2013-14 Daily Mail Fantasy Football

[Billy Stark]

A big Hello to Mr Harris and the rest of the league forum ,

I’d thought I’d make my first and possibly last post on this forum and make it as controversial and honest as possible from my observations.

I have been a regular of your rival forum Fiso for about 5-6 years but have no allegiances to any of the mini leagues or some of the major players on there through the years such as Andy Edwards, Richard Stirland and Andy Luckhurst.

I have been playing the Daily Mail game from around 2008 when it was previously branded under Metro and had the same rules as the Daily Mail game but back in the day you had a 12 man squad with an auto sub if one of your outfield players did not play.

I have been a regular in the top 100 over the last few years but have never won anything and have never entered any of the mini league competitions.

I have been reading this forum with interest throughout the season and just wanted to share a few observations.
There seems to be a lot of hate on this forum for the likes of Andy Edwards and Andy Luckhurst. I don’t know exactly the ins and out of why this is but it seems it’s to do with the fact that they have cheated in the past by entering extra teams with aliases etc etc. But surely this is bound to go on in any free game. It can be manipulated in this way and WILL be manipulated in this way going forward. BUT the fact remains that Andy Edwards has won this game in 2010 and ended up in the top 3 on one or two other occasions, Richard Stirland has won this game in 2009 and Andy Luckhurst has always been there or there abouts in this game. So while there has been a lot of hate towards these guys they are proven WINNERS. Has anyone on this forum actually won the Daily Mail competition?

I also cannot believe how cocky and arrogant Craig Harris is on this forum and how so many of you kiss his ar*e. He has presumed he had this game in the bag as he has several teams in the top half of the leaderboard and was leading the competition for just over a week. I mean the comment below is indicative of his arrogance:

by binky » Sun Dec 16, 2012 1:54 am
im leading this and nowt will change when the season ends


You are now 2nd on the leaderboard after failing to captain Santo Carzola last night. So already you are off that perch. You may regain it again but let’s see where you are at the end of the season in May. I have several teams in the top 100 and to be honest with you my main motivation is to finish ahead of you. In fact I would prefer any of Stirland, Edwards and co to beat you this season. And the main reason for this is that these guys have won competitions before and acted with a little bit of humility and class. You have just been acting cocky and bragging about how good you are and how you will win this competition. And it seems all your other peeps on this forum just big you up and blow hot air up your ar*e. To sum it up I want anyone BUT you to win this competition.

So until you actually win this game much of what you actually say is trash talk. I have a few teams extremely close to you and your league mates and I’m looking forward to the battle in the 2nd half of the season.

And right now everyone’s main concern should be Richard Stirland who has 2 teams in the top 24. He is a proven winner and knows what it takes to win this game. So go ahead Mr Harris and keep praising yourself and how good you are, but lets see where you stand come the final reckoning.

My name is a complete alias just in case any of you try to work out who I am. And like I said previously I have no allegiances to anyone but really just wanted to share my thoughts with the lovely people on this forum.

Sean John

[Billy Stark]

Let it be known, there is absolutely no hatred for Andy Edwards or Andy Luckhurst

[Billy Stark]

Thank you all for you responses to my post. It got all the loving replies I was expecting. Sorry I can’t get back to each reply in isolation, but Craig I was expecting nothing less from you in your response and that of the many sheep that follow you. Very strong replies from many of you but this one from Potts really made me laugh.

Really Pottster, it’s been a while since someone has made a total and utter twit of themselves. I can think of one occasion quite recently actually. I think it was the “thankyou” thread by Craig Harris where he spat out his dummy and acted like a really pathetic child. I mean he must have been having PMT or something but what a control freak this actually showed him to be. Many of you worship him on this forum so can’t see it and just follow his commands. If you don't do as he says the dummy gets spat out again.

Between now and the end of the season you will probably hit the top of the leaderboard on several occasions and no doubt will give yourself a hand job, spunk up all over this forum and have your followers wipe you clean by glorifying your achievements. was happening long before you hit top of the leaderboard.

You mention that you don’t give a fook what I write about you. That’s good as the feeling is mutual. My intention wasn’t to make you care what I write about you but to simply articulate what an idiot and knob you are.
Several people including Harris have commented on my remaining anonymous as an act of cowardliness and that I should step up and reveal myself. The fact is I see no need for any of you fooks to know my real name. I have no aspirations of becoming bum chums with you or ever meeting you so why do I need to give you my name? The fact is, even if I didn’t know Harris by name but just his alias Binky, I still would be on this forum writing how pathetic, idiotic and conceited Binky is. Name or no name I would still call him out for what he is. And is it really cowardly for someone to come onto this forum and as a first post, put out his viewpoint on a person that is so idolised by so many of you on this forum knowing full well the vast majority will jump to his aid. You can call it idiotic, silly, stupid or whatever but somehow I doubt its cowardliness.

But for sure I felt I had to post on this forum after reading for months the amount of crap and trash that comes out of Harris’s mouth.

Harris, I also think you are a wee bit confused saying you don’t care who I am and yet you think I am a coward for not revealing myself. Which is it? Sounds to me you do care and want me to reveal yourself.

A next thing that made me laugh after reading your replies is that you think I have singled you out as I believe you are a top manager and a very big threat on the leaderboard. You couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t see you as a top manager at all which is one of the reasons I posted on this forum in the first place. You’re putting down of managers who have won this game before amazes me and I think is ignorant, arrogant and contrived. For someone who has never won this, the way you go about glorifying how skilful and great you are is ridiculous. Just to reaffirm I don’t see you as a top manager and do not put you in the bracket of Edwards, Stirland or Luckhurst.

You also doubt that I am on the leaderboard and that my reference to having several teams means I am a cheat. I have no reason to lie, and yes I do have several teams on the leaderboard. Several teams could mean 3,4 or 5 therefore not making me a cheat. I mean for fook sake, I’ve told you I have several teams on the leaderboard, it doesn’t take effing Colombo or Sherlock Holmes to narrow down who I possibly am. There seems to be an obsession on this forum about cheating especially with regards some of the top managers I mentioned previously. (Luckhurst and Edwards). But really I am sure that some of you fooks on this forum have entered more than 5 teams. Using Mothers, Fathers, Cousins, Friends names etc. This was my point, this game is not regulated so why get so freaking hung up on who cheats and who doesn’t cheat. This game is open to abuse and I am sure many people from Fiso and this forum abuse this.

So let me sum it up. I do think you are a pathetic, conceited, arrogant, ignorant, self-glorified, big headed, control freak effing knob. That’s based on a few months of reading the continuous shite that has come out of your mouth.

Now I’m sure you think the same about me and that I am a twit, fooker, wan*er, coward and every other word there is you can think of under the son. In fact I think the majority of your sheep will think exactly the same as you.

Now that we have dispensed with all the pleasantries I wanted to propose something to you:

1. So you believe you are a top manager who is very skilful and will win this game. You’ve referenced on several occasions how great you are. You’ve put down previous winners that have come from Fiso so why don’t you prove that all the trash talk and hot air and bravado you love to give is true. WIN IT. Win this game and prove that you are the top dog. I mean anyone can chat breeze about how great they are etc etc but until you have won something then really it’s just hot air. You obviously do not have the class of some of the previous winners such as Richard Stirland and Andy Edwards so of course I am expecting you to spunk up all over this forum and gloat IF you win this game. I mean you Spunk up all over this forum anyway. If you do win this game I promise I will come back on this forum, reveal my identity and let you spunk up all over my face. I will forever worship you as the god of fantasy football like so many of your sheep on here currently do.

2. Now If I win this game then of course I will come on here to let you all know and will reveal my identity. And quite frankly stick my middle finger up to Binky.

3. Now if anyone else but you or I win this which is highly likely, I will be on here of course, to shake things up again.

I have made my point, detailed and clear now. I have no desire to get into personal slagging matches with any of you but think what I have had to say so far on this forum will be appreciated by many people who are not members of this forum but just view and read it regularly. In fact i know several people already have shown their appreciation.

So prove me wrong Harris, win this game and show that your actions speak louder than your words. Become a champion like Edwards, Stirland and co and prove that your trash talk has some substance to it.

Wishing you all a happy Xmas and New Years and i will reconvene in the New Years unless of course the Mod decides to ban me. Hopefully not and I look forward to talking with you all in the New Years.

Cheers

Sean John

Last post as it's going off topic but reading that rant again made me chuckle

[Yorkshire Exile]

So billy stark is henke is fubu is justin, natalie, josephine burt is sean john.....

Cunning si

You had me fooled

[Yorkshire Exile]

Ps text me natalies number

[Giggs11]

You know what, I've changed my mind.
I think Sean John could actually be Vid ....

[Billy Stark]

So billy stark is henke is fubu is justin, natalie, josephine burt is sean john.....

Cunning si

You had me fooled

Guilty as charged Your Honour

Don't tell Binky

[Billy Stark]

Hey Binky, (As promised, my response. There is heaps to get through)

Let’s start by clearing a few things up.

First I do not hate you. I don’t have a close enough emotional connection to you or know you well enough to actually feel the emotion of hate towards you. Hate is far too strong a word. But do I dislike, how you come across on this forum and I DO think you come across arrogant, conceited and presumptions on this forum.

You reference some of the things that you have done that show class. Giving money to charity is a very classy thing to do and I commend you on this as it’s a very selfless thing for an individual to do and the more people that do this the better. Paying money for your mates to enter a cash forum is also very generous. I am not in any way PRESUMING that I know you very well. BUT that was not the point of why I posted. I posted as I thought you were coming across very arrogant, conceited after reading many of the posts you have written on this forum. That’s an OPINION shared by me and a few other people. That’s why I posted based on what I have seen you write on this Daily Mail forum.

For instance, many on here will say I am a chap, fooker, etc etc based on what I have wrote on this forum to date and you are welcome to your opinions. BUT let me give you all a brief insight into what I do and the person I am.
I graduated from University about 9 years ago after studying Law. I worked for a top legal firm in the city of London for a few years and currently work as a consultant for a major Financial Services company in the city. I am making good money that allows me to be comfortable, own my own flat in the city and have a wonderful partner who I will be marrying shortly. I donate money to several charities on a monthly basis, I donate money to the church and I also actively help out in my local community. I feel blessed that I have been afforded the life and lifestyle that I have. For the record, I do not live in the shite holes you mentioned (Crawley/Hounslow). What I am trying to explain is that opinions will be formulated on me on how I came across on this forum and the things I have said and rightly so. I will be judged by people on this forum on what I have said to date and my opinion about you has been formulated by what I have read from you on this forum to date.

As mentioned previously I have played Daily Mail Fantasy Football for a few years and have consistently finished in the top 100 and often in the top half of the leaderboard. I have friends and colleagues who play fantasy football in a very amateurish way and over the last couple of years I have introduced them to both Fiso and league as a source of getting tips and up to date info on fixtures, transfer news etc. Quite a few of them play Daily Mail, so frequently view this forum and Fiso for any insights. This season all I have heard from each and every one of them is who is this guy Binky (Craig Harris)? To cut it short the overriding theme is that they believe you come across as a cocky, arrogant, conceited individual and they wanted to know why you post some of the things you do. Now these are regular folk that have no reason to single you out individually but have done so based on what you have written. Without even knowing you they would prefer anyone but you to win the competition. This is purely based on what they have read from you. Based upon my own readings over the last couple of months I FULLY agree which is why I bothered to post on here in the first place.

You state that I misplace your confidence for arrogance and misplace yourself belief for conceitedness. My opinion is that you do come across arrogant and conceited. In my line of work I have come across MANY confident individuals, overly confident individuals and many arrogant people. I myself am a confident individual.

I agree that saying you are going to win the Daily Mail does not make you arrogant or conceited by default. Lots of people on this forum believe they will win. I myself think I Will WIN the Daily Mail this year . What makes someone arrogant or conceited in my opinion is someone who glorifies themselves consistently, someone who references others in a negative light to make themselves look better and someone who is presumptuous. Based on my readings of this forum you have acted in this way. It’ as my OPINION and if you would like examples I could give them to you at a later date.

I am a massive sports fan and will use Usain Bolt as an example as what I perceive as arrogance. When he first came on the scene in 2008 he constantly referenced how great he would be, the legend he would become, and he often put down some of the previous legends in the sport such as Carl Lewis. Now I remember at the time the British and international press went potty and branded him an arrogant individual. Now don’t get me wrong, every sports person should be confident but there is a fine line with being confident and being arrogant. I remember after Usain’s Bolt’s retorts many journalists and people couldn’t wait for him to fail and have egg on his face. They saw him as a cocky arrogant git who had disrespected the sport. Low and behold he wins everything, breaks world records and people now see this as part of his bravado. No doubt his comments were arrogant BUT now that he is a winner people have been able to accept his bravado and like him as an individual. Other legends such as Carl Lewis were completely different in that they were respectful, respected their opponents and did not have all the Bravado.

My point is that in my opinion you have gone over the top in your bravado and it comes across as arrogant to some people especially as you have never won this game before.

I also wanted to clear up the comment I made in reference to your wife (I know Binky, I know where he lives and I know his wife very well…… BUT if he still wants to meet, tell him i'm usually around his house between the hours of 10-11am on weekdays) and the massive explosion it created on here. I’ll reiterate again, my apology If this comment caused you any distress or offense. It was made in jest (perhaps a poor sense of humour on my part) and was in no way meant to be inflammatory towards your wife. This is not an excuse but If you read the context around the comment, it was made in response to some people on this forum trying to wind me up by telling me if I was man enough then I should meet with you etc. I got back to it with my own poor sense of humour stating that I knew you very well and know your wife as well. ALL obviously a lie and not meant to cause serious insult.

But if you believe this comes even close to being legal then you are greatly mistaken. Based on my background I do know a little of what I am talking about here and I would never jeopardise all my hard work in life by making comments online or in person that could throw this all away. If we pretend that my comment was close to legal then basically over half the comments on this forum towards me could be considered close to legal as some have been very inflammatory in nature. Rightly or wrongly many of you have cussed me and hurled abuse at me plenty of times on this thread and to suggest some of what has been said has not crossed the line would be a lie. Take a recent example of what Roblee has said. He has referenced me as a Gaylord and on two separate occasions has referenced how he would finger fk my mother and my sisters etc etc…If any of you believe Roblee’s comments come even close to what I said to Binky then you are not living in reality. One comment was extremely personal, graphic and inflammatory in nature while the other was not. But what was interesting on this forum was after Roblee’s comments there was not this massive outcry on here slating him for how far he crossed the line. I am made of thick skin and based on how I came at Binky, was not expecting anyone’s outright support or condemnation of Roblee’s comments. But it does make me question whether it is actually the comment in isolation that created such a stir or the fact that it was another comment aimed towards Binky who many of you class as a friend, respect and admire.

It is not in my character whether online or in person to come out and insult someone’s family. But I can admit when I am wrong and if this comment created such offense to you personally Binky, then it’s wrong and I apologise.

If comments such as the one I made was close to legal then the British authorities would be dealing with at least 1000 inquests every day. Comments that are BULLYING in nature, come across as constant HARASSMENT or are RACIST in nature would indeed be of interest to the authorities and would be looked into.

I know you and others on this forum refer to me as a coward as I have come at you strong on this forum and not provided my real name. You are all entitled to your opinions. The reality of it is that I have NEVER put my real name out in the online public domain and this includes Fiso as well. On Fiso I am known only by my alias. I have never revealed my identity online even to people I have befriended in the past on various forums I have taken part in. And I don’t intend to start doing this today. The fact that you and others are happy providing your real names on this forum is your prerogative. I didn’t realise it was a pre-requisite or mandatory to provide your real name online when participating on a forum. If this is required here then that’s me done.

Binky you quoted ‘it doesnt take any guts to slag me off whilst remaining anonymous,thats the complete reverse,an act of cowardice....its like punching somebody from behind and then running away,if you really want a bit of respect then man up and go head to head to me if infact you are on the leaderboard’

I couldn’t disagree more. I don’t think what I have done is cowardly or equivalent to punching somebody in the back of the head then running away. A much better analogy is me coming up to you in the street amongst all your friends and looking you straight in the eyes and punching you straight in the face with you and your friends wondering who the hell I am and why I have done that. And like in reality your friends and you would retaliate regardless if you knew my name or why I was doing what I was doing. This is exactly what has happened here in my opinion. I have come at you straight and direct as anyone on this forum ever has. I have not ran away either as I am still here. If I were cowardly I would have bitched about you indirectly on other forums, I would have PM’d other people on this forum and told them my thoughts about you. I didn’t do this. I came straight at you with you surrounded by all your mates and gave my opinion. And consequently I have to accept the repercussions of this action. Like in real life if I came straight at you amongst your friends you would all beat the living fu*k out of me and rightly so. I knew the retaliation I would be likely to receive but still thought I needed to post what I did. So yeh, I admit I came across aggressively, perhaps like a bull in a china shop but I can rest easily at night knowing I am anything but a coward.

I know my post came out of nowhere and as a shock to you. So I understand some of your emotional responses to me and you cussing me down. I get it, no one likes to be criticised especially publicly in front of their friends even if some of the content may be accurate.

Don’t get so hung up on a name but listen to the content of what that person is actually saying. I often hear songs on the radio and listen to the content and think what an amazing song that is. I have no idea who the hell sang it but I still appreciate the song and its content. The fact is Binky, knowing your real name is inconsequential to me. If I did not know you as Craig Harris or was unable to link your name to the leaderboard I still would have come on here and posted what I did.

And Binky I will give you the RESPECT you deserve. You are a skilful manager in this game. Anyone that has 5 teams in the top 82 is not lucky and obviously has a tremendous amount of skill. The same goes for Potts, Burch etc who all have several teams in the top 100. BUT by default this would also make me a skilful manager as I have a few teams sitting pretty on the leaderboard.I’ll tell you what Binky, I’ll do something I have never done before and reveal my name to you online if you or anyone who is an active member of league now wins this competition. If I win as well I will do this. So your battle and your objective remains the same, which is to win the game for the first time. The same for me as well. I’d be happy to come on this forum from time to time and let you know how many points my team may have scored over the weekend and I’d also be happy to discuss tactics with you.

Thanks for the offer regarding giving me £500 to a charity of my choice if I battle and beat you. I will not take you up on this offer however. You seem a generous guy, so if you win or I beat you, keep doing the good work you are doing and donate money to charity or provide money to your friends to help them enter cash leagues.

No one is perfect in life mate and we all have things we can work on including me. For instance, maybe I didn’t have to let my emotions get the better of me when I first posted on the forum. I have had a couple of days to reflect and I could have raised my points in a far less aggressive manner to begin with.

You have obviously demonstrated that you have the ability to show class and humility in aspects of your life. I just think if you applied this to how you sometimes write and post on this forum then you would be respected and liked by a far greater audience. You obviously have friends on this forum who have built up respect for you. Nothing wrong with that at all but because of that, it is very easy for them to oversee what may come across to others as over the top arrogance because if it is evident, they know the real Craig Harris and make allowances for it and see it as nothing more than just harmless bravado on your behalf. Others who don’t know you that well can easily formulate an entirely different opinion of you. An opinion you believe not to be true.

I don’t really have anything more to add.

NOTE: This is the last post of this length that I do as its time consuming as hell and I’m sure many of you will find it boring anyway. Just a few things needed to cleared up from my point of view.

[mad dog]

Couldn't he have summed that up in a paragraph. Fk reading all that.

[Billy Stark]

He does mention how good a player Burt is in there

[Vid]

okay, some posts removed, please do not repost any of the removed content, doing so will result in a ban being issued

Please keep it on topic and amicable

[Backlash]

Anyone fancy a sweepstake on the last post on this thread? I'm going for July 25th 2022

[Lugger]

If FUBU05 has the same ISP and binky had a record of his IP address, it would probably be fairly easy to find out if that was the same person. However sometimes your ISP can change your IP address for you depending on which ISP you are with.

[Lugger]

Good summary btw Vid I can't see much wrong with it, seems like I've been the only person the Mail have decided to stiff where prize money is concerned. It seems the Mail didn't have any problem awarding prize money to monthly winners for the first five months, even though they were aware that the game had a glitch which it seems they purposely ddn't rectify until January. [sarcasm]Good job Mail thanks a lot, thanks for the rational and transparent explanation and the apology as well.[/sarcasm]

It seems that FUBU05 has a history of entering multiple teams for fantasy games where their T&C's state that you are only allowed to enter five teams per entry. He then has the gall to come on here claiming that he stringently abides by each fantasy games T&C's while simultaneously entering more teams than their T&C's specify you are allowed to enter.

It also seems he has a habit of being in constant contact with the games organizers to try and get other players disqualified to increase his own chances of winning. He has admitted on this thread that he has been in constant contact with Scott from GFM from January highlighting the issue of the glitch.

At the same time he has admitted to using the glitch himself in October, and knowing that those were not the rules. He strangley only claimed to contact GFM after they had rectified the rules in January. As he seems to be a pathological lair/professional scammer I wouldn't believe a word that came out of his pos mouth.

For some strange reason the Mail/GFM seem to be complicitly covering for this pos, I hope both Metro and the Mail ban him and his pseudonyms from participating in any of their games in the future. It also seems from my back and forth private messages with him and his posts on this forum that he'd prefer all of this information to remain suppressed.

The representative from GFM(Scott) told me that they specifically look to potentially disqualify people who have entered more than five teams.

[Vid]

If FUBU05 has the same ISP and binky had a record of his IP address, it would probably be fairly easy to find out if that was the same person. However sometimes your ISP can change your IP address for you depending on which ISP you are with.

Yeah, might possible to get a match but not an avenue we could explore as we can't share such details, just as we can't share anyone's email address if they've chosen to not show it themselves.

[Vid]

Thread replaced, nothing added or removed. Yes, it's got zero views now, I was working on a copy of the thread in the belief that a significant portion did warrant removal, unfortunately I worked on the original rather than the copy.

[Lugger]

Cheers Vid, as you've done a pretty good job with the summary on the previous page I don't see the point in my adding anything else unless some new information comes to light.

I will just add that I don't believe the explanation I have been given by GFM. They may well have contacted a new winner, but I do not believe the, 'new winner,' did not use the glitch. I believe everyone in and around the leaderboard(and most players in the game) have used it inadvertently or otherwise at some stage. This glitch it seems was present for quite some time(half of the season), and as I mentioned previously with or without the glitch you could only have a maximum of 21 different captains per each half of the season.

I'll just know to stay away from the Mails game or any game ran by GFM Holdings in the future.

I'll look forward to playing the many other good and transparent fantasy games that are out there in the upcoming season.

[Sport Billy]

Cheers Vid, as you've done a pretty good job with the summary on the previous page I don't see the point in my adding anything else unless some new information comes to light.

I will just add that I don't believe the explanation I have been given by GFM. They may well have contacted a new winner, but I do not believe the, 'new winner,' did not use the glitch. I believe everyone in and around the leaderboard(and most players in the game) have used it inadvertently or otherwise at some stage. This glitch it seems was present for quite some time(half of the season), and as I mentioned previously with or without the glitch you could only have a maximum of 21 different captains per each half of the season.

I'll just know to stay away from the Mails game or any game ran by GFM Holdings in the future.

I'll look forward to playing the many other good and transparent fantasy games that are out there in the upcoming season.

Will your about turn cost you a transfer or a captain change? Or is this the glitch you talk about....................<clearly good natured poking, don't start!!>

[Striker]

I graduated from University about 9 years ago after studying Law. I worked for a top legal firm in the city of London for a few years and currently work as a consultant for a major Financial Services company in the city. I am making good money that allows me to be comfortable, own my own flat in the city and have a wonderful partner who I will be marrying shortly. I donate money to several charities on a monthly basis, I donate money to the church and I also actively help out in my local community. I feel blessed that I have been afforded the life and lifestyle that I have. For the record, I do not live in the shite holes you mentioned (Crawley/Hounslow).

Anyone who writes that about himself is clearly a dickh*ad of the first order. Inter alia giving to charity should be something personal and not boasted about.

Mind you as Seanjohn, (was that his moniker?) seems to know him very well, perhaps he's related to binky. Or was he a secret Judas among binky's disciples. Now that would have been a clever diversionary tactic!

[Lugger]

Mind you as Seanjohn, (was that his moniker?) seems to know him very well, perhaps he's related to binky. Or was he a secret Judas among binky's disciples. Now that would have been a clever diversionary tactic!

I skipped over those rants before and only came on to quote certain sections of them. You quoted the exact same part I was about to. Anyone who hasn't read them should they are pretty funny.

[Lugger]

A few of my favourite quotes;

I couldn’t disagree more. I don’t think what I have done is cowardly or equivalent to punching somebody in the back of the head then running away. A much better analogy is me coming up to you in the street amongst all your friends and looking you straight in the eyes and punching you straight in the face with you and your friends wondering who the hell I am and why I have done that.

I don’t see you as a top manager at all which is one of the reasons I posted on this forum in the first place. You’re putting down of managers who have won this game before amazes me and I think is ignorant, arrogant and contrived. For someone who has never won this, the way you go about glorifying how skilful and great you are is ridiculous. Just to reaffirm I don’t see you as a top manager and do not put you in the bracket of Edwards, Stirland or Luckhurst.

If you do win this game I promise I will come back on this forum, reveal my identity and let you spunk up all over my face. I will forever worship you as the god of fantasy football like so many of your sheep on here currently do.

[Lugger]

*Edit

Nevermind

[12345678]

my first post on fiso for years and probably my last for some time.

'multi entering' has always gone on in the mail (also other limited entry comps). the issue was brought to a head by the front running dean prosser, who i had hoped had done everyone a favour by forcing the real culprits 'gfm and the papers' to clarify their rules once and for all. they initially banned a few teams, the mail got flak for it so reverted to '5 entries per id' rather than 'max 5 entries per person they have a large influence over'. i would personally prefer the old cyki method of booting out any considered related entries. gfm on more than one occasion confirmed to me that it was within the rules to help others with entries as much as you like, even to the extent of controlling them. on numerous occasions i asked them to clarify this within their rules, they refused to do so.

why is the 5 entry limit there? personally i believe this is clearcut after numerous conversations with games providers, it is to avoid a leaderboard being dominated by a single name early season when people look at leaderboards most. thus dean prosser entering a number of his teams with the same surname made them think about banning some multi entries. i personally have no malice toward dean never having met him or knowingly conversed with him on the forums but did use his name to try and force gfm and the mail off the fence.

i feel it is a shame that fiso as chris king intended has not historically tried to keep the games providers in check. the times used to be a main provider but disappeared after zoran's army of croatians (who were actually involved rather than just names) effectively got around the entry limits. the general fiso opinion was to 'let it go' for fear of losing the games, most badly run games or those with problems have indeed gone as indeed the times has. sdt also allowed a large multi entry seemingly based in HK (where i believe it wasnt legal to take entries from) to retain a large mini league prize despite entries very clearly contravening not only the original rules but those amended to try and accommodate them. it was a shame sdt were not challenged more over this from fiso.

unfortunately the behaviour of a few individuals has ended up in a number of the better players/posters leaving the forums, stuboy did a great analogy of a similar situation in a restaurant setting, but nothing has in my view changed, although i know vid would disagree with this.

we now see the mail prize down from £40k to £10k after gfm mucked up their game to the extent that some players found a loophole and used it rather than bringing it to the organiser's attention. who knows if they paid out twice on anything. gfm also fouled up the mff game allowing teams to be visible when they should not have been last year and had contradictory rules due to messy copy and pasting it seemed. they did the same in sdt world cup allowing transfers to be seen by others. they also had downtime in tff wc refusing to allow e-mailed transfers before the deadline.

i believe games will now be won by those finding loopholes and exploiting them, the mail game has shown the complete lack of transparency by gfm and the mail.

unfortunately the telegraph have done the fantasy community few favours, basically using the old supermarket technique of getting providers to gear up for their game then driving down the price to be paid for their services, thus the reason it went between gfm and clever.tv on a regular basis. clever.tv gave up on this when it became uneconomical. gfm had it as a loss leader i was told as they did other business with the hollinger (telegraph) group.

we now have a situation where all the main clever.tv guys from the past when they were the best provider have left. i had a lot of correspondence with the mirror and warned them in advance about the likely service they would receive from gfm. very pleased to see they at least have now switched to clever.tv after the gfm foul ups in their game last year. lets hope fanager can get their act together as a gfm landscape of sites with loopholes that can be exploited by the unscrupulous and unclear rules and downtime is not one any of us want. a great shame they now seem to be involved in sdt as ofl are very good.

i won't be posting anything further but don't mind exchanging a few views by pm if anyone wishes to do so.

andy

edit below
ps fair play to vid for standing up and being counted, fiso hasn't done that before! as he says you play gfm games at your own risk, that being tff, sdt, mail, sky. i would suggest the way forward is to contact those papers directly and make them aware of your concerns, those in the clear are mff, star and ofl of the major established games

[Giggs11]

Congratulations on your mrs coming 20th, she seems to be improving every season

[Lugger]

we now see the mail prize down from £40k to £10k after gfm mucked up their game to the extent that some players found a loophole and used it rather than bringing it to the organiser's attention.

It was brought to their attention and they refused to do anything about it until the second half of the season. They then changed it back secretly without informing anyone what they had done. See Vid's summary on the previous page.

I personally have never known anything like this to have ever occured before in all the fantasy games I've played over the years, and some of the other ones I am aware of.

The problems were entirely of GFM's and the Mail's own making.

[WilBert]

This 'back in time' web archive might help in getting old t&c/leaderboards
http://web.archive.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Stephen Murphy]

Just getting a chance to read over the last few comments tonight. Vid that was a good analysis as to exactly what happened. Hopefully from your comments people can understand that those monthly winners who most likely used the same glitch were possibly paid out whilst my brother was not. How can that be fair or legal.

I also find it extremely interesting that they have dropped the overall winner prize from £40,000 to £10,000, I'm sure this is in direct response to what has happened this year. Hopefully they are expecting to encounter some hefty legal costs once all avenues are explored by my brother. I have a screen shot of me and bros mini league proving that we both only entered 5 teams as if proof were needed but just thought I would blow Fubus argument out of the water anyway. Just need to figure out a way to attach it. (Sorry it won't let me attach the file as it is over 500 KiB, is there any other way I can upload it)?

[Vid]

I've received your email but haven't had the chance to read through it yet, may or may not get time this evening.

[Lugger]

I know this is an old thread from last year but I have an update of sorts, I finally was able to get a hold of a list of the revised winners. My local MLA wrote off to the Advertising Standards Authority and they provided him with the list, I received a copy on the 21st of July.

Here is the list of revised winners for those that are interested;

Overall winner - 1st place Mr Kevin Beauchamp
2nd place Mr J Burt
3rd place Mr A Richards
Highest scoring league Mr J Burt
Chairman winner Mr T Richards

The list I got also stated where the people were from, but as they might want that to remain private I won't post it here. There was also no scores given beside their names, so it is unclear if the players on that list have had any points deducted from their overall score. GFM never offered me an explanation of how they deducted points from my overall score.

The person who initially investigated GFM holdings from the Advertising Standards Authority apparently no longer works there, so there was a delay in me seeing the revised list.

Here is a refresher of what the final table looked like before the revision;

1 Sean Murphy Superabo2 3782
2 Kevin Beauchamp Here we go 3780
3 Justin Burt Courtney Walsh 3776
4 Keith Chimley Harold V 3765
5 Phillip Chan Team 2 3757
6 David Nuttie Nutstar3 3751
7 Alan Richards chatsworth 1 3736
8 Mike Pensionista Pensionista's 3720
9 Neil Holmes MUDAHIM 3713
10 Michael Boak Brybo5 3703
11 David Nuttie Nutstar 1 3689
12 Olivia Redfern Briggs LIVI 3688
13 Natalie Burt Team 4 3684
14 David Nuttie Nutstar 4 3682
15 Brian Wells Good riddance Sir Al 3672
16 George Went 3S4 3671
17 Justin Burt Curtley Ambrose
18 Peter Daly daly2
19 Steven Donkersley Harlequins
20 Annette Potts winpots4

I can't seem to find what i've did with the last four scores on that list but it doesn't matter.

Here is the league table from the previous season(2012/13 season) that mmm referred to;

1 Natalie Burt Team 1 3867
2 Natalie Burt Team 5 3838
3 Steve Cork champs 3837
4 Shiereen AbdElSattar Spartacus 3827
5 Geoff Pryor Mr Bump 3821
6 Joe Curry steaming hot curry 3811
7 Shiereen AbdElSattar Egyptian Queen 3778
8 Debbie Ashton The Deb 3750
9 Peter Hull BRAVEHEART 3739
10 Campbell Dearden Beckcam 5 3733

[Lugger]

Here is some other subtle stuff that people may have overlooked from the initial thread which made me very suspicious of FUBU05;

On the 26th February 2014 at 18:24 FUBUO5 made this post on the the second page of the thread;

So as usual they are not answering the very direct questions I posed to them. BUT, and this is probably clutching at straws, but perhaps they will review those teams that now end up in the cash positions, ie positions 1 - 3 on the overall leaderboard and the top 5 teams in a mini league win and if it is seen they have used the glitch to win a cash prize, then those points will be removed and a re-alignment of positions and points take place. Like I said clutching at straws and more likely they will never do anything.

This is exactly what happened and I was only informed about this through private correspondence with GFM Holdings on the 3rd June 2014, I posted the email in the thread. This was either an incredibly lucky guess by FUBU05, or he was potentially told what was going to happen several months before it happened. This hasn't happened in any other fantasy game I am aware of.

FUBU05 also admitted to using the glitch several weeks before the Mail fixed the software problem, but apparently only contacted them about it after the glitch was fixed. He claims he knew that was explicitly against the rules, which seemed somewhat strange to me as the Mail could have invoked their terms and conditions to disqualify all of his teams even if he had only used the glitch in one. Here was his post posted on the 27th January 2014;

I was made aware of this "captain glitch" in the Daily Mail Fantasy football game a couple of weeks ago from a friend. He is very much an amateur and this is his first season playing the game. He informed me that he was aware of this captain change scenario since October and has been using it to his advantage but did not realise it was contrary to the rules. Upon hearing the news I tested the "captain glitch" out on one of my teams that is effectively dead, and indeed it did exist. So the scenario in which this "captain bug" applied were:

Without getting into the whoe rigmarole on the specifics of the rules, section 10 and 8 I believe dealt with the transfer and captaincy rules. If anyone needs me to clarify the terms and conditions I can post them.

It is within the Mails rules to transfer someone in for someone other than your captain and switch the captaincy to him. Once you did this however they were pulling you for contravening their rules because there was a software glitch regarding captaincy allocations. I don't need to explain the rules to people here.

What that effectively meant however is that the Mail had something in their terms and conditions which they stated was permissible to do, but which they later disqualfied people for without an explanation. To drive home that point you could do exactly the same thing in the second half of the season without being penalized.