Every now and again you find yourself watching or even being a part of something a little bit spectacular, something which you know will make the history books and that people will look back on in 50 years and say “remember when…”.

To give you a few examples, do you remember 2005 and the Ac Milan vs Liverpool Champions League Final? Held at Atatürk Stadium in Istanbul and with a monstrous 70,024 in attendance, Milan were regarded as favourites before the match and took the lead in the first minute through captain Paolo Maldini. Hernán Crespo added two more goals before half-time to make it 3-0. During the second half, Steven Gerrard, Vladimír Šmicer and Xabi Alonso scored three goals in six minutes for Liverpool to level the scores at 3-3. The scores remained the same during extra time, and a penalty shootout was required to decide the champions. The score was 3-2 to Liverpool when Andriy Shevchenko’s penalty was saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek. Thus Liverpool won their fifth European Cup. Regarded by many as the best match ever…

Or how about 1999 and the Manchester United vs Bayern Munich game? The action kicked off in Barcelona in front of a mind blowing 90,000 fans, but it was 1-0 to Bayern Munich throughout the entire match, until Man Utd score 2 goals in stoppage time to win the cup. United’s victory was the culmination of their Treble-winning season, after they had already won the FA Premier League and the FA Cup earlier in the month.

Or 2006 at the Cardiff Millenium Stadium, and Liverpool vs West Ham in the Cup? 71,140 in attendance and when West Ham went ahead 2-0, many thought it was all over. Even later on at 3-2 it looked like the match was sealed but Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard scored a goal in the last minute from 30-yards plus to take the game to extra-time and they eventually triumphed on penalties. It is considered by most who watched to be one of the greatest Cup Finals in the history of the tournament.

Ok one more for you, how about the Tottenham 4 Arsenal 5 game at White Hart Lane in 2004? Although Arsenal came out on top in a topsy-turvy north London derby, it was an amazing journey to the final whistle. Noureddine Naybet volleyed Spurs ahead before Thierry Henry levelled in first- half injury-time and Lauren’s penalty put Arsenal ahead after 53 minutes. Patrick Vieira added a third on the hour, and even though Jermain Defoe’s strike gave Spurs hope, Freddie Ljungberg restored the two-goal lead. Ledley King headed Spurs’ third, and even after Robert Pires hit Arsenal’s fifth, Freddie Kanoute was on target.

And of course only a few months ago, 30,000 plus faithful were treated to a record-breaking 9 – 1 game between Spurs and Wigan, where Defoe scored 5 goals and became only the third player, after Alan Shearer and Andy Cole to do so. Not just that but Tottenham scored eight times in the second half as Wigan sank without trace and Defoe notched a hat-trick in seven minutes, the second quickest since the inception of the Premier League in 1992. Oh good times and history was made.

Wow – that was a ramble – so back to last weekend and a very different kind of history being made. Sky showed the world’s first live 3D TV sports broadcast after being helped by the man behind the Hollywood blockbuster movie Avatar. With only 9 selected pubs in the entire country having this honour, it was with more than the usual happiness that I drank my beer whilst wearing special glasses to see the Arsenal vs Manchester United game in an extra dimension. What did I think? Well it had a lot of potential, I’m not sure the technology is quite there yet to stream 3D on the fly by the mili-second, but to be honest – bothered – because in 50 years time when its totally the norm to watch 3D TV, I’ll be able to say “I was there when it all began.”

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So it’s the end of the month, which means it’s prizes time. Kokbun Lee (£6) was the highest points manager with 271 points in the month, closely followed by Steve Dennis (261) and Chris Lyons (254). The £5 Highest Climber prize goes to Cerys Bowd (up 49 places) with Simon Laesser (up 43) and Sarah Groves (up 40) just missing out. There were also two lucky people who get £1 each for being on a multipe of 100, and they are Leigh Styles and Andrew Oestrich (800).

Well done to everyone, there is now less than 70 points between 1st place and 10th place – so it’s not long before some new history will be made.

You heard it here first, www.thisisfantasyfootball.com

“TOTT GUNS! Spurs go on rampage and score 9 while Wigan… well, they should’ve gone to Specsavers!”

Oh wait, we also had the backpage headlines too:

“Defoe high FIVE puts Spurs on cloud NINE!”

If this veritable metaphor fest wasn’t enough to raise a smile, then how about the records that were broken:

“The striker’s stunning salvo in the 9-1 win was the best haul for a player in a Premier League match for a decade.”

“It is the first time a team has scored nine in a Premier League fixture since Manchester United thrashed Ipswich 9-0 at Old Trafford in 1995.”

“Defoe is the first person to score 5 goals in one half and becomes only the third player to score five in one Premier League match after Alan Shearer and Andy Cole.”

“The first three of Defoe’s goals came in a seven-minute burst shortly after the break – the second fastest hat-trick in the history of the Premier League. The quickest remains Robbie Fowler’s for Liverpool against Arsenal in 1994.”

“Tottenham, move level on points with third-placed Arsenal after their biggest win in 32 years.”

But it’s not all about Spurs, other records were broken too:

“The Spurs result is Wigan’s record league defeat – the previous being a 6-1 reverse against Bristol Rovers in 1990.”

Anyway enjoy the updated file on this beautifuly wet and windy Monday morning. There are new names in the top 10, top 20, all over the place but let’s be honest – if you haven’t got Defoe in your team, you’ve probably gone down.

www.thisisfantasyfootball.com (and it feels so good)

Again, it’s been a bit of a wait for this update as the International games got in the way – but the weekend saw normal service restored to the Premiership.

A late goal from Agbonlahor gave Villa a win away at Birmingham, whilst Fulham came from behind to beat Evertons early lead through Cahill. Diouf oponed the scoring for Blackburn during their 3 – 1 win over Wolves, whilst Benayoun fired off a hatrick during Liverpools 4 – 0 win over Burnley.

A six goal feast between Man City and Arsenal saw the likes of Van Persie, Bellamy, Adebyor and Wright-Phillips all score. A last minute goal from Cahill sealed a first win for Bolton away at Portsmouth, who still need to get off the mark.

Chelsea came from behind and needed a 4th minute of extra time goal from Malouda to continue their unbeaten start to the season. Spurs meanwhile lost their first of the season to Man U with an early bicycle kick goal from Defoe cancelled out by goals from Giggs, Anderson and Rooney. Wigan beat West Ham with Rodallega the only scorer.

In our league, (other than me) Tim Radford also had a good week with 72 points and up 43 places, as did Joanne Sheen, Dan Jones and Nathan Davies. Unfortunately this week saw two negative points movers in the form of Craig Robson and Adrian Till. Dark times indeed for these two managers.

In terms of positions, Chris Rawlings also had a good week, up 51 places – as did Jamie Keddle up 39 places. But for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction and this week it was was Dave Heylings down 34 places who suffered the most.

It’s also time for everyone to pay… I don’t want everyone handing me five pound notes all over the place – as these never seem to make it to the bank – so instead can I ask that everyone do a quick transfer to me online. Details are:

Sort Code: 40 08 28
Account Number: 514 174 28
Please add your name in the reference so I know its from you and then I’ll mark you off.

I’ve also had a huge amount of feedback regarding transfers. And so here is how it’s going to work. As with previous seasons, each team will be allowed 4 transfers – which can be made at the end of any month – with effect from the start of the next. So feel free to start sending any transfer requests in and they will come in from the start of October.

Cheers

www.thisisfantasyfootball.com

Click Here for Latest League Table

Our fun little league has gone from strangth to strength each year – but with 162 people last year, it looked like we had maxed out – but no, this year we have managed to reach 171 teams!!!

This first update actually consists of two updates – I did one after the first weekend – and another today once The Sun DreamTeam website was sorted out – so your “streak” will be based upon the movement between these two…

The early leaders all have the likes of Defoe (phenomenal hat-trick in one game alone), Rooney (3 goals) and Drogba (3 goals) but it is Dan Marshall who takes an early lead this season on 164 points – closely followed by Jo and myself.

Because it is such early days I won’t start mentioning everyone who’s gone up loads or down loads but I will share with you a few interesting statistics – all of which are available in the file.

Lampard and Gerrard were the two most popular players with 87 teams choosing each one. After that came Owen (75), Torres (51) and Arshavin (51).

The most popular teams that players were chosen from went likes this: Man U (286), Chelsea (276), Liverpool (220), Arsenal (144), Everton (116) and Fulham (115). Is this a sign of how the season will finish? Who can say?

The best value players at this early stage are Jensen (23 points per £1m), Shawcross (17 points per £1m), Johnson (13 points per £1m) and Carr (13 points per £1m). Who are they you might well say?

I think we’ll leave it there for now…

Remember to leave any banter on the site – that’s what it’s all about.

www.thisisfantasyfootball.com

(please note that when you open the League file – available online – you may see an eggtimer appear once you click an option – just be patient…)

Before I give you the latest update, I invite you all to take part in this most enjoyable of days: International Talk Like A Pirate Day – so go on, say “Arghh – shiver me timbers matey!!!” to the person next to you – and bask in their surprise. And if you’re looking to start your own crew, check out http://www.talklikeapirate.com/.

The European games saw Man U and Arsenal both held to draws – arghhh – whilst Spurs notched up their first win of the season thanks to a late goal from Bent – arghhh. Portsmouth triumped 2 nill thanks to a Defoe rampage – arghhh – whilst 2 goals from Jo saw Man City steal a sweet victory – arghh. An absolute screamer from Castillo ensured Everton a 2 all draw – arghhh – whilst Aston Villa came from behind to win 3 – 1 against a 9 man team – ARGHH!!!

Ok, let’s not overcook it… In the League, “Big Bird United” take the lead, with “Bab to the Future” continuing their meteoric rise up another 43 places into 10th. From the same old school team, Nick remains stable in 6th, with “Obi Wan – Kenobi Nil” up another 16 in 15th place with “AC A Little Silhouette of a Man” one place behind. This gang of pirates, is finished off with strong performances from “Schling-a-ling FC” up 38 places in 34th and “The Peoples Club” in 39th place. Only time will tell whether they rule the High Seas or walk the plank of shame…

Have a great weekend everyone.

www.thisisfantasyfootball.com

Well it went a bit quiet there whilst the International games came to an end but fear not, the League resumed normal service last weekend with some epic battles.

Liverpool stunned Man U with some solid team play, whilst Robinho’s opening goal for Man City was quickly cancelled out by Chelsea, with Lampard, Carvalho and Anelka all on the score sheet. Hull continued their glorious start to the season with 2 goals from King enough to add to the Newcastle woes – whilst it was a thriller of a game between West Ham and West Brom, with Brunts 83rd minute goal enough to claim a sneaky 3 – 2 win. Defoe bagged a couple on the way to a Portsmouth win whilst Adebayor ran riot with three goals for Arsenal during their 4 nil demolition of Blackburn. The final two games saw Everton slip a win past a hard fighting Stoke team with Cahil’s 77th minute goal enough to take it 3 – 2 and Monday saw Spurs stay at the bottom of the table as Aston Villa outplayed them.

In terms of our little league, Jamie holds on to the top spot but Mr Hill, Mr Oestrich, Mr Alexander and Mr Kellman all surge into the top 10 with massive climbs up the leaderboard. It’s such early days that anything can happen but I think a new fantasy football climbing record was set by the two teams “Rancho Relaxo” and “Green’s Giant’s” both up 105 places since the last update. “Numero 19″ team though took an alternative route and dropped 77 places – a tactical move perhaps.

That’s it for now but please remember that any transfers received are only implemented from the 1st of the next month – so those of you who sent transfers on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd of the month will have to wait almost a whole month until they come into effect. Rules are rules people.

Check the table here – http://www.thisisfantasyfootball.com/?page_id=121

Remember too that the 2 fun competitions have started and you can leave your entry here:

Game 1 – http://www.thisisfantasyfootball.com/?page_id=146
Game 2 – http://www.thisisfantasyfootball.com/?page_id=149

Until next time, a little food for thought: as you will all no doubt have heard, last week saw the switch being flicked on the giant Large Hadron Collider beneath Switzerland. The most expensive scientific instrument in history that will change our fundamental understanding of the universe. Impressive stuff but did you know much about Earth anyway? Or did you ever wonder what would happen if you dug a giant hole in your garden all the way through to Australia? Well here’s the answer:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/09/08/ten-things-you-dont-know-about-the-earth/

Thanking you.

www.thisisfantasyfootball.com