Following thelips decision to stand down as organiser and administrator of this excellent competition (for which I and I am sure everyone else is extremely grateful for him running year after year at his expense, thankyou !) I do feel ( as others do) that we shouldn't allow this great competition to fizzle out and so I thought there was no harm in having a discussion thread on the future.

As I see it there are 4 options :-

1. End the competition.
2. Run it as it is.
3. Run a slightly modified version.
4. Run a completely new open league competition.

Personally, I am in favour of either option 2 or 3.

With regard to running it, myself and Cherylhoney are happy to offer our services but please note that we are more than happy to let anyone else run it (founder members maybe ?) as there are some excellent administrators of games out there and I am sure they could do a far better job than me (Cheryl excluded !) anyway !

Please post your thoughts here, I am especially interested in the opinions of the founder members but everyone's views are equally as important.

I'd like to see what thelip thinks but I see no harm in Option 2.

I'm open to ideas on Option 3 but if it ain't broke don't fix it.

I'd vote to keep it running exactly as it is, although see no need for the charitable donation which thelip went above and beyond the call of duty for. I'm sure that we can continue to keep the competition going in it's current format for many years to come. I would offer, but running the DLA takes up quite a bit of time and I wouldn't be able to juggle both sadly.

Viva la Eggcup

Same rules, less leagues, more teams per league. This will make it easier to run and won't affect the competition.

I disagree as I find the 'cosiness' of the small leagues a great help especially as you are (trying to) follow everyone's progress/banter/transfers.

Easy for me to say I guess as I am already in the Premiership but in the DLA I've finally got to the top flight after starting in the 5th or 6th tier and the climb is rewarding. Also keeps everyone focussed or they risk relegation.

If everyone just pulls their fingers out and declares their intentions early enough then setting the leagues up shouldn't be a hassle. Might I suggest the new chair(wo)man is fairly ruthless with his/her deadlines.....

PS Agree with The Ledge, the charitable donation by thelip was way above and beyond the call of duty and isn't necessary in any future version.

At the moment I am in favour of option 2. I personally would like it to be as close to the original competition as possible, but if a few modifications make it easier to police then I'm open to ideas. I don't see a problem with the league sizes as they are at the moment though.

As UHH said above, we are happy to take over if no one objects and we will donate Egg Cup-type prizes. The charitable donation may have to be reviewed though.... Although I do have an idea in that regard...

Murf: If we do end up taking this over, then I will be very strict.

Oh yeah forgot to mention the prize thingy. I think thelip was having difficulty obatining a supplier for the egg cups hence the delay (it could equally be that he just didn't want me to have one ) but I was thinking along the lines of a mug which is easily obtainable and easily "engraved" at these pottery type shops. You can then have your morning cuppa every day as a reminder of your win ! No idea how much this costs though, I would be happy to povide the PL one maybe others could provide for L1 etc. Different colours for the different leagues and multiple winners etc

Once everyone has declared if they are playing again or not, it shouldn't be to difficult to fill the gaps from a reserve list? I'm sure this will benefit a few who have missed out on promotion or been relegated. All newcomers have to start in the bottom league for sure though I hope.

What's wrong with keeping the exact format, just becuase it was thelips game doesn't mean the need to change anything, in fact if the game format stays the same then that just shows how good it was and is a fitting tribute to thelip. I'm not a fan of the 'It's my baw and you're no' gettin' a game' not that I'm suggesting that's the case.

As for the organising when the game is up and running, there is little effort involved, maybe thelip added more pressure on himself by taking responsibility for posting the individual league updates. The league leaders can always be relied upon to post the leagues from experience, although I fear many of us let him down by the way we posted our transfers that's if we posted them at all. I detected some slight tensions with regards to this season. Maybe some new guidelines on this could make the game a bit more 'Fiso spirtited'

I have absolutely loved the challenge of competing within the EggCup leagues and doing battle with the familiar faces over the last 3 years. Long may it continue. Oh yeah I never got an EggCup for winning the the conference league but like the murf(phys) I'm not bitter

Option 2!

Option 2 please.

Option 2 for me, without the highly kind charitable distribution.

Happy to also volunteer for organising too.

2 for me too please... plus I also don't see the need for the charity bit... generous though it is.

Anybody interested in having an entry fee, so that we can have some cash prizes for winning the leagues and cup competition?

I'd rather not - plenty of cash superleagues out there and it could take the fun away and cause aggro if people don't post their transfers etc.

More of the exact same for me!

Bigger leagues would make it easier to avoid relegation if you're not fighting for the top places. That would not be good as it would lead to people (me anyway) giving up with ten games to go...

The DLA leagues are too big for me for that very reason. Smaller is better in my book!

Absolutely nothing - that's what Option 2 is.

Always good to get feedback though and make sure everyone else feels the same.

I wouldn't want the format to be changed at all but I would like to toughen up on people who don't declare their transfers before the deadline, and keep an eye on people who don't post their transfers throughout the game. Not sure about penalties though.... would that take the fun out of it? It does get annoying though when people don't bother.

1. Option 2
2. Same sized Leagues
3. Limited amount of Leagues (Prem, Div 1, 2 & 3) - anyone outside of that goes on a waiting list to join the game in following seasons (if/when people drop out)
4. No cash prizes, No entry fee
5. No need for a charitable donation


Here's an idea from out of left field too, ditch Hansen and ask one of FISO's finest TFFers (12345678, The Bear, Razorback etc) to put up an initial starting XI OR get the reigning Egg Cup Premier League Champion to pick the initial starting team.

This should help to ensure that the team is not (a) crap to start with & (b) not a complete waste of the TFF entry fee

I know exactly what you mean - a tricky one. I think people should just realise that this is a fun, open comp played in a great spirit. If you can't stick to "the spirit of the eggcup" then maybe this league isn't for you/




Why not just have an unlimited sized Confernce division below the main leagues. Think we had that before. Depends on numbers I guess.

I like the idea of starting with a fairly crap team and having to weigh up whether to dismantle it or not. All part of it - as is the fear of being 'worse than Hansen'

I'm picking UHH's Eggcupesque WC comp base team. I'm not exactly one of FISO's finest especially at the international game and I only spent about 10 minutes on it but I'm already worried my team is too good!

Is there a reason that transfers should be posted before the deadline? Personally it goes against my competetive nature. It may not be 100% sporting but like in real life there will never be total adherence to the rules. For aslong as I've been playing this has been the case and I'm sure it was the same before I played. I can understand why people don't post their transfers before deadline, there's lots of valid reasons.

I try like most to be at least honest with my transfer count. I even considered posting others' transfers but always held off hoping they would do it themselves. Might do it next season in Division 1 though, be warned lol.

Oh in response to ditching Hansen I think that would be a bad idea, It's a good thing we have to obliterate Hansen's team and work with a non-Fisoer's team, that's the fun. If some other Fisoer picked the team, then it might be quite good and us tinkerers/hares may lose our edge against the huggers. The league would become a bit stale with too many similiar teams. I for one may consider my involvement if the benchmark team was picked by a Fisoer.

I always thought you were supposed to post on the day of the transfer, hence I often did it at 12:46, 3:01 or 7:46.......

Yes, I usaully tried to do the same. I'm never going to give my rivals an edge by posting transfers before the deadline, it's against my principles!

I think that if anyone wants to run it and you're getting fun out of it then go right ahead with my blessing. I was tired of the organising (mainly pre season) and felt that there was a bit less of the original egg cup 'spirit' present of late.

For normal transfers throughout the game it should be the same day.

The deadline I was referring to was the initial deadline for declaring your two changes to Hansen's team. This is supposed to be midnight on the Friday, but not everyone sticks to it and therefore they benefit from team news on the Saturday.

The Eggcup Comp better have a future - I've just booked a session with a photographer for next summer to update this:

I agree with Nick... err, I mean murf.

The past, the dim dim distant past................

I am going to update the first post with anything that we all agree on.

At the moment :-

1. We are going ahead with thelips blessing so over the first hurdle.
2. We have two volunteers, either Mystery or uhh & cherylhoney, any more want to throw their cap in the ring ?
3. Prizes tba but no cash prizes or charitable donations maybe a mug rather than an egg cup if this is easier to source ?
4. Keep league structure PL, 1,2,3 and maybe a conference for newbies to feed into the main leagues the next season rather than "waiting".
5. Free to enter
6. Continue with Hansen team or other useless pundit.

Anything missed ?

...all sounds good to me UHH. What about making the Premiership a closed shop next year and there being no relegation from the competition's prized league?

To be honest if I'd seen this thread before replying to the Egg Cup Prem one then I wouldn't have thrown my cap anywhere. Happy to go with whoevers organising of course. Uhh & CH would do a fab job I'm sure, but if needed I'm available. This game's too good to lose.

I'd go for option 2.

How about if someone is nominated/volunteered in each league to post the weekly updates to help with the load?