85 goals since their top score of 98 goals from the 2014/15 season. They had three votes. CLYDE finished on a total of 73 goals which beats their previous score of 60 goals in the 2015/16 season. They had 1 vote this season. STENHOUSEMUIR picked up their best score of 66 goals since the 2017/18 season.
THE WORST THREE TEAMS FINISHED AS
EAST FIFE (39) WOLVES (43) BLACKBURN ROVERS (43) Total of 125 goals
Our worst teams finished as EAST FIFE in their 5th 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 42 goals back in the 2008/09 season. They had just one vote.3
Our second worst team was WOLVES. With 34 appearance’s they finished with a total of 43 goals. Their lowest score is from the 2020/21 season with just 38 goals. They also had just 1 vote.
Our third worst team was BLACKBURN ROVERS finishing on 43 goals which is now their lowest score in their 16 appearance’s with us. Their previous lowest score was g8oals in the1996/97 season. They had 2 votes this season.
Other teams that picked up their lowest score on record are LIVERPOOL have picked up their second lowest score of 75 goals which beats their lowest score of 61 goals from the 2010/11 season. SUNDERLAND have picked up their lowest score of 45 goals beating their previous low score of 52 in the 1984/85 season. DUMBARTON with 51 goals beats their previous lowest score of 53 in the 1988/89 season.
Our biggest result in our 43rd Season came from MANCHESTER CITY after they won 10-1 at home to Exeter City in the FA Cup 3rd Round in Week Twenty-Three.
Our worst performing team was WOLVES this season after they had a total of 19 blank score sheets from 44 league/cup games. They finished with a total of 43 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 111 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.
I would like to thank each and everyone of you once again, for taking part in this season’s competition and I hope that I will see you all again next season. So start getting your family and friends involved in the next great historic season our 44th of Golden Goals.
Here are our top 25 winners this season and congratulations to Vincent Cruickshank of winning the £100 this season.
FINAL LAST M/WEEK W/END FINAL
WEEK WEEK NAME GOALS GOALS TOTAL
1 - V. CRUICKSHANK 79 210 289
2 - P. O’DONOGHUE 83 204 287
3 - GRAHAM PHILLIPS 55 227 282
4 - G. BOLBERY 72 207 279
5 6 T. GUY (2) 72 207 279
6 5 S. STUBBS (2) 85 193 278
7 - K. SETNA (2005/06) 70 203 273
8 9 D. WOOD 75 198 273
9 8 H. ADKINS 81 192 273
10 - T. GUY (3) 83 190 273
11 13 C. SETFORD 72 200 272
12 11 D. SOMERVILLE (2009/10) 84 187 271
13 12 K. RATTLE 99 171 270
14 17 M. WALKER 60 208 268
15 18 A. EYLES 61 207 268
16 14 L. GRIMWOOD 73 194 267
17 15 S. STEPHENS 74 193 267
18 16 J. BLYTH 56 210 266
19 20 M. JOHNSTON 60 204 264
20 21 T. GUY (1) (10/11 & 22/23) 62 201 263
21 23 ALBIE/BOBBY 72 191 263
22 28 A. STUBBS (2012/13) 73 190 263
23 19 B. BARNES (1) 97 166 263
24 27 R. NETTING 66 196 262
25 29 J. SOMERVILLE 85 177 262
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