It’s nearly 30 years since fantasy football began to transform how we watch the Premier League
Gone were the days when you simply didn’t care about a midweek encounter between Middlesbrough and Coventry, as you tuned in to see whether Juninho or Noel Whelan could deliver for your squad.
In honour of those heady pre-internet days, and you had to phone up to pick your squad (only on a touch-tone phone of course), here’s SportsJOE’s selection of our best fantasy football line-up of the 1990s…
[There was no bench in those days, either, so we are limiting ourselves to £70m]
Goalkeeper:
Nigel Martyn – Leeds Utd, 1996/97 £4.5m
19 clean sheets, 38 goals conceded
The choice then, as now, was to invest in the goalkeeper at an elite defensive side or try your luck further down the table. Peter Schmeichel was a safe but expensive choice throughout his time at Manchester United and rewarded owners with a stunning 21 clean sheet season in 94/95, but with some costly options elsewhere in our team, we’ll opt to save a few pennies with Martyn, who benefited from the arrival of George Graham to marshall a defensive that had managed 19 clean sheets but just 11 victories.
Defenders:
Steve Bruce – Manchester Utd, 1992/93 £6.5m
Five goals, five assists, 17 clean sheets, 31 conceded
It was always nice to have a rock at the heart of your defence, even in fantasy, and Steve Bruce’s 92/93 season was just that. Ever present as United ended their long wait for the title, Bruce’s fantasy points were something you could consistently rely on.
Ian Harte – Leeds Utd, 1998/99 £3m
Four goals, eight assists, 12 clean sheets, 34 conceded
Harte became a reliable source of goals from defence, putting together a season of fantasy gold containing seven goals and eight assists just two seasons later, but this was his first full season in the Leeds side and as such came at a relative bargain.
Julian Dicks – West Ham, 1995/96 £3.5m
10 goals, eight assists, 11 clean sheets, 52 conceded
What a dream fantasy season from a defender. Penalty takers like David Unsworth and Leighton Baines have always been popular, but Dicks delivered a massive return that also included eight assists.
Stig Inge Bjornebye – Liverpool, 1996/97 £5m
Two goals, 15 assists, 12 clean sheets, 37 conceded
When a defender finishes in the top five in the league assists table you know his fantasy owners are more than happy. The 12 clean sheets are a tidy bonus.
Midfielders:
Steve McManaman – Liverpool, 1995/96 £8m
Six goals, 25 assists
McManaman delivered several worthy seasons before heading off to Real Madrid, following this effort up with an arguably more impressive 11 and 21 two years later. But his 95/96 assist total of 25 was made even more spectacular by the fact that the second highest that season was only 17.
Ruel Fox – Newcastle, 1994/95 £5.5m
10 goals, 13 assists
Fox was a tidy bargain in the middle part of the decade, delivering a career best tally of 10 goals and 13 assists in a Newcastle team that was beginning to hit its peak under Kevin Keegan.
Eyal Berkovic – West Ham, 1997/98 £4m
Seven goals, 15 assists
The Israeli was another productive midfield option that didn’t cost the earth, a key factor during the days when you needed plenty of cash in reserve when it came to selecting your strikeforce.
Forwards:
Alan Shearer – Blackburn Rovers, 1994/95 £15m
34 goals, 19 assists
Maybe the greatest fantasy football season of all time, Shearer fired Blackburn to the title and was the must-have frontman for several years in the mid-nineties, despite usually being the most expensive player in the game. This was his peak, as he added a career high haul of assists (fifth-best in the league) to his incredible goalscoring.
Chris Sutton – Norwich, 1993/94 £9m
25 goals, 22 assists
Overshadowed by the other S in the SAS, Chris Sutton put together some supreme fantasy seasons. The best came in his final season with the Canaries before he moved to Ewood Park, producing a rare season of 25 goals and 22 assists that saw him finish third in the goalscorer charts and top of the assists table. Followed up with 15 and 24 the next season at Rovers.
Paulo Wanchope – Derby County, 1997/98 £5m
13 goals, 10 assists
In addition to a couple of big names, the successful fantasy owner needed to unearth that gem of a bargain, and Wanchope was one hell of a choice. Dennis Bergkamp managed 16 goals and 17 assists and Paolo di Canio tallied 12 goals and 15 assists, but the 20-year-old Costa Rican offered better value than either by scoring six times in the first eight games of the season in his first full year in English football.
Total spend: £69m
