Its a wrap!!

Dear All,

Many apologies for the delay but I was out of the office for most of last week, cheering on the mighty Reds in Athens.

Can you imagine losing the Champions League Final and the DITB League in one day!!!! Well, just as I lost the league and the FFA Cup on the final day last season, fate has once again dealt the Grapes a cruel blow. According to Glenn Hoddle, I must have been a bad b&$£&d in a former life.

Anyway, congratulations to the new Diving in the Box FF League Champion The Dogs Ballacks who managed to hold off a late challenge from the Grapes to win the title by just two points. Goes to show that every booking or appearance counts in this game.

Brother Brogan lifts £250 and joins an illustrious list of past winners (which also includes some managers who will be plying their trade in the conference league next season). The Chairman receives £150 for his efforts this season.

The Ballacks and The Grapes finished a long way ahead of defending champion Maclacticos whose form in the second half of the season saw Brother McNally claim the remaining Champions League spot by finishing third and lifting £75, ahead of Minus Three FC and The Penalty Kings who will both be consoled with a UEFA Cup place and £30 each.

There will still be silverware in the McNally household this year as Maclacticos picked up this year's FFA Cup and another £70, again at the expense of Brother Johnston's Minus Three FC. Brother Johnston picks up another £30 as cup runner-up and will surely be happy though with his team's performance this season, competing at the highest level (well almost!) until the last day of the season.

Missing out on a European place is former champ KFC Academical whilst our top ten was completed by Minibabybellefc, Flexy's Fairies, Ashburton Groove N7 and The Prof's X! who finished the season in fine style and can now look forward to next year with renewed vigour.

Minibabybellefc was the highest finishing female member of the league who will also claim bragging rights down under as the highest placed Ozzie (bang goes my 'Wizard of Oz' pun as he was a bloke!). Congratulations to Claire on a superb debut season.

This year is the last of the Dalkon Shield which goes to the team that finishes bang in the middle of the league. The masters of mid-table mediocrity this season were Decies Ant Atac and Kirbs Crawlers who finished in joint 19th position and will receive the princely sum of £15 each.

Next season, the winner of the newly-formed Johnny Hanna Conference League will pick up the Dalkon Shield as their prize, as well as some cash and automatic promotion to the DITB Premier League.

Before we get to the dreaded cull, there's the small matter of relegation to sort out and this could be costly for Chuckle Brother Senior who will be paying for two this season!

Yes Cool Dude Zoo finished bottom and therefore must pay a £20 forfeit.

The Muppetaldinhos finished 38th and will pay a forfeit of £15.

And finally, third from bottom, the Mersey Miracles (or rather thier dad) will pay a forfeit of £10.

Now the moment that many have been waiting for... the announcement of next season's DITB Premier League and Johnny Hanna Conference League.

There were no dramatic turnarounds in the final week so the divisions will be as follows...

Diving in the Box Premier League

The Dogs Ballacks Paul Brogan

The Grapes of Raff Michael Rafferty

Maclacticos Owen McNally

Minus Three FC Geoff Johnston

The Penalty Kings Conor Walls

KFC Academical Kevin McCauley

Minibabybelle FC Claire Baber

Flexy's Fairies Brendan Kelly

The Prof's XI Kurt Festraerts

Ashburton Groove N7 Patrick O'Sullivan

Harpic Amsterdam Mark Molloy

The Blue Monkeys Brian Shields

Real Goldfish Conor McAvoy

Brendys Bruisers Brendan Devlin

Gulladuff Mafia John McDermott

Prince of Darkness Gavin Sheehy

Cherry United William Cherry

True Blue Strikers Jules Eilledge

Kirbs Crawlers Andy Kirby

Decies Ant Atac Declan Crudden

Johnny Hanna Conference League

Bazking in Glory Barry Corr

Yer Ma's Athletic Francis Jones

Gazza's Piping Hots Gary McDonald

Leteminletemout Brendan Henry

Jubilee Cordozo Austin McGinley

5-Star Alan Stewart

Black Socks Red Tops David Nightingale

Hoofers Gareth Bradley

Gulladuff FF Matthew Henry

Con Villa Connell McGinley

Gold Coast Heroes Colly McKenna

The Toffees Deborah Boardman

The Well Hungarians Conor Nugent

Joey's Monsters Andy McCabe

The Busted Sofas Conor Donnelly

Virgin Surfers Eamon Eastwood

Mersey Miracles Joseph O'Sullivan

The Muppetaldinhos Paul Maynes

Cool Dude Zoo Stephen O'Sullivan

So there you have it my friends. I think when you look at the calibre of the teams in each division, the quality really speaks for itself. On a brighter note, and one that should console all those managers who didn't make the cut, it can't be too difficult to win the Conference League next season! Yes it looks like we will have two fiercely competitve leagues next season and I for one am looking forward to it already.

A word of warning. Family ties don't seem to work in Fantasy Football so be careful before you invite brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, etc to join in the craic.

Brendan Henry and son Matthew - both relegated

Stephen O'Sullivan and son Joe - both relegated

Austin McGinley and brother Connell - both relegated

In fact, fair play to Chuckle Brother Junior Paddy O'Sullivan (brother and uncle of aforementioned duo) who has managed to buck the trend. But he always was a black sheep anyway. ;-)

So now, the time has come, and with a tear in my eye it's time to close the final curtain on this year's DITB season.

Congratulations to all those who won trophies, to all who won money and to those who made it to the promised land of the Premmier League.

Commiserations to the rest and thanks for taking part. Chin up, there's always next season.

Look forward to seeing you all at the AGP which has been confirmed for Saturday June 23.

But before I go, for the final time this season...

READ 'EM AND WEEP!!!!!!

Regards,

Michael R.
Diving in the Box FF League Chairman
Don't forget to check out http://divinginthebox.blogspot.com/ for all your FF needs.

DIVING IN THE BOX FF LEAGUE 2006/2007: Final League Positions

1 (1) THE DOGS BALLACKS 1658 (25)

2 (2) THE GRAPES OF RAFF 1656 (29)

3 (4) MACLACTICOS 1579 (29)

4 (3) MINUS THREE FC 1568 (11)

5 (4) THE PENALTY KINGS 1567 (27)

6 (6) KFC ACADEMICAL 1554 (17)

7 (8) MINIBABYBELLEFC 1534 (14)

8 (9) FLEXY’S FAIRIES 1532 (20)

9 (10) THE PROF’S XI 1530 (25)

9 (7) ASHBURTON GROOVE N7 1530 (9)

11 (11) HARPIC AMSTERDAM 1519 (25)

12 (14) THE BLUE MONKEYS 1500 (31)

12 (12) REAL GOLDFISH 1500 (11)

14 (16) BRENDYS BRUISER’S 1499 (31)

15 (14) GULLADUFF MAFIA 1491 (22)

16 (13) PRINCE OF DARKNESS 1489 (18)

17 (20) CHERRY UNITED 1487 (26)

18 (17) TRUE BLUE STRIKERS 1483 (18)

19 (19) KIRBS CRAWLERS 1479 (16)

19 (18) DECIES ANT ATAC 1479 (15)

21 (21) BAZKINGINGLORY 1465 (24)

22 (22) YER MA’S ATHLETIC 1455 (16)

23 (23) GAZZA’S PIPING HOTS 1451 (18)

24 (24) LETEMINLETEMOUT 1420 (13)

25 (26) JUBILEE CORDOZO 1414 (15)

26 (25) 5-STAR 1413 (12)

27 (27) BLACK SOCKS RED TOPS 1393 (18)

28 (28) HOOFERS 1379 (19)

29 (31) GULLADUFF F.F 1364 (20)

29 (29) CON VILLA 1364 (9)

31 (30) GOLD COAST HEROS 1360 (8)

32 (33) THE TOFFEES 1342 (19)

33 (32) THE WELL HUNGARIANS 1341 (11)

34 (34) JOEY’S MONSTERS 1331 (15)

35 (35) THE BUSTED SOFAS 1300 (18)

36 (36) VIRGIN SURFERS 1277 (13)

37 (37) MERSEY MIRACLES 1232 (2)

38 (38) THE MUPPETALDINHOS 1203 (0)

39 (39) COOL DUDE ZOO 1042 (9)

SUPER LEAGUE POSITION IN LEAGUE OF SUPER LEAGUES: 887 (935) / 12296