Prediction Competition 2007/08 Final Standings
Fascinating Facts
With the end of the season there has been an increase in points generally, not a lot, but scores are higher from top to bottom. Not really because the Cup points have been added. The F.A. Cup yielded zero points for the whole competition.
I am delighted that Don Crosby has won as he has participated in the competition virtually every year. He is one of our oldest members and lives near Norwich. Sharing second place is a previous winner, Ed. Pritchard who lives in Buckinghamshire, Mike Chilton from Wiltshire and Bill Whitehead from near Carlisle.
With the low scoring it was a close run thing. Chris Tembey got both League Cup finalists but only two points. He also got Scunny and Colchester and only two points and, yes, Swansea and Forest and only two more. The man is the next thing to a football genius. I emphasise the words “next thing” here. The difference between success and failure was small, at the bottom Jessie Bell scored 9 points with 9 teams and a certain Neil Jardine scored 8 from eight. Some of the entries in the top ten had as many teams. Teresa Slee had 11 teams but only 13 points, as many teams as some of the winners.
It has been a strange season, well, apart from the utterly predictable Premier League. The fact that so many (B) entries appear at the top makes me think that the safer (A) entries proved to be off the mark. Only Reading proved to be relatively unfancied in the premiership. Apart from that it was simply a matter of getting the teams in the right order.
Hull’s dramatic late surge proved fatal to everyone apart from Alan Millington. (He also had Wrexham down!) Hull appeared in the bottom three on many entries. Stoke had only a few backers too. Mike Chilton did manage to get six points from the top two. Only two entries had Leicester down for the drop. Three out of six meant the odds on getting the other three were even higher.
At the same time Forest’s late surge did many entries a favour as did Gillingham’s late collapse. Luton’s disastrous season proved to be the unpredictable element here. Only Richard Perry saw Hereford would maintain their progress in League Two but Chester’s late collapse caught everyone out apart from Sandy McIntyre. Chester is one of those teams that did not feature at either end in the entries.
This unpredictability resulted in some strange scores at the bottom of the listings. Carlisle had been a thorn in Garry Brookes attempt to score zero. Their last eight games helped him out but it was Hull that sneaked in with a maximum.
The League Cup provided a number of points here and there. I would like to mention Colin Hopkins who did get Portsmouth, but in the League Cup final and Spurs, but in the F.A. Cup Final. As I have said already, close, but so were so many others.
So there we are. Another season and another small group of wealthy individuals who can now buy more than a gallon of petrol in one go. I hope everyone enjoyed the competition this season. It was certainly more interesting than most years. See you all, and some friends, next season.
IAN JARDINE
Final Standings:
| Position | Person | Points |
| 1 | DON CROSBY | 26 |
2 | ED. PRITCHARD (B) | 22 |
| MIKE CHILTON | 22 | |
| BILL WHITEHEAD | 22 | |
5 | RICHARD PERRY (B) | 21 |
| JAKE CASS | 21 | |
| MAURICE REAY (B) | 21 | |
8 | FRANCES M. BLAIR | 20 |
| CHRIS TEMBEY | 20 | |
10 | RYAN HODGSON | 19 |
| ALAN MILLINGTON (A) | 19 | |
| MICHAEL HOPPER | 19 | |
| DAVE CROXFORD (B) | 19 | |
| BRIAN ROTHERY (A) | 19 | |
| BOB BROOKES (A) | 19 | |
| WILL CHIVERS | 19 | |
17 | ROBIN BROOKES (A) | 18 |
| SANDY McINTYRE (A) | 18 | |
| CHRIS HOLMES (B) | 18 | |
| DAVE RUSSELL-GRAHAM | 18 | |
| SANDY McINTYRE (B) | 18 | |
22 | KENNY McKENZIE | 17 |
| SIMON CLARKSON (B) | 17 | |
| COLIN HOPKINS (B) | 17 | |
| IAN JARDINE | 17 | |
| HEATHER JARDINE | 17 | |
| DANIEL THOMPSON | 17 | |
| ED. PRITCHARD (A) | 17 | |
| KEVIN HANDS (A) | 17 | |
| KEVIN HANDS (B) | 17 | |
| ANDREW DOBINSON | 17 | |
32 | CHRIS PEARSON | 16 |
| ROBIN BROOKES (B) | 16 | |
| SIMON CLARKSON (A) | 16 | |
| KEN HULLOCK | 16 | |
| MRS. E. GRAINGER (B) | 16 | |
| IAN CHIVERS | 16 | |
| JACK LITTLE | 16 | |
| DES CASS | 16 | |
| GARRY BROOKES (A) | 16 | |
90 | MRS. E. GRAINGER (A) | 10 |
| TIM CAHILL | 10 | |
92 | JESSIE BELL | 9 |
| PAUL SLEE (B) | 9 | |
| DICK HUDDART (B) | 9 | |
| HEATHER BLACKLOCK | 9 | |
96 | MRS. E. M. JARDINE | 8 |
| JAMIE TYSON | 8 | |
| NEIL JARDINE | 8 | |
| ELIZABETH TINKLER | 8 | |
100 | R. K. LILLIE | 7 |
| JOHN TILLEY | 7 | |
| DICK HUDDART (B) | 7 | |
103 | DAVID FORSTER | 6 |
| M. THOMPSON (B) | 6 | |
| MATTHEW BLAIR | 6 | |
106 | GARRY BROOKES (B) | 3 |