With season 16 now done and dusted, i though it would be nice to look back and document our campaign!

It started way back on 27th August, with our Charity Shield victory over Mark Phelps’ Flamengo! It was the first time i had competed in the final so very happy to kick start the season with a win and what we thought would stand us in good stead come the start of the league fixtures!

The finals came thick and fast as the very next day we travelled to take on Arsenal in the super cup! I wouldn’t normally post victories in this competition but it was against a managed side and again, was another confidence boosting performance, 2 finals and 2 wins meant the lads were feeling great!

The seasons started off a bit rocky though in our title defence, perhaps there was a hang over from those two finals? who knows, but an opening day draw vs Man City followed by defeats to Espanyol and Porto in our first set of fixtures, looked to have put any dreams of a second title to bed! But then came the run! 11 straight wins saw us slowly and surely claw back the gap and catch up with the formidable Juve and Chelsea! On 7th November, we beat Benfica at home and finally hit top spot! We were no longer the chasers, but the chased! There were a few hairy moments from that point in, going 2-0 down away at Genoa, trailing to Hertha for much of the game just to equaliser with 14mins left, scoring in the 85th min vs Bayer Leverkusen to claim 3 points! But we just kept that gap at the top big enough until the final few games, we beat Chelsea 2-1, Liege 3-1, Hellas Verona 3-1 and secured a draw with Juve to take the title! From our last defeat to winning the league we had gone 29 games unbeaten, a big turn around after the shaky start!

With all this going on in the league, we also had the World Club Cup! One of my favourite competitions in Top100 and after being genuinely gutted to go out vs Arsenal the season before, this year we went all out! It was a nice run, getting our revenge over the Heaths Gunners in the Semis, then getting past Chelsea in the divisional final.

The main final saw us take on AC Milan, a team we knew would be hard to beat after a few tough encounters last seasons. In the end though, Messi does what he does best and scored twice to get us the win!

So by the time the league was secured, we had won 4 trophies for the season, and although we also beat an unmanaged Juventus in the SMFA Champions cup, to make it 5, the shine is taken away somewhat as the campaign was against unmanaged managers the whole way through. (Still 5 trophies for the season sounds better)

So here we are, the season is finished and we have 5 more trophies in the cabinet. One thing about having the best team in the GW, it has that added pressure of then going out and winning something. Especially as at times, i feel that im still living in Scott’s shadow and despite our achievements, Scott’s legacy here continues to loom large. And to be honest, so it should, what he achieved with Barca is incredible and i doubt will ever be matched by a single manager.

So what can we do? Well this season we have decided to start making a transition in terms of personnel, so although we have moved a few out, lets focus on on who we have got in!

We welcome Militao and Benzema from Madrid, Mane from Arsenal, Locatelli and Lodi from Genoa, Lisandro Martinez and Odegaard from Ajax and arguably our most exciting signing, Ansu Fati from Aston Villa.

We have lost some big ratings in this window, but I’m excited with what we have in the side now, we look forward to a fun season ahead and no matter what happens in the future, nothing and no one can take away this campaign and the 5 trophy haul!