Dear All,

I've said it before and I'll say it again... anything can happen and it usually does.

It's a dangerous thing to feel safe in any shape or form until Baz's latest girlfriend sings and the final whistle has been blown on the DITB football season.

Just ask Paddy O'Sullivan about Cup Final day last year!

This week's classic example is the Prince of Darkness who two weeks ago was a shoe-in for relegation. No man in his right mind would have predicted that the prince could stay up.

However, although the league tables below don't show it, in just a fortnight Brother Sheehy has turned around a 30 point deficit at the bottom into a 40 point cushion - with KFC Academical the victim.

As Al Pacino once said, 'Just when I though I was out, they drag me back in.' Brother McCauley certainly knows what he meant.

I would advise all managers to check the scores on the website as they have changed considerably as a result of the midweek matches, particularly the 4-4 draw between Liverpool and Arse-Bandits-One-And-All.

With this in mind, I won't read too much into the tables below.

Suffice to say...

* Harpic Amsterdam holding on well at the top ahead of Minus Three FC, with HIT THE BAR starting to lose ground. Can they hold their nerve in the home straight - the true test of a champion?

* ABCDE FC still hanging in there but The Professor is coming up ominously on the rails, easing quietly into 5th position. Just like he did last year when he won the title!

* 40 points seprate 5th place and 10th place so still lots to play for in terms of European qualification!

* Prince of Darkness out of the relegation zone - even Minibabybelle is scoring well but surely it's too little too late for last year's great escapist!

* KFC back in trouble again. I know how much his Premiership status means to him so Brother McCauley must feel like a dead man walking at the minute.

* Gulladuff FF starting to look like the team that gets dragged into the relegation fight at the end of the season. Eye off the ball young Henry?

* No-one can catch Probably The Best in the Conference. With a team name like that, how can you lose!

* Bazking moves into second place in the CL - can he still achieve his dream despite receiving advice from Guru Walls?

* Promotion battle raging as just 15 points separate 2nd and 5th place. I can't bear to look! Surely fantasy football was meant to be fun!!!!

* Busted Sofas wish that the season was just a couple of weeks longer as his team are going great guns. Brother Donnelly was a relegation candidate at one stage!

* Real Goldish on the comeback trail!!!! Amazing week sees Brother McAvoy move out of the drop zone. Dirty Dubs now in trouble. Although both managers will be pleased to see that Brother Maynes is in the vicinity and going down like a homing pigeon returning to roost.

* High scores - well done to Making History with 47 points and also to The Blue Monkeys (46), MINIBABYBELLEFC (46) and REAL GOLDFISH (46).

* Low scores - appropriately enough the Virgin Surfers, the worst team in the league, scored ZERO points while gazza'a Piping Hots scored 7 and The Fernandos scored 8.

* This week's transfer password is (Big Cyril) REGIS.

Finally, just to run something past you all, how does Saturday June 6 sound to you for the AGP and Prizegiving. I have been informed that there are internationals that day.

Let me know what you think ASAP so we can let our overseas comrades book their flights early.

In the meantime.........

............ READ 'EM AND WEEP!!!!!!!!!!

Michael R.

Diving in the Box FF League Chairman

http://divinginthebox.blogspot.com/

DITB PREMIER LEAGUE Pos Overall Manager Team Week Pts Tot Pts 1 2302 Mr Mark Molloy Harpic Amsterdam 32 1361 2 4210 Mr Geoff Johnston Minus Three FC 29 1337 3 7658 Mr Declan Crudden HIT THE BAR 12 1311 4 8391 Mr John McDermott ABCDE FC 22 1307 5 10989 Mr Kurt Festraerts Making History 47 1294 6 12628 Dr Owen McNally Maclacticos 30 1287 7 13145 Mr Brian Shields the blue monkeys 46 1285 8 13968 Mr Paul Brogan Diaby Does Dallas 28 1282 9 22556 Mr Conor Walls Feeder club MUFC 36 1255 10 23630 Mr Michael Rafferty The Grapes of Raff 32 1252 11 32641 Mr Gary McDonald Gazzas Piping Hots 7 1231 12 45003 Mr Brendan Devlin Brendys Bruisers 31 1207 13 54210 Mr William Cherry Cherry United 39 1191 14 54796 Mr Andy Kirby kirbs crawlers 28 1190 15 73525 Mr Fra Jones Yer Ma's Athletic 19 1161 16 107064 Mr Matthew Henry Gulladuff F.F 10 1113 17 110581 Mr Gavin Sheehy Prince of Darkness 22 1108 18 111919 Mr Kevin McCauley KFC Academical 23 1106 19 136360 Mr Jules Eilledge True Blue Strikers 13 1069 20 153549 Miss Claire Baber MINIBABYBELLEFC 46 1041 Your league is placed 430 out of 10683 with an average score of 1322. DITB Conference League Pos Overall Manager Team Week Pts Tot Pts 1 15363 Mr Mark Stevenson PROBABLY THE BEST 31 1277 2 33137 Mr Barry Corr bazkinginglory 29 1230 3 34113 Mr Brendan Kelly flexys fairys 13 1228 4 35552 Mr Simon Patrick O'Sullivan Sheer Kidology 15 1225 5 40648 Mr Austin McGinley Boys of Summer 15 1215 6 70868 Mr Conor Donnelly The Busted Sofas 37 1165 7 72886 Mr Brendan Henry HOWRTINGS 15 1162 8 107772 Mr Simon Jenkins Stickshifter FC 23 1112 9 109878 Mr colly mckenna micky hartes x1 15 1109 10 125478 Mr Gareth Bradley Hoofers UTD 28 1086 11 128109 Mr Barry Jones Barry's Elite XI 25 1082 12 128757 Mr Conor Nugent The Well Hungarian 20 1081 13 131932 Mr Andrew McCabe Joeys Monsters 20 1076 14 138288 Mr Alan Stewart Muckamore Uld 21 1066 15 157086 Mr Philip McCabe Chamonix Albion 33 1035 16 166449 Mr Connell McGinley Mighty Con Villa 34 1018 17 168514 Mr Stephen O'Sullivan Mersey Miracles 19 1014 18 172607 Mr paul maynes The fernandos 8 1006 19 175100 Mr conor mc avoy REAL GOLDFISH 46 1001 20 180844 Mr Alan McCabe Dirty Dubs XI 16 989 21 195682 Mr Stephen O'Sullivan Cool Dude Zoo 22 954 22 217155 Master Eamon Eastwood Virgin Surfers 0 882 Your league is placed 3932 out of 10683 with an average score of 1235.

Dear All,

We now know who will be competing in this year's Diving in the Box FF Cup Final.

The results of the semi-finals were as follows...

Chamonix Albion (C) 33 vs 22 ABCDE FC (P)

Diaby Does Dallas (P) 28 vs 31 Probably The Best (C)

Yes, in an amazing double twist, the two Conference League teams rose to the occasion to knock out the two Premier League teams. Shame on you Brothers Brogan and McDermott. You've let us all down.

Any Premier League managers who are disgusted at their brethren's performances should get it off their chests now and not let it fester until the AGP in June.

All of this means that we have our first ever all-Conference FFA Cup Final with runaway league leader Probably The Best taking on league debutant Chamonix Albion to see who brings home the coveted Johnny Hanna Dalkon Shield.

Can Brother McCabe#3 cause an upset to prevent Brother Stevenson achieving his dream of a promotion / cup double?

We'll find out on Saturday May 30 - a day on which many fates will be decided.

Congratulations to our two finalists and good luck in the final.

It's always nice to have two new contenders for silverware at the end of the season - even if they are from the Conference.

League update to follow shortly.

Michael R.

Diving in the Box FF League Chairman

http://divinginthebox.blogspot.com/

Dear All,

This recession means that we're all having to work twice as hard which unfortunately is having an impact on my FF updates.

So apologies for my tardiness on this occasion and the brevity of the update to follow.

Firstly, as the FA Cup semi finals take place this weekend, I thought it might be a good idea to conduct the draw for the DITB FFA Cup.

As Brother Johnston has long gone home (lazy get), I'll have to do it myself on this occasion.

No messing about the draw is as follows...

Chamonix Albion (C) vs ABCDE FC (P)

Diaby Does Dallas (P) vs Probably The Best (C)

So the Premier League teams have managed to avoid the Conference League teams.

ABCDE FC will be overwhelming favourites to win the first tie and while Brother Brogan will be favourite in the second semi final, the Conference League winner will fancy his chances.

Good luck to all teams involved as you edge ever closer to some silverware.

Looking at the all important league tables, it's pretty much as you were with some important developments.

The biggest shock is from the bottom of the Premiership where the Prince of Darkness has sensationally leapfrogged KFC Academical to jump out of the bottom four and put Brother McCauley back in a place that he surely thought he'd left behind.

Brother Cheeko caught up a hefty 34 points in just one week which shows that anything is still possible in both divisions with six weeks still to go.

At the top of the table, solid scoring all round keeps everyone where they were, although Maclactico's European place is now under serious threat from in-form Diably Does Dallas.

With three potential first-time winners at the top of the table, will we see a new name on the trophy this year, or will they all bottle it and let the hungry chasing pack of experienced campaigners back in the race.

Very exciting times ahead indeed.

At the bottom of the table, a poor score sees Gulladuff FF now in danger of the dreaded drop - with just a 20 point safety blanket. And we've seen this week, how fickle that sort of lead can be.

In the Conference League, Probably The Best put his foot on the accelerator to buy himself some breathing space at the top of the table but a tremendous scrap is evolving for the two other promotion spots between Flexys fairies, Sheer Kidology, BazkinginGlory and Boys of Summer.

Just 15 points separate the four teams so it's well and truly squeaky bum time in the lower league.

At the bottom of the Conference, Brother Mac is still going for the unwamted record of being the only manager ever to have been relegated two years in succession. It's not over yet though as 60 points separates six teams and a few weeks could make a big difference.

This week's top scorers were Cherry United with a spectacular 58, ahead of Prince of Darkness on 49 and Diably Does Dallas on 47.

Bottom of the pile at this crucial stage of the season were KFC Academical, Hoofers Utd and mickey hartes XI - all scoring just 15 points.

So that's about it my friends. Not such a brief update after all.

This week's transfer password is MABBUTT.

Until next week..........

............. READ 'EM AND WEEP!!!!!!!!!!!

Michael R.

Diving in the Box FF League Chairman

http://divinginthebox.blogspot.com/

DITB PREMIER LEAGUE Pos Overall Manager Team Week Pts Tot Pts 1 2486 Mr Mark Molloy Harpic Amsterdam 36 1329 2 4211 Mr Geoff Johnston Minus Three FC 36 1308 3 5236 Mr Declan Crudden HIT THE BAR 39 1299 4 7276 Mr John McDermott ABCDE FC 37 1285 5 13126 Dr Owen McNally Maclacticos 20 1257 6 13910 Mr Paul Brogan Diaby Does Dallas 47 1254 7 15937 Mr Kurt Festraerts Making History 38 1247 8 18400 Mr Brian Shields the blue monkeys 26 1239 9 23779 Mr Gary McDonald Gazzas Piping Hots 40 1224 10 25380 Mr Michael Rafferty The Grapes of Raff 38 1220 11 25777 Mr Conor Walls Feeder club MUFC 45 1219 12 47299 Mr Brendan Devlin Brendys Bruisers 42 1176 13 55702 Mr Andy Kirby kirbs crawlers 17 1162 14 61990 Mr William Cherry Cherry United 58 1152 15 68686 Mr Fra Jones Yer Ma's Athletic 32 1142 16 96285 Mr Matthew Henry Gulladuff F.F 21 1103 17 108549 Mr Gavin Sheehy Prince of Darkness 49 1086 18 110670 Mr Kevin McCauley KFC Academical 15 1083 19 129384 Mr Jules Eilledge True Blue Strikers 22 1056 20 166814 Miss Claire Baber MINIBABYBELLEFC 21 995 Your league is placed 395 out of 10683 with an average score of 1296. DITB Conference League Pos Overall Manager Team Week Pts Tot Pts 1 16251 Mr Mark Stevenson PROBABLY THE BEST 45 1246 2 27499 Mr Brendan Kelly flexys fairys 32 1215 3 29687 Mr Simon Patrick O'Sullivan Sheer Kidology 32 1210 4 33845 Mr Barry Corr bazkinginglory 30 1201 5 34334 Mr Austin McGinley Boys of Summer 29 1200 6 65360 Mr Brendan Henry HOWRTINGS 42 1147 7 78383 Mr Conor Donnelly The Busted Sofas 40 1128 8 102828 Mr colly mckenna micky hartes x1 15 1094 9 106456 Mr Simon Jenkins Stickshifter FC 37 1089 10 125999 Mr Conor Nugent The Well Hungarian 20 1061 11 128043 Mr Gareth Bradley Hoofers UTD 15 1058 12 128701 Mr Barry Jones Barry's Elite XI 34 1057 13 129384 Mr Andrew McCabe Joeys Monsters 36 1056 14 136668 Mr Alan Stewart Muckamore Uld 24 1045 15 162967 Mr Philip McCabe Chamonix Albion 26 1002 16 165188 Mr paul maynes The fernandos 18 998 17 166814 Mr Stephen O'Sullivan Mersey Miracles 34 995 18 172630 Mr Connell McGinley Mighty Con Villa 20 984 19 178219 Mr Alan McCabe Dirty Dubs XI 37 973 20 186535 Mr conor mc avoy REAL GOLDFISH 31 955 21 196128 Mr Stephen O'Sullivan Cool Dude Zoo 22 932 22 212356 Master Eamon Eastwood Virgin Surfers 18 882 Your league is placed 3546 out of 10683 with an average score of 1214.

Dear All,

As we approach the business end of the season, things are definitely hotting up in the Premier and Conference leagues.

Harpic Amsterdam shows no sign of letting up in his quest for a first leage title. A score of 57 points saw Brother Molloy extend his lead at the top to 21 points over Minus three FC, with HIT THE BAR a further 12 points behind in third place.

Not a big difference to be honest but a difference all the same. It's nice to be top of the league at this time of year but I wouldn't like to see the shape of Molloy's kecks on a Saturday or Sunday evening!

ABCDE FC and maclacticos make up the top five, ahead of the Blue Monkeys, Making History and Diaby Does Dallas, who are still in contention.

A poor season of mid table mediocrity continues for The Grapes while Freeder club MUFC slip into the bottom half of the table for the first time in ages, much to Guru Walls' discontent.

Relegation is looking pretty nailed on with Minibabybelle a cert to go down, while the True Blue Strikers and Prince of Darkness can only carry a very slim hope that KFC Academical can blow it in the home straight.

With all this talk of going down and blowing it, I think it's time to move swiftly on the the Conference league where Probably the Best is still probably the best - but no longer the surefire certainlty that he has been all season.

Only 18 points separate Brother Stevenson from Flexys Fairies, and with Sheer Kidology, Boys of Summer and Bazkinginglory all close behind, promotion isn;t a guarantee for the season-long league leader.

It would be unthinkable for Probably the Best not to be promoted, let alone win the league, but there could be a few hairy moments between now and the end of May.

That's the worst thing about being a league leader, your laundry bill increases dramatically!

At the bottom of the Conference, it looks like Virgin Surfers are goners and it's two from three for the remaining two relegation places.

Can;t really see Cool Dude Zoo staying up as they;re rubbish so that leaves Real Goldfish to fight it out against the Dirty Dubs for survival - and to avoid being the first team ever to be relegated from the Premiership and Conference League in consecutive seasons.

Dont forget that if we have a lot of new entries next season, there may be a third division for Mac to be relegated from!

Highest scorer this week was Harpic Amsterdam (57) followed by Maclacticos and Busted Sofas on 54 - what happened you Maynesy? Can't keep up with the other O'Neill husbands?

Bottom of the scoring charts this week were Muckamore Uld with 14 points, just one point worse off than Virgin Surfers and Barry's Elite XI.

Overall, iun the league of super leagues, the Premiership has climbed to 415th position (from more than 10,000 other leagues), while the Conference is probably outperforming in 3569th position.

At this stage we don;t know how many transfers anyone has left - which could have a huge impact on league standings if used correctly.

For anyone who still has a few to burn, this week's password is HODDLE.

Speaking of which, it's time for me to head off the the Diamond Lights of Windermere Close.

Happy Easter and don't let the weekend's footie ruin your holiday - although you know that it probably will!

Until next week.....

......... READ 'EM AND WEEP!!!!!!!!!!

Michael R.

Diving in the Box FF League Chairman

http://divinginthebox.blogspot.com/

DITB PREMIER LEAGUE Pos Overall Manager Team Week Pts Tot Pts 1 2667 Mr Mark Molloy Harpic Amsterdam 57 1293 2 4522 Mr Geoff Johnston Minus Three FC 43 1272 3 5952 Mr Declan Crudden HIT THE BAR 37 1260 4 7915 Mr John McDermott ABCDE FC 44 1248 5 10090 Dr Owen McNally Maclacticos 54 1237 6 16274 Mr Brian Shields the blue monkeys 43 1213 7 17490 Mr Kurt Festraerts Making History 46 1209 8 18142 Mr Paul Brogan Diaby Does Dallas 38 1207 9 26658 Mr Gary McDonald Gazzas Piping Hots 27 1184 10 27517 Mr Michael Rafferty The Grapes of Raff 42 1182 11 31174 Mr Conor Walls Feeder club MUFC 25 1174 12 46796 Mr Andy Kirby kirbs crawlers 33 1145 13 53576 Mr Brendan Devlin Brendys Bruisers 38 1134 14 69593 Mr Fra Jones Yer Ma's Athletic 30 1110 15 80944 Mr William Cherry Cherry United 29 1094 16 90003 Mr Matthew Henry Gulladuff F.F 29 1082 17 100536 Mr Kevin McCauley KFC Academical 46 1068 18 123592 Mr Gavin Sheehy Prince of Darkness 30 1037 19 125770 Mr Jules Eilledge True Blue Strikers 40 1034 20 164640 Miss Claire Baber MINIBABYBELLEFC 23 974 Your league is placed 415 out of 10684 with an average score of 1262. DITB Conference League Pos Overall Manager Team Week Pts Tot Pts 1 20160 Mr Mark Stevenson PROBABLY THE BEST 33 1201 2 27093 Mr Brendan Kelly flexys fairys 42 1183 3 29274 Mr Simon Patrick O'Sullivan Sheer Kidology 52 1178 4 32686 Mr Austin McGinley Boys of Summer 36 1171 4 32686 Mr Barry Corr bazkinginglory 49 1171 6 73008 Mr Brendan Henry HOWRTINGS 39 1105 7 85439 Mr Conor Donnelly The Busted Sofas 54 1088 8 92278 Mr colly mckenna micky hartes x1 26 1079 9 112515 Mr Simon Jenkins Stickshifter FC 44 1052 10 119126 Mr Gareth Bradley Hoofers UTD 24 1043 11 120670 Mr Conor Nugent The Well Hungarian 30 1041 12 133351 Mr Barry Jones Barry's Elite XI 15 1023 13 134758 Mr Alan Stewart Muckamore Uld 14 1021 14 135432 Mr Andrew McCabe Joeys Monsters 27 1020 15 161203 Mr paul maynes The fernandos 27 980 16 163473 Mr Philip McCabe Chamonix Albion 26 976 17 170236 Mr Connell McGinley Mighty Con Villa 21 964 18 171814 Mr Stephen O'Sullivan Mersey Miracles 42 961 19 184446 Mr Alan McCabe Dirty Dubs XI 31 936 20 189961 Mr conor mc avoy REAL GOLDFISH 24 924 21 195751 Mr Stephen O'Sullivan Cool Dude Zoo 32 910 22 211202 Master Eamon Eastwood Virgin Surfers 15 864 Your league is placed 3569 out of 10684 with an average score of 1181.