Classic league table Gameweek 34+.

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Classic league table Gameweek 35+.

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Classic league table Gameweek 36+.

Edited by Dan Theolmesdaleroad (18 Jul 2020 1.12pm)

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Classic league table Gameweek 37+.

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Classic league table Gameweek 38+, final standings.

Attachment: Holmesdaleship Classic 2019-20 GW38+.docx (17.22Kb)

Well I’ve heard of injury time being added on to football matches before - but never to the end of a whole season!

After the entire planet was scythed down under the challenge of a pandemic though, a whopping 100,800 minutes had to be added on to the end of the 2019/20 Premier League campaign as fixtures were postponed and eventually played behind closed doors well into late July.

But while players remained holed up in their mansions under lockdown teaching long division to their kids, watching Tiger King on Netflix and meticulously cutting and styling their own hair, their fantasy counterparts carried on undaunted as FPL head-to-head fixtures were completed as scheduled. This included the Holmesdaleship, whose remaining fixtures from Gameweek 30 onwards were recorded as 0-0 draws with points awarded accordingly to each team.

With the Holmesdaleship effectively ending early in its head-to-head format and threatening to leave us all without our FPL fix, it seemed only fair to continue it after the Premier League’s June restart as a conventional classic league using Gameweek points accrued throughout the season. A separate league table using points scored from the restart onwards was also maintained as the last quarter of the season was played to its conclusion in the summer months.

Head-to-head league

Since its beginning in 2015, the Holmesdaleship fantasy league has featured 20 FPL teams each year, just like the Premier League itself. For technical reasons too boring and unnecessary to go into, the usual 20 team limit had to be lifted for this season allowing as many as 32 to take part this year.

As the league table began to take shape, it was CPFC:2019, Cpfc reserves, Edgar Davids’ Barnet, EppingForest Rangers, Hangover 96 and Pitch Invaders who started to forge ahead at the top of the table. Also off to very fine starts were Ingerrrlund and The Monkeys, who were unfortunate to find themselves outside of the top 10, as well as Gone by Christmas, Ayew in a manger and Ayew Kidding Roy whose lower league positions belied their impressive Gameweek point totals.

Of the leading pack, EppingForest Rangers established a lead over the rest for much of the season, albeit a fairly slender one. And then, in mid-March, the unthinkable happened.

Cue the health crisis and all that went with it, including around two months’ worth of stalemate results in the remaining Holmesdaleship fixtures. Other than showing an unusually high number of draws as a result, there were no further changes to the league’s standings as EppingForest Rangers claimed the title with a very respectable 74 points, 4 clear of CPFC:2019 in second place. With an excellent total of 1737 Gameweek points, nearly 100 more than their closest rivals, Rangers certainly proved themselves to be worthy champions. Pitch Invaders and Edgar Davids’ Barnet rounded out the top four, both on 68 points.

Classic league

Already having the head-to-head title in the bag, EppingForest Rangers were unsurprisingly left in pole position to win this one, too, amassing a table-topping haul of 1737 Gameweek points during the first three quarters of the season. Pitch Invaders, Ingerrrlund, The Monkeys and Dem Bums all remained in contention though, each with impressive totals of over 1600 Gameweek points of their own. The race was on!

There was some movement in the table over the course of the remaining Gameweeks, with Ingerrrlund inexplicably dropping out of the top 10 after beginning the restart in third, while JP’s Super Eagles moved up from ninth to sixth and CPFC:2019 from seventh to third. Edgar Davids’ Barnet was looking good, too, climbing from tenth to eighth and just a handful of points off the top five heading into the final weekend.

There was no surprise about the leaders though, as EppingForest Rangers asserted their authority over the rest, opening up a sizeable gap of well over 100 points. By the end of the season, Rangers amassed a grand total of 2404 points, 144 clear of Pitch Invaders in second place to claim the Classic league title.

While achieved in a classic league format, Rangers’ stunning points haul of 2404 is also a new record for the Holmesdaleship, 120 more than the mark set by Bring back the GPO last term. Superb scoring!

ABCD league

In the unique circumstances of Premier League fixtures being postponed until the summer with drinks breaks, five substitutes per team and, sadly, no spectators, the ABCD league – All Behind Closed Doors – was set up to further maintain interest in the FPL and provide a little something extra to play for. And with everyone starting this ‘mini season’ in June level on zero points, the ABCD title could have gone to anyone. After all, it’s a sprint, not a marathon.

After the first week of the restart, Ayew in a manger burst into an early lead with an outstanding Gameweek points score of 127. EppingForest Rangers, Pitch Invaders, 1861 Football Club, CPFC:2019 and The Monkeys made up the top six, all with scores of over 100 points. But they would have to maintain that early pace to catch Ayew in a manger.

In the meantime, Edgar Davids’ Barnet looked in a sorry state, propping up the table with 56 points. Not such a bad score for a single Gameweek, but just not as good as the rest of the league. Everyone was looking better than Edgar Davids’ Barnet.

As the final quarter of the season progressed, JP’s Super Eagles, Ayew Kidding Roy and Groundhodg Day began to make serious inroads, reaching the 300 point mark before the halfway point. Ayew in a manger had now slipped to third, with The Monkeys looking very impressive in second place and EppingForest Rangers now taking over at the top as the table began to take on an all too familiar look. Edgar Davids’ Barnet had started to look a lot healthier by this point though, remarkably shooting straight up to sixth.

The final weekend saw Edgar Davids’ Barnet growing even stronger, rising to second with a faint hope of claiming top spot on the last day after being dead last at the restart. But it wasn’t to be, as EppingForest Rangers stretched their lead at the end with a magnificent score of 73 to claim the ABCD title in style with 667 Gameweek points. JP’s Super Eagles pulled Edgar Davids’ Barnet back down to third to claim the runner-up spot, while Groundhodg Day and CPFC:2019 finished fourth and fifth respectively. Pitch Invaders and Ayew in a manger finished in joint sixth, with all seven top teams scoring over 600 points. Excellent performances all round.

Indeed, there was some excellent point scoring throughout much of the season by most teams. Granted, there were more than the usual number of teams taking part, but 20 of them, around two thirds, scored in excess of 2000 points. That shows a very good levels of determination and consistency, especially in a season such as this one, as FPL managers fought for their league positions over the course of a whole year. Very well done everybody!

Well done too to Melchester Rovers and Glad All Over, both of whom finished the season on a high note in spite of their fairly modest performances this year. After saving their triple captain options all season, they finally chose to give theirs to Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne, netting themselves a very welcome 57 points each for his 19 point MOTM performance against Norwich City. A risky move, but one that paid off far more for them than it did for most in the end!

More entrants in the league of course meant more FPL team names to have a laugh at, and there was a good variety this year as usual. The ones I enjoyed the most included Pitch Invaders, The Monkeys, White Van Man, Groundhodg Day, Ayew Kidding Roy, Gone by Christmas, Omnishambles, Clitoristal Palace, Manos de Dios and PVA Eindhoven. I think Hangover 96 was maybe my personal favourite, though. I liked Edgar Davids’ Barnet as well.

The name that made the biggest impression this year though was of course EppingForest Rangers, whose outstanding FPL performance dominated this season’s Holmesdaleship. Not only did Rangers capture the head-to-head league title, but they also ran away with this year’s Classic league with a record points tally of 2404 as well as winning the sprint finish for the ABCD crown in highly unusual circumstances. A unique achievement that will likely (and hopefully) never be repeated!

Thank you to all of you for taking part in the league this term. It’s been a very different season for all of us, and in a year that has brought more than its fair share of hardship, misery and uncertainty, I hope this has been a welcome distraction at times for you. Above all, I hope you and your loved ones have remained well and will continue to keep safe throughout these dark and trying times.

As many of you may know by now, the 2020/21 Premier League season is due to start on Saturday, 12 September 2020. I am looking forward to another Holmesdaleship head-to-head FPL campaign next term which any Palace fans on the HOL will be welcome to join once again, probably from early-mid August. Places are likely to be limited to 20 entrants as in previous years, so please keep an eye out for entry details when they become available in the coming weeks to avoid missing out.

Cheers everyone, and congratulations once again to the 2019/20 Holmesdaleship treble-winning champions, EppingForest Rangers!!! Very well played indeed.