Managed by NB Group's Paul Stainthorpe, Splooooooge has already appeared in the monthly awards, picking up second in October.

If ever Stainthorpe feels like changing his teams's name, London United wouldn't be out of place. Captained by Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen, the team also boasts Chelsea's Frank Lampard and John Terry, along with a trio of Spurs stars.

Christian Bright of Precision Colour Printing fielded the second most successful team of the month in his 'Champions of Europe 1982' team with 329 points. However his faith in then winner Aston Villa only extends to Stephen Warnock, with the other players recruited from Chelsea and Birmingham City among others, and led by captain Wayne Rooney.

Birmingham City also made a strong showing in third position MWBlackwell FC, under manager Martin Watts of Blackwell Print. The team also shares the same Chelsea backbone with Lampard and Terry as this month's winner. Fulham's recent form also no doubt helped the team to its monthly tally of 322 points.

Each month's winner receives two tickets to a Coventry City match, as well as the chance to nominate two people to play at the Ricoh Arena against a printweek.com/Ricoh XI side, plus one month's banner advertising on printweek.com for his company.

Elsewhere in the world of football, as 2009 became 2010, attention turned away from the Premier League to the FA Cup, where perennial winners Manchester United and Chelsea easily went through to round four.

Ooops, that'll teach us to write our post-Christmas news stories pre-Christmas.

Yes, in the upset of the decade Manchester United were humbled by League One minnows Leeds United as Jermaine Beckford gave Alex Ferguson yet another reason to complain.

New Year, same Fergie.

Looking on the bright side for everyone's favourite Taggart impersonator, the defeat allows Salford's finest to concentrate on the league and the now annual two-way battle with Chelsea.