2012-2014 (3)
Markus "Stobzilla" Elstob - Stobzilla
Though he had been too good for the level for a while, Markus Elstob decided to take another season at Andover, again proving himself ready for bigger things. So when CCC-side Sheffield Wednesday came in with an £85k bid, Elstob was determined to make the move. He did, and played 24 league games for the club that season, scoring 7 goals. He’s still a very young striker at 19, but the media have already dubbed him ”the new Alan Shearer”. With Sheffield Wednesday finishing 22nd for relegation, it remains to be seen if he wants to stay or not.
Weeks injured: 11 (11 total)
Neil Duck - cold-zebra
It was an eventful two years for defender Neil Duck. Having spent the past two seasons at Cork City, he decided it was time to further his career further, and when Stoke City came in with a contract offer, Duck was quick to pounce on it. He also finally started for the Irish national side, gaining a newfound respect for manager David O’Leary for picking him. He decided to stay at Stoke even though they got relegated to the CCC, but when portugese giants Porto put in a £3 million bid for him in January, he didn’t hesitate to accept it. He played 19 league games the rest of the season, scoring twice, with an average rating of 6.97.
Weeks injured: 10 (21 total)
Nigel Tufnel - GDH
My prediction was that Nigel Tufnel wouldn’t stay at Brymbo for much longer, and he proved me right. During the summer window he was quickly snapped up by La Liga side Valladolid. There the striker played 15 league games, though his overall level of play was far from good enough, and he only scored one goal. During the summer of 2013 he then joined Fiorentina. He only played 7 games, and only scored one goal, but he was still part of a Fiorentina side that impressed by finishing 3rd in the Serie A. He also made his Welsh national team debut, scoring a goal in 6 games so far. His goal record is far from great, but he is still young, and the media are already speculating that he could be the next John Charles.
Weeks injured: 0 (0 total)
Nimicinho - niMic
Nimichino continued to impress at Tønsberg, and by the end of the season (Norwegian seasons go by the year) he had scored 36 goals in a total of 47 league games for the club. At that point he changed clubs for the second time, joining Løv-Ham on a free transfer. There he scored 19 goals in 9 league matches, making such an impression that he only got half a season before Dutch giants Ajax had put in a £325k bid, an offer a small Norwegian club was in no place to refuse. He only got two league matches that season for his new club, though he scored in both. He made his Norway debut, though is yet to score. He quickly became fond of National team coach Kjetil Rekdal, and his tutor at Ajax, Luis Suárez.
Weeks injured: 3 (3 total)
Paz - Paz
Paz was one of very few players who was still at his starting club at the end of the last two seasons. He put in another couple of 33-match seasons, having now played a total of 165 league games for Boldmere in the Midland Football Alliance. He was dominating, though in truth he had been from the very first season, raising questions of why he wasn’t moving on. He didn’t want to decide quite yet on with national team to play for, England or Spain, as he felt he had time. He had also aquired Gary Johnson as favoured personnel, for some obscure reason which probably involves some praising.
Weeks injured: 1 (2 total)
Sebastien Cassel - Erics collar
Another one who stayed at his original club, FC Les Lilas, for all the seasons so far, Sebastien Cassel was also ripping up the French CFA2. He had now made a total of 148 league appearances for the club, scoring 37 times and providing 40 assists. There’s no doubt that the low level of competition stunted his growth, though, so perhaps he was happy to see a big host of clubs monitoring him, mostly decently sized French and Dutch clubs. Also Cassel wanted to wait before committing himself to either France or Argentina.
Weeks injured: 0 (1 total)
Smashed Hombre - SmashedHombre
Though some fair-sized clubs had been watching him, Swashed Hombre didn’t end up in any of those. Instead he accepted an offer from Semi-Professional Tonbridge Angels. There the speedy winger did well, scoring 10 times and assisting another 5 in 20 league games, with a good average rating of 7.24. He decided not to stick around as long as he had at Bowers & Pitsea, though, and the very next season was off to CCC-side Preston North End. He didn’t play particularly well in the 16 league games he got that season, though that’s not surprising considering the big leap in levels of competition he saw.
Weeks injured: 19 (19 total)
Tor Lawless - FlawlessThaw
Though it must have been hard leaving his £5 p/w contract at Altrincham, a chance to play for Premiership side Burnley could not be passed up. The £3,300 p/w contract, 660 times as much as his old, probably didn’t hurt either. At Burnley he made 8 league appearances the first season, adding another 23 the next season. Neither of the seasons were very good for Lawless, but the second one was a marked improvement on the first, suggesting he was beginning to get used to Premiership football. He was yet to make an appearance for the English national side, though he now had played 6 times for the U21s.
Weeks injured: 36 (41 total)
