Fantasy Football League: 2024/25 winner Neil Mitchell

Neil Mitchell admitted he was ‘surprised and delighted’ to win The FLP‘s Fantasy Football League.

The Plymouth Argyle fan and Brackley Town season ticket holder came with a late run to pip his rivals at the post.

Mitchell’s TerraVision team was in fourth place heading into the final week of the competition, but picked up a whopping 3,291 points to end on 20,628.

That proved enough to win by a 143-point margin from Wuppertal FC (20,485), while FilmHam FC finished third with 20,329.

Massive impact

Northampton-based Mitchell’s fast finish was largely due to the fact he picked up a raft of end of season bonuses for correctly selecting five of the six divisional winners – Leeds United (Championship), Birmingham City (League One), Doncaster Rovers (League Two), Barnet (National League) and Brackley (National League North).

The only one he didn’t pick was Truro City in National League South, but it wasn’t to prove significant.

“One of the reasons I was so surprised to win was that I thought the end of season bonuses had already been put on,” said the 61-year-old.

“Predicting five of the six winners had a massive impact – and no doubt disappointed the three other teams who had been above me.”

While his EFL side Plymouth suffered relegation to League One, at least Mitchell saw Brackley claim promotion to the National League on a dramatic final day of the season.

Leaders Kidderminster Harriers surprisingly lost 2-1 at lowly Southport, paving the way for the Saints to snatch the National League North crown with a thumping 5-0 home win against Farsley Celtic.

Delighted

“All of us expected to be coming back the following week for a play-off game,” admitted Mitchell, who works for Age UK Northampton to support older people to maintain their independence at home.

“It took a while to sink in – what a day! I’m just delighted for the people who run the club, all the volunteers. It’s a very community-based club.”

It was the second season of the Fantasy Football League competition, though the first to be covered in The FLP.

It’s a spin-off from the successful Fantasy Non-League game that has run for many years in our sister publication, The Non-League Paper.

Both games are run on behalf of the papers by Ian White.

Applauded

“I have been doing the Non-League one ever since it started,” explained Mitchell, who plans to use his £300 prize money to buy his ‘long-suffering’ wife Jane a ‘fancy’ handbag and help towards paying for his Brackley season ticket.

“The way Ian does it has to be applauded – it’s exemplary. I’ve never won before in Non-League, though it’s enjoyable even when you aren’t winning.

“It’s always interesting to see how you are getting on and the competitions complement the papers really well.

“I will be doing exactly the same next season, two teams in both. I don’t think there’s any chance I’ll win again – I’m managing my expectations!”

READ MORE: Fantasy Football League Files: 2024/25 Final Update