THE TABLE GOES LIVE

THE TABLE GOES LIVE.
Yes, the tie break is now in play. Now you are exactly where you deserve to be in the table; no more forty quizzer ties, separated by alphabet alone.
Four questions reported on here; thanks to Nigel Anderton and Neil Southwood for helping Quiz HQ with the flood of May football. One question was a YES/NO, another a choice of four numbers so there was something for nearly everyone. The Premiership winning margin defeated all but three; the French win in the Champions’ League was predicted by only six. Surely you say, nobody got both right. That would be like winning the lottery two weeks in a row.
Step forward James Spencer who got all four right and zoomed up the table. Nothing though should distract us from the glorious sight of a Brewer leader; the biggest tribe of quizzers still waiting for glory after nigh thirty years.

17) By the start of the year it had become apparent to everyone except Mikel Arteta that Liverpool would be Premier League Champions for the season 2024-25. Arne Slot had succeeded Jurgen Klopp with a ruthless efficiency that brought back memories of a previous Liverpool managerial handover from Bill Shankly to Bob Paisley in 1974. Though it needs to be remembered that although Paisley went on to win 6 League titles and 3 European Cups he did not win a trophy in his first season. Liverpool’s winning margin this season of 10 POINTS was still some way short of Manchester City’s 19 points final distance from runners up Manchester United in 2018. How quickly things can change, writes Nigel Anderton.
If you are not a Liverpool fan how will this Premier League season be remembered. With a feeling of inevitability? For the newly promoted sides – Southampton, Ipswich or Leicester – then your worst fears were confirmed most weeks. Lacking all round quality and depth of squad, being competitive not winning, became the realistic aim. Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham and Nottingham Forest have shown that consolidation and real progress in the Premier League can be achieved after promotion but it takes special combinations of owners, coaches, player recruitment, wealth etc. The rise and ability to successfully compete of these ‘unfashionable, smaller’ clubs was also illustrated by the FA Cup winners Crystal Palace. And the emergence of the so-called ‘middle ranking’ sides inevitably meant the eclipse of one time ‘giants’ such as Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Their grim Europa League final in Bilbao although providing the winners a golden ticket to the Champions League next season was a seasonal low point for this neutral. The media attempting to make ‘the race for a Champions League/Europa/Europa Conference League spot interesting too often had a whiff of desperation about it and no-one seemed to understand the permutations for qualification.
So, season end and it is time to bid farewells to many including Kevin de Bruyne, Trent Alexander Arnold, Jamie Vardy, Gary Lineker, Goodison Park and its two Archibald Leitch designed stands, Joel Ward, who played over 300 games for Palace and surely deserves a mention.
Perhaps next year Sned will replace this nigh on impossible question
(Nigh on impossible, Nigel? Not for three wise men, James Brewer, Kevin Nichols, James Spencer)
with the old favourite: ‘Who will win the English Premier League?’ and who knows it might be a more competitive season. We can always hope for another outsider like Blackburn Rovers (1995) or Leicester City (2016) to crash the party.
The number of Premiership goals over the season was 1115,down by 131 from the previous season. Nobody got this tie break question spot on; only 23 quizzers thought it would be less. The vast majority thought it would be many more.
Nigel’s explanation. “Blame VAR and ‘goals’ disallowed by overzealous referees in Stockwell Park bunkers, the emphasis on athleticism rather than finishing skills, a defensive rather than an offensive gameplan. Would Jimmy Greaves or the great Andy McEvoy be thriving in today’s Premier League? I suspect not.”

18) Twenty drivers took to the streets of Monaco for the Grand Prix; four were British. The ONE Brit to make it to the podium was the winner, Lando Norris. Lando and his McClaren had been out of form since the first GP of the year in Australia. In the topsy turvy world of F1(Topsy turvy is good news after years of Hamilton/Verstappen domination),Lando’s victory was fairly comfortable. As often at Monaco, the victory was based on a startling qualifying lap. First on the grid usually means first in the race in Monaco since overtaking is nigh impossible without collisions. The organizers had tried to get round this by making two pit stops compulsory. The canny teams got round this by getting their second driver to drive a much slower lap to hold up the field while his team mate was in the pits. Imagine the horns blaring, the vulgar gestures if I did that in the High Street.
20) For the first time in more than twenty years, the Champions’ League Final did not involve any teams from England, Spain or Germany. This flummoxed the vast majority of quizzers, leaving just six brave souls who opted for Italy, six who opted for FRANCE.
Patriots moaned as the English foursome tumbled to the same foe, Paris St Germain. The PSG destruction of Man City was in the group stages. Liverpool followed in the round of 16,Villa in the quarters and Arsenal in the semis. England did win the second and third tier competitions. Man United and squabbled over the consolation cup, a weird spectacle as these two shapeless sides had struggled to beat some of the worst sides ever seen in the Premiership. In the consolation consolation cup, Chelsea was a giant in a pool of minnows. The greatest English achievement was perhaps Arsenal’s defeat of the holders Real Madrid in the quarters. Barcelona were surprise losers in the semis to Inter Milan. Perhaps the two Spanish sides had exhausted themselves in epic Classicos.
The Final itself was one sided,PSG winning 5-0.PSG had made a bold decision to move on from the failed experiment of galacticos like Messi and Mbappe.Manager Enrique had put together a proper team, one for all and all for one. These dashing musketeers were the youngest team to reach the knockouts. By contrast,Inter were the oldest team, put together on a shoestring with no petro cash. It showed as PSG ripped them and their vaunted defence to shreds, Autumn misadventures on the nursery slopes far behind. I dare you not to put FRANCE as your 2026 answer.
15/19) Any thoughts last summer that the departure of manager Emma Hayes would end CHELSEA dominance of the Women’s Super League in recent years were soon dispelled. The 2024-25 season in fact saw such a breathtaking start by the holders that it quickly turned into a case of when they would be crowned champions rather than if, writes Neil Southwood.
New manager Sonia Bompastor brought in the likes of England defender Lucy Bronze from Barcelona to further strengthen a world-class squad and any likelihood of a meaningful challenge to their domestic supremacy soon evaporated during the autumn. Closest rivals Manchester City were brushed aside 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in November during a nine-game winning start to the campaign that perfectly illustrated the gap between the champions and the chasing pack. A few draws in the spring as thoughts turned to Europe only delayed the inevitable and they still found a 90th minute winner when it mattered at the Etihad in March to keep their main challengers well and truly at bay. Another late goal in Manchester, scored by Bronze, clinched their sixth successive title with two games to go in early May and they secured an unbeaten campaign with a 1-0 home win over Liverpool on the final day. The League Cup and FA Cup were also won in style to earn Chelsea an unprecedented undefeated domestic treble in the women’s game.
The seamless transition under Bompastor raised hopes that this might be the year a British women’s team finally triumphed again in Europe for the first time since 2007. Chelsea were brushed aside comprehensively however in both legs of their semi-final by defending champions Barcelona. 4-1 defeats at home and away were a crushing blow following such an unblemished domestic campaign. It was therefore left to Arsenal to carry British hopes – a situation that seemed unthinkable early on in the season.
A slow start to the 2024-25 season cost the Gunners manager Jonas Eidevall his job in mid-October but Arsenal have barely looked back since under new Head Coach Renee Slegers, particularly in Europe. A double over Juventus and a thrilling 3-2 win over Bayern Munich ensured they qualified from a tough group before Christmas. As domestic form improved markedly in the New Year they also overturned a 2-0 first-leg defeat to Real Madrid with aplomb in the quarter-finals. A 2-1 home defeat to eight-time European champions Lyon looked to have ended hopes but their second consecutive second-leg comeback instead sealed their passage through to the final in style. Benefitting from a fortunate early own-goal to draw level on aggregate, Arsenal then seized control of the tie with two goals either side of half-time before making it four on the hour. A late consolation was all that Lyon could muster, with Lioness Alessia Russo and Spanish midfielder Mariona Caldentey at the heart of the turnaround. This secured BRITISH REPRESENTATION IN THE FINAL for the first time in four years.
The Gunners were huge underdogs against Barcelona but turned in another superb performance against their illustrious opponents, clinically taking their chance in the 74th minute when Swedish international substitute Stina Blackstenius fired home from 10 yards after a superb pass from fellow substitute Beth Mead. Arsenal’s defence held firm under substantial pressure in the final 15 minutes to cap a glorious run in the tournament and secure their first European trophy for 18 years.