EFL Newsletter

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EFL NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2010

• Welcome to EFLs very first newsletter. Hopefully
  this will be the first of many and be produced
  every month or so with the sole aim of giving all
  our members some quality reading time.

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A Message From The Admin Team

• The final World Leagues season on Fifa 10 has
  come to a close and firstly I would like to thank
  all managers who finished off all of their 38
  games in the World Leagues.
• It was always going to be a difficult season with
  the Holiday Period in full swing. Some people
  chose to play games in advance and some opted
  playing all their games in the last couple of
  days.
• We still finished with only 33 members out of
  100 finishing all their games and then another 40
  50 restricted by inactive members not being
  active.
• We have had our ups and downs in the league this
  season with the introduction of the formation
  rule and the majority of members have adhered to
  it.
• In the last few months we have introduced the
  Ladder system, the Turbo Star Leagues and we are
  still running the Top 16, Bottom 16, European and
  Europa League, the FA Cup and the World Cup
  Series - so a pretty successful run in all the
  leagues and cups.
• Id say since the start of the World Leagues in
  July we have played approx 4000 games of Fifa and
  reported them through EFL so a pretty impressive
  well done to all.

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A Message From The Admin Team

• New for Season 9
• - ---Fifa 11 - where the football will take
  another new dimension. Hopefully lets put Fifa
  10 in the cupboard and enjoy the new passing
  system where pass accuracy is determined by a
  gamers ability on the control pad and player
  skill.---- An Automated Transfer system will be
  coming into effect in the next 1-2 weeks where
  instead of signing up in a topic, you will click
  on the system and apply for teams. At the time of
  draw, the site will tell the mod whether or not
  the person applying is eligible or not. I.e. have
  they played enough games/ have they had any
  warning/ missed deadlines.
• - ---A New FA Cup where you use your league team
  and not a random English or Scottish side.
• - ---And last but not least, there is a
  secret group planning for a new look front page
  for EFL where the forums are not the homepage. It
  will make easier navigation for new members and
  make browsing simpler for everyone. So again,
  thanks to all our members and a special thanks to
  Haydn for giving us this site. Also, every member
  of our staffing team needs a huge pat on the back
  for the efforts they go to every day.
• All the best,Stubri and Lukus

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World League 1 Round-upBy EFL Noodles EFL

• Season 8 has come to a close and its
  also the final season on the Fifa 10 game.
• I think division 1 has had some good
  seasons and we have seen ukpyro shine on Fifa 10
  in the last two seasons at EFL.
• I would like to say thank you to all the
  members who got their games completed on time. I
  also hope you enjoyed this season at EFL in
  division 1.I also want to tell you all I will
  not be your division 1 mod next season and will
  be replaced with Tw1nblad3.
• I wish you all the best of luck in
  division 1 next season and I think tw1n will do a
  good job here and add something fresh into this
  division.
• So here it is - my final report in
  division 1.TOP 5 - UKPYRO,DUREX
  GR,DANGERFOURPENCE,FOOFAN88,JAMESCHH90
• Well its congratulations to ukpyro. He's done
  it again, winning division 1 for the 2nd time on
  the trot. Only getting beat twice all season was
  fantastic. Also Mamadou Niang was the top goal
  scorer again for Marseille, picking up another
  golden boot award.
• Durex should be very pleased of getting
  runner up. He did very well with Olympiacos CFP.
  He has certainly shown that its not always about
  the team you use. Hell probably be up there
  again for Fifa 11 and possibly with a new team if
  he gets lucky in the window.
• Dangerfourpence - You always see him at
  the top but Sao Paulo has not been the right team
  for DFP. But saying that DFP was the only member
  who beat ukpyro twice this season. Dfp will be
  looking in the next transfer window for another
  team to challenge ukpyro next season.

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World League 1 continued...

• Foofan88 never got to grips with Chelsea
  and I guess like most members here I thought he
  would of been challenging for the title this
  season but it was not to be. Foofan also got his
  Chelsea player, Bosingwa ,top of the card list, I
  think foofan will be looking forward to getting
  Man City back next season.
• Jameschh90 has done well this season
  again with his team Besiktas and got into a top
  five finish. He always seems to be near the top
  of the table, no matter what team.
• Well done to the top 5 managers.League
  place Sixth to Tenth - N1cl4s, Jay 360 UK,
  jc121united, Wonderkiid shep and Dr Dopefish...
• N1cl4s has had a good season with Porto and will
  be pleased it was better than last year. He had
  a very difficult start but managed to pick up the
  points at vital times and steered his way into
  sixth.
• Jay has done well finishing 7th. I think
  thats the highest Jay has been in division 1 so
  no doubt will be very pleased to end Fifa 10 on
  an high.
• I think jc will be pleased this season
  and would of enjoyed playing with Real Madrid
  this season as well. After enjoying promotion
  from Division 2 last year, this is a good
  achievement. Will he do better with Bayern next
  season?
• Wonderkiid shep has done well with
  Birmingham City. He was my tip to go down lol!
  His striker did well -Cameron Jerome - just
  missed out on the Golden Boot award by two goals.
  

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World League 1 continued...

• Dr Dopefish - even though it was a top
  ten finish I dont think he had a good season
  with Everton. No doubt will be looking forward to
  getting Arsenal back for next season.
• Well done guys for getting in the top
  ten finish this season.
• League places eleventh to fifteenth - Coke For
  Kids, lukus kytovski, ElGuajeVilla07, Futureheads
  and TheWilll ...
• The league places from 11 to 14 were very tight
  and only a point or goal difference separated you
  four - Coke, Lukus, Villa and Future.
• Well done to Future on staying up with a
  3.5 star team.
• Also Lukus had a nice league postion
  staying away from relegation this season. I think
  Lukus will be looking forward to playing with
  Tottenham next season and may do very well with
  them.
• Congratulations go to TheWilll - I
  thought you was doomed mate and you were on your
  way down to division 2 but you surprised me. You
  were sat at the bottom of the table and you
  pulled yourself out of it. Well done for getting
  to 15th in the table.

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World League 1 continued...

• League places sixteenth to twentieth-
  HeffiHeflomp, Qwerty MK2, Androoooos, Cyclonia,
  jan3iro21...
• Well done to heffiheflomp and qwerty for staying
  up this season. You have another chance to stay
  in the big boys division lol! Them final results
  played a big part for you both.
• So, we come to our bottom three who will be
  relegated into division 2. Well it will be two
  members... As one is no longer with us.
• Androoooos and Cyclonia, you both had a difficult
  season - good luck in division 2 lads. I hope it
  is not for long before your return back to
  division 1.EFL Noodles EFL signing out...

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World League 2 Round-UpBy Revertive Sky

• Well that's your lot the final WL season
  on FIFA 10 is over here's my take on things in
  WL2.
• ChampionsEnglish slayer9 is this seasons
  champion having lead Glasgow Rangers to the
  title. Solid since he's taken over, he fully
  deserves the title and I wish him well up in WL1.
  Winning the league with a 3.5 star side is some
  feat considering the teams others had around him.
  Keep it up and well done!
• Runner UpMarkos6969,is this seasons runner up
  but he pushed slayer all the way having been top
  for long periods and he may feel disappointed to
  end up with the silver medal. But I'm sure before
  the season started, the goal for Markos would
  have been promotion and he's achieved this,
  finishing a comfortable 16 points ahead of 3rd
  placed Novaks.

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World League 2 Continued...

• Play-OffsThe play-offs were decided a few days
  ago when Bordeaux battled from 2-0 down too beat
  Barcelona 2-3 and cement the final spot
  available.
• Novaks finished 3rd and has been solid
  all season, never slipping outside of the
  play-offs he's played some good football and
  fully deserves another shot at promotion.
• Jembo eventually finished 4th and
  although he could perhaps have been 3rd if it
  wasn't for a broken disk -he's rise to the
  play-offs from 19th is brilliant and he'll fancy
  his chances now as well.Revskic eventually
  finished 5th. I've been pleased with how things
  went since I came to Bordeaux and the play-offs
  were the goal before the season started. I've
  achieved that and feel I can perhaps cause an
  upset in the play-offs - you have too be
  optimistic now!
• iS N U Fx finished 6th - after a rocky
  opening part of the season he showed his class in
  the second part of the season and he's played
  some great stuff with Parma and will be perhaps
  looking for one final swan song before they
  perhaps part way in the close season.
• I wish everyone well in the play-offs.

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World League 2 Continued...

• RelegationAs with every season people have too
  be relegated and this season was no different,
  so.... fcbarcelona and FC Twente were confirmed
  as relegated after deadline day. Unplayed games
  being the factor in the Dutch sides demise this
  term. Major J Doe ended up in 19th but not for
  lack of trying and commitment to the cause this
  term. Win, lose or draw, Major has plenty of
  positives to say and he's been a credit too WL2 -
  I wish him well next term as he attempts too plot
  a way back up.Docgmfc gets the wooden spoon
  this term, but again his activity, (even though
  most weeks its ended in defeat), is commendable.
  A lot of folks would have quit in those sort of
  positions. Docs a good player and he'll feel he
  can do a good job next term and perhaps bounce
  straight back.Final Round UpFor the rest of
  you its been a pleasure moderating this
  division. I feel I've got too know a lot of you
  and I thank you for your time and patience
  throughout what at times has been a tough season
  with dropouts. For those that finished mid-table
  I wish you well as you once again attempt too
  improve your positions when FIFA 11
  arrives.After a lot of thought I will be
  moderating WL2 again next season, so you can look
  forward to my rambling reviews every Tuesday
  Morning. Thanks for a great season.Regards Rev

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World League Division 4 Round-upBy ukpyro

• Manager KarimovichPosition
  1stBiggest Win Dortmund 9 - 0 Lazio Biggest
  Defeat Dortmund 1 - 4 PortsmouthTop Scorer
  Lucas Barrios - 50 goalsSeason Summary After a
  poor start to the season, Karimovich acquired a
  strong Dortmund team and never looked back. In
  the space of a week he moved from relegation
  candidate to title contender. The Player of the
  Season and Division 4 champion will now try to
  secure for the first time ever on EFL - Three
  consecutive promotions.
• Manager GRIMBO84Position
  2ndBiggest Win Rennes 1-7 Portsmouth Biggest
  Defeat Portsmouth 1-3 RennesTop Scorer John
  Utaka - 49 goalsSeason Summary GRIMBO84 showed
  his ability right from the off, winning all his
  games in the first week and rarely dropping
  points thereafter. He achieved his aim of
  automatic promotion although he may still be
  disappointed on missing out on the title by just
  three points. Surprisingly wasn't even in the top
  3 of the player of the season awards /
• Manager Crash151
• Position 3rdBiggest Win Burnley 0 -
  8 Fulham Biggest Defeat Portsmouth 5-1 Fulham
  Top Scorer Clint Dempsey - 57 goalsSeason
  Summary Had a great start to the season but
  Karimovich's miraculous upturn in form means he
  has to settle for a playoff spot. He and Grimbo
  had a great battle for the second automatic
  promotion spot but his own prediction that his
  form would drop towards the end of the season
  came true. Can still be proud of making Dempsey
  the top scorer in division 4 and for almost
  making him the mvp in the Dream Eleven.

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World League 4 Continued...

• Manager o0 mackenzie 0oPosition
  4thBiggest Win St Etienne 9 - 0 LazioBiggest
  Defeat Hannover 96 4 - 1 St Etienne Top Scorer
  Boubacar Sanogo - 39 goalsSeason Summary o0
  mackenzie 0o had a very good debut season on EFL
  even leading the league for a while although by
  the virtue of having played more games. Has just
  got back from holiday moving house so will need
  to quickly find his form for the play-offs.
• Manager Tw1nblad3Position 5thBiggest Win
  Sunderland 1 - 6 Sevilla Biggest Defeat Rennes
  1 - 7 PortsmouthTop Scorer Luis Fabiano - 21
  goalsSeason Summary After last season where he
  missed out on promotion on the last day of the
  season he will surely just be happy to be in the
  play-offs. Having taken over one of the best 4.5
  teams in Sevilla, he will be a force to be
  reckoned with.Manager Harryn9000Position
  6thBiggest Win Stockport County 1 - 6
  Liverpool Biggest Defeat Sunderland 1 - 7
  FrankfurtTop Scorer Steven Gerrard - 14
  goalsSeason Summary Flirted with automatic
  promotion for a while but ended up with a well
  deserved play-off spot. Season couldn't really
  gone much better for Harry as he got the finish
  he was probably aiming for as well as his
  favourite team Liverpool..

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World League 4 Continued...

• Manager i hate worstiesPosition
  7thBiggest Win Hannover 96 8 - 1 Sunderland
  Biggest Defeat Burnley 5 - 2 Hannover 96Top
  Scorer Arouna Kone - 31 goalsSeason Summary
  Has been one of the more consistent members in
  division 4 as he hovered in and out of the
  play-off spots. But ultimately his season ends in
  disappointment, perhaps if he had been able to
  play Twin, then things would have turned out
  differently.Manager X1 RazielPosition
  8thBiggest Win Sunderland 1 - 7 Frankfurt
  Biggest Defeat Frankfurt 1 - 4 DortmundTop
  Scorer loannis Amanatidis / Halil Altintop 23
  goalsSeason Summary After a few initial
  problems Raziel has settled in well, with his
  first campaign fairly successful. His games seem
  to be very tense affairs as he rarely beats his
  opponent by several goals but on the flipside
  when he loses it also usually only by the one or
  two goals.
• Manager AimagpiePosition
  9thBiggest Win Blackburn Rovers 0 - 6
  PSVBiggest Defeat Rennes 5 - 1 PSV Top Scorer
  Ola Toivonen - 30 goalsSeason Summary Much
  was expected of Aimagpie but he was only able to
  deliver a mediocre season. After spending much of
  the campaign in the bottom half of the table
  (perhaps due the pressure of pre season
  predictions) Aimagpie finally find some form and
  managed to propel himself up the table.

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World League 4 Continued...

• Manager farazfareedPosition 10thBiggest
  Win Burnley 1 - 4 Blackburn Rovers Biggest
  Defeat Blackburn Rovers 0 - 6 PSV Top Scorer
  Jason Roberts - 25 goalsSeason Summary
  farazfareed failed to prove his critics wrong,
  who said that his success last season was only
  due to his extreme custom formation. He still
  remains a controversial figure and will be one of
  the players to watch out for in division 4 next
  season.

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World League 4 Continued...
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World League 4 Continued...
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World League 4 Continued...
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World League 5 Round-UpBy Tw1nblad3

• End of Season ReportFirstly, before I
  get on with the congratulations and the report I
  have to comment on how unsatisfied I was with the
  efforts of the majority of members in completing
  their games. I had to sim 63 matches this
  afternoon which is unacceptable.
• A vast number of you will lose your
  spots as a result, whereas some will get
  warnings. If you wish to remain in EFL you need
  to improve.
• Now, on to the fun stuff.Automatic
  PromotionCongratulations to Real Zaragoza
  (vinny gills fc) for a fantastic debut season in
  Division 5 as the Spanish outfit strolled to
  promotion with a massive 99 points, a clear 18
  points ahead of second placed Catania (hafidovic)
  who will join him in Division 4 next season after
  comfortably sealing the second automatic spot.
• So impressive was vinny's win that he
  scored a massive 162 goals (58 more than anyone
  else).
• Well Done to you both, but especially to
  vinny.

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World League 5 Continued...

• Play OffsStoke City (shadows309) - 73
  points, Mallorca (Iss9m) - 71 points, Atalanta
  (bacroon) - 68 points and AZ Alkmaar (WeeshLoL) -
  66 points have secured the spots and a chance to
  reach Division 4. Congratulations go to Iss9m for
  being the second manager to breach the 100 goals
  barrier and also to shadows309 as he had the best
  defence in Division 5.
• In the play-offs Stoke City will play AZ
  Alkmaar and Mallorca will face off against
  Atalanta. Good Luck to all involved.Mentions
  need to go out to both Toulouse (CFC Reborn 2010)
  and Porto Algere (o just touch it) who just
  missed out on a play off spot.Wooden
  SpoonCommisirations/Congratulations whichever
  you want to give for AEK Athens (T Wreks80) who
  finished in the lowest spot on the EFL pyramid.
  The resident bottom spot holder Hertha Berlin
  (stanleyen) managed to avoid the accolade in the
  end and finish 18th overall.

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World League 5 Continued...

• Top ScorerGiven that his team smashed 164
  goals, it was no surprise that Lafita of Real
  Zaragoza would top the scoring charts with 84
  goals, followed not so closely by Andre-Pierre
  Gignac (Toulouse) with 47 goals and his team mate
  Humberton Suazo with 45 goals.
• A total of 145 players scored throughout
  this season.Dirty Boys AwardA total of 84
  players were carded this season but none could
  stop Daniel Congre (Toulouse) from being crowned
  the bad boy with 2 reds and 1 yellow this season.
  
• He was closely followed by (and losing
  out by 1 yellow) Gianpaolo Bellini of Atalanta.

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Clubs UpdateBy Harryn9000

• Well after another eventful season in
  clubs, we are now trying to prepare for season 9
  by introducing a cup to the club leagues for the
  first time.
• This will continue into season 9 itself.
• The main problem with clubs is that new
  teams dont stay active which causes a lot of
  hassle for myself.
• You are not welcome to the league if you
  cannot fulfil your fixtures in time and I feel
  too many sides have left the league for rubbish
  reason, which creates lot of extra work for me.
• We are always looking for extra teams to
  join the league, so please, join up with some
  mates and get into the league. We can be flexible
  with the fixture times to suit your needs.
• Hopefully season 9 will be a lot better
  than last season.

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EFL Like A Comfy Pair Of Slippers...By Mgooo

• Ive been asked to put together a few
  words relating to my experience as a member of
  EFL and how it has evolved.I used to be part of
  the old Fifa singles site that the likes of DFP,
  Rev, Haydn, KWhitehammer, AIMagpie, El Guage and
  JC121 were all part of (amongst others).It was
  quite early days but I thought it suited my
  gaming situation perfectly. A few games a week
  and a bunch of approachable, fun, competitive
  Fifa players with the odd nut thrown in for good
  measure but I thought, this cant really get any
  better.
• How wrong I was. Small additions to the site
  like links to top goal scorer charts, manager of
  the week reports, chat window and a rankings
  table were huge steps for a community based
  site.There were only 2 full leagues running plus
  several other cup comps and it was an achievement
  if 50 of matches were played each week.
• It was a sad day when I had to leave due to
  work/living situation.
• I visited the old site now and again and it
  seemed to have died a death and accepted that
  such a site could never exist and flourish.Fast
  forward a short 8 months and I stumbled upon the
  behemoth that is EFL.

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EFL Like A Comfy Pair Of Slippers Continued...

• It was a bit intimidating at first as I
  hadnt done much internet community stuff for a
  while and it took a few goes to find the right
  place to sign up.Once that was done, everyone
  was extremely helpful and it was pretty straight
  forward knowing what I had to do next.Then I
  noticed a familiar nameis that Haydn from the
  old site? Then DFP and Rev appeared, it was like
  putting on an old pair of worn but comfy
  slippers.I couldnt believe how professional and
  expansive the site was.The waiting league was a
  nice introduction and had some fun games against
  Jakey, Razordragon and Karimovitch but the Ladder
  is a big improvement for new members to get games
  with.
• Its been a very steep learning curve on the
  gaming front as I only bought Fifa10 back in
  March but have enjoyed every minute of it (apart
  from the odd private hissy fit!!)
• The World League set up is excellent and there
  have been some really innovative ideas for the
  other comps which I think LMS is one of my
  favourites.
• There are naturally ups and downs on the site
  and I think the mods do a very good job with
  handling the various issues.But the future looks
  very exciting with Fifa 11 just round the corner
  and with potential improvements to the site.

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EFL Like A Comfy Pair Of SlippersContinued...

• Looking at the site with a critical
  eye-Good- Plenty of comps so you can make
  the gaming side as active as you want it to be.
  Chat window Rankings News barPotential
  improvements- A calendar showing what comps
  are upcoming plus sign up dates... etc (even
  birthdays) Maybe a more simplistic method for
  new members to join up Form guides in the
  leagues (Coloured player names who have best /
  worst form i.e. last 5 games) Maybe a one stop
  link to requirements for entering all the
  competitionsI think its a real achievement
  that a group of strangers of varying ages and
  characters can create and maintain an environment
  like this.And I think every member should give
  themselves a big pat on the back especially those
  who find the time to get involved with the site
  who have plenty of challenges with real life.I
  dont know what the future holds for EFL but I
  think it will go from strength to strength with
  the willing and creative minds that are involved.
• See you on the pitch.

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Spotlight On...Lukus KytovskiBy Tw1nblad3

• 1) Firstly, lets get the nice bits out of
  the way first, tell us a little about yourself.
  What's your name and where are you from?OK,
  well I'm Luke Kyte and from Canterbury, Kent. I'm
  just about to head into my final year at Christ
  Church University, which I've found out recently
  Jameschh90 also attends! I'm studying journalism
  and you may have seen bits and bobs from me in
  The Guardian, The Independent and local papers
  such as the Kent Messenger. 2) Obviously, being
  as EFL is a Fifa based league we better ask some
  questions on this first. So, how did you hear
  about EFL? and when did you sign up?Well
  strangely enough, I'm now joint admin but have
  not even been here a year. I joined In Nov 2009
  and found the site on Google. I signed up to a
  couple of sites at first to try and get a feel
  for them, but stuck with EFL as it seemed the
  best managed.

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Spotlight On...Lukus Kytovski

• 3) What is your best memory about being
  part of EFL? Are there any standout results,
  comical moments or people?Even though I hated
  them at the time, my first team will always be my
  favourite and that was Sporting Lisbon. Liedson
  up front was fantastic for me (not as good as
  Gomez this season though!). I joined EFL in
  division 1 and was relegated because of simmed
  games from other players which was a bit of a
  kick in the teeth when I had just played 38
  matches in the space of two weeks!Obviously some
  good memories were joining the moderating team
  and setting up many of the tournaments that are
  still in place today. I've loved life as an
  admin on this site and I do generally try to help
  as many people as I can...maybe I'm too soft at
  times! Comical moments? I wouldn't say there's
  any 'wet yourself laughing' times...but the
  chatbox can be pretty funny. The whole PGL vs.
  EFL scandal was also amusing because of the
  concept behind it all and also tracking down
  certain unknown identities has been fun. Time to
  time I still try and work out who they are...4)
  As a real life football fan, who do you
  support?Liverpool...Awful season last year and
  not an amazing start this time around. The new
  manager needs time though.Outside of them I have
  a soft spot for West Ham and their arch rivals
  Millwall!!! Basically, one of my best friends is
  an avid Hammers fan, so I've been to the Boleyn a
  number of times...and my Granddad is from the
  East-end..a Millwall boy.

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Spotlight On...Lukus Kytovski

• 5) Tell us something interesting about
  yourself, something away from Fifa/EFL.Well I
  actually play chess competitively! I can see the
  eyes rolling now..but it's just something I've
  enjoyed since an early age. I was taught when I
  was around 8-years-old and soon joined a local
  club. I dropped the game for a few years at the
  start of Uni but I've just got back into it and
  been asked to represent Kent in the county
  Championships so that will be exciting. The
  strange thing is, I'm anything but a geek - who
  is the stereo-typical chess playing type! 6)
  Apart from Fifa, what other games do you enjoy
  playing?Well I used to be heavily into the COD
  series and was a moderator on a site called Enemy
  Down...similar to EFL but with many more games
  and it was about clans than individual players. I
  even went to an iseries if anyone knows them?
  Apart from that, I just pick up decent looking
  games in the shop. Looking forward to the new F1
  game out this month as the trailers look
  amazing!7) As the new Premier League season has
  started, who's your tip to win?Chelsea. Will be
  good to see how Rooney reacts to all the media
  surrounding him at present but I don't think Utd
  will do enough to remove Chelseas crown.
  Hopefully City and Liverpool take the other two
  top four spots....

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Spotlight On...Lukus Kytovski

• 8) You have recently been given the keys to the
  office at EFL with Stubri, what plans do you have
  to build on the success that Haydn has put in
  place, or will you keep it the same?I do have
  these ideas of making EFL bigger and better in
  the back of my mind but that will take plenty of
  time. The thing is, although Haydn is not
  directly involved in member issues anymore, he
  remains very vocal behind the scenes and every
  week there is another fantastic idea coded and
  implemented. There are a few little changes that
  will be happening over the course of
  September/October and hopefully there will be a
  very major change coming soon to the site. 9)
  Fifa 11 is due out shortly, which of the
  improvements are you looking forward to most?I
  like the idea of making passing harder and
  getting people to actually play football to
  create goals. I know not every glitch can be
  unavoided but some certainly need to go. 10)
  Finally, some random questions to get an insight
  into Lukus?Favourite Food? I love Mexican and
  Chinese. Favourite Drink? St Hellion's blueberry
  cider. JD also goes down nicely. Favourite Film?
  This year Inception. Also a massive fan of Dark
  Knight. Favourite Music? I can listen to most
  stuff in the charts. Eminem if I had to pick.
  Play any sports? Yes lots...Football for Uni,
  tennis, golf, snooker, squash and chess.

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Spotlight On...Haydn1732By Tw1nblad3

• 1) Firstly, lets get the nice bits out of the
  way first, tell us a little about yourself.
  What's your name and where are you from?My name
  is Mattias and I'm from Halmstad in Sweden. It's
  a town in the southwest near the sea, and we have
  the most beautiful beach in Sweden, Tylösand.
  When I describe Halmstad for a foreigner I
  usually say it's where Roxette comes from and
  that it's located between Gothenburg and
  Malmö.2) Obviously, being as EFL is a Fifa
  based league we better ask some questions on this
  first. So, how did you hear about EFL? and when
  did you sign up?The details of this question is
  in another topic, but in short version, I was a
  part of another site which JamieLee was running
  (nowadays ElGuaje here at EFL). DFP was there as
  well. ElGuajes site (FifaMasters!) became dead
  and I got a pm from him to join EFL. This was in
  March 2009.

33
Spotlight On...Haydn1732

• 3) What is your best memory about being
  part of EFL? Are there any standout results,
  comical moments or people?
• - Championship Season 1 - with a record
  of 22-1-0 and DFP had 22-0-1 if I remember
  correct, it was without doubt my biggest
  achievement on EFL. Cisse's header which meant
  1-0 (final result) in the most important game for
  the title, is still the nicest goal I've done on
  Fifa. I'm not sure I deserved to win against DFP
  in that match (Reading v Derby), but I was very
  happy about it.- Winning the 1st World Cup as
  Ecuador. I was qualified from the group with
  awful results and as the very final team to make
  it. Then in the cup play I played really good,
  beating HollywoodHitman in the final in a very
  good game.- Ackba's celebration topic when he
  won the 1st Guessing Competition Title. It was so
  funny I still laugh when I think of it.- EFL's
  first really hot topic/discussion -
  HollywoodHitman v DFP. Hitman was a fantastic
  character, everyone was annoyed with him, but
  somehow he is a EFL-legend with his Norwich.-
  Antix fantastic enthusiasm about Fifa and EFL. I
  told Antix (now Coke for Kids) in the chat the
  other day that I probably wouldn't have taken
  over EFL if it weren't for him. It may sound
  strange, but a site like this would never survive
  without this kind of people. Antix is so
  competitive and active and at that time he was
  very important member of EFL's future. (You still
  are Antix, but the site was smaller back then.)

34
Spotlight On...Haydn1732

• 4) As a real life football fan, who do you
  support?Arsenal! Probably because of Fredrik
  Ljungberg from the start. He was a neighbour of
  mine when I was a child and we played football
  together on the local field.Halmstad! Well, my
  home town. Sweden champions in 1997 and 2000 (two
  more gold titles before "my time"), but since
  then a typical middle table team. The team
  Ljungberg played for before he moved to Arsenal.
  Also, my cousin was the main goalkeeper in
  Halmstad for many years (among the two titles in
  1997 and 2000). He played 4 times for the
  national A-team as well.5) Tell us something
  interesting about yourself, something away from
  Fifa/EFL.Interesting...well I have studied over
  10 years of higher educational musical studies in
  three different countries (Sweden, Finland and
  Norway), piano playing and pedagogic. I have been
  with a well-known Norwegian singer touring around
  whole Norway 3 times (always at Christmas
  time..), and I have concerts every now and then.
  Mostly to accompany other artists or
  children.Since I took over EFL I have actually
  practiced much less (and earned considerable less
  money), and this gives me tremendous amount of
  bad conscious. Playing piano is an enormous
  passion, and it's a part of earning my living. I
  spend extremely much time at something that don't
  give me a nickel, actually on the contrary - in
  order to learn and constantly develop my coding
  abilities I have bought several books. Some of
  them I have been able to take money from
  donations, but I'm still quite much money behind
  (therefore my 5 star donation level).EFL is a
  passion, but this is a very difficult mental
  aspect to cope for me. In the end I do this to
  make other people happy, so when people are
  calling each other abusive things etc. I just
  lose motivation. It usually comes back fast
  though. (Oops, I went off-topic there...sorry).

35
Spotlight On...Haydn1732

• 6) Apart from Fifa, what other games do you
  enjoy playing?I bought my XBOX in August 2008.
  I have never owned a console before. Around 2005
  I played GTA San Andreas on my PC. It was like a
  new world for me. I hadn't played any computer
  game since the Grand Old Days with Commodore (I
  had Vic-20, C-64 and Amiga 500, fantastic
  machines!) This was an enormous experience for
  me, and when I heard about GTA 4 was only being
  released on PS3 and XBOX360 I just had to get a
  console.I had no idea about any of them, but I
  asked a friend of mine, and he advised me to get
  an XBOX. I bought it, played GTA4 (a great
  game!), and then I really didn't know what to do
  with the console. However, I bought some games
  and which I played some of them. Finally I bought
  this UERO 2008 and I was sooo impressed.
  (Sensible soccer was the last soccer game I
  played..for those that was around at that time.)
  I loved it, and since Fifa 09 was released I
  haven't really played much other games.7) As
  the new Premier League season has started, who's
  your tip to win?
• Chelsea looks so strong. I think City are too
  inconsistent and probably Arsenal too. But I must
  say, this start of the season feels much better
  than the last ones.

36
Spotlight On...Haydn1732

• 8) When you took charge at EFL what were
  your visions for the site? Did you ever imagine
  it would grow to the size it has now?I knew no
  web-programming at all when I took over the site,
  so I really didn't have a clear vision. But the
  idea of an automatic league system was in the
  back of my head. However, I wasn't close to
  imagine that many coded features and pages that
  it is right now! But as I say every now and then
  this is only the beginning...I think EFL are in
  some kind cross-road right now. It has been the
  same size of members for a while, but the
  attitude and sportsmanship haven't really
  improved much. Should EFL be generally tougher?
  For example, a member says something abusive or
  disrespectful, should it be zero-tolerance?There
  are a lot of childish "hiding-behind-internet"
  attitude going on. If the same people would meet
  face to face the way people treat each other
  would most likely not be that bad. Also, the ever
  lasting question about formations, I must say
  personally I lose the joy when someone appears to
  have 7-10 defenders and is so deep with his team
  that even Inter at Nou Camp would be jealous.

37
Spotlight On...Haydn1732

• 9) You have recently given up the keys to
  the office at EFL to Stubri and Lukus, what made
  you come to the decision to step down?Well, it
  could be time to reveal this story I guess. Here
  are details only 4 people know besides myself my
  girlfriend, another (real life) friend and
  Stubri/Lukus. Ok, here we goI'm not sure how
  many people realize how much work I have put down
  in this site. The time before I stepped down
  (that expression feels strange, I don't feel I
  have stepped down really) was very, very hectic.
  I was the one and only admin, I ran the site,
  booted people, was basically in charge of
  everything. There was not one single post or
  match report/additional comment I didn't read. In
  addition to this I was coding like usual like a
  maniac. I was also playing like an active
  member.Eventually, it became too much. I didn't
  enjoy myself, and it simply took all my available
  time. It became difficult for my family, and my
  bad conscious became stronger and stronger. When
  in further addition to this some members showed
  really bad sportsmanship and treated myself and
  other members completely without respect, it
  became worse. But then it happened - the PGL
  attack. I have never been treated that bad in my
  whole life.I still have all the mail history
  from these guys, and the way they attacked me - a
  single person that is just a passionate Fifa
  player and wants to build a community/site for
  others to enjoy, was so bad I would never wished
  my worst enemy this treatment (although I'm not
  sure I have any - not in the real life anyway).
  These are now the same guys I receive XBL-pm's
  from that wants to have their account activated
  on EFL. There are not many persons that are
  life-time banned on EFL, but these guys are.

38
Spotlight On...Haydn1732

• Anyway, I thought I was strong during
  this attack, but at the end of it, when things
  began to calm down, I sort of collapsed. The
  situation was so bad that it was only one way to
  go, and I took my decision, which was going to
  make the PGL guys more than happy, but that
  didn't bother me so much. They have never really
  bothered me, just how they treated EFL.The
  decision was taken - EFL was going to shut
  down.The questions was how. I had two different
  strategies in mindA) Pull the plug the next
  morning without notice to anyone.B) Announce it
  and let the season finish. Then pull the
  plug.Option A felt really bad, I felt I owed
  all the passionate EFL members more than just
  pulling the plug, but at the same time it would
  be the easiest option for me in my current
  situation.Option B however, would be difficult.
  I knew several people would like to take over the
  site, but the only way that could happen is that
  I would hand over EFL the way it was before all
  coding I had done without league tables, cup
  brackets, Your Page...just a forum. The reason
  for this is that my system is far from
  bulletproof. There are so many bugs and clumsy
  coding that it's not an option to hand it over in
  this state. This could seem egoistic, but I hope
  it's not. It's some kind of bizarre pride I
  think. Nevertheless, that won't change.

39
Spotlight On...Haydn1732

• Let's continue the story. I had taken the
  decision, but phoned one of my best friends to
  talk about it before doing anything. He suggested
  that someone else could run the site, and I could
  be in the background. I could still code and
  develop the site, but someone else could do all
  that other work (which is MASSIVE!).I couldn't
  believe I didn't think about this myself, it
  seemed like a mature way of handling it. I asked
  myself who could take it over, and I think I
  thought about 0.2 seconds before getting Stubri's
  name in my brain. It was the most easy option. I
  talked to him, he accepted and he continued to
  persuade me not to close down the site. But he
  thought he need a second admin. Good idea, and
  Lukus was very soon an obvious choice.The way
  Stubri and Lukus helped me and organize this was
  amazing. If it weren't for those two guys, EFL
  would not be online today. It's that easy.Since
  then they have run the site in a fantastic
  manner, and I'm so happy they still are admins.
  Again, they are doing an incredible job, and
  deserve so much credit for it. Thanks guys.I
  hope that answers your question. I have now a
  completely different approach to the site. When I
  have time, I spend the same amount of it to
  develop the site (and that is much yes). But for
  a couple of weeks ago we moved, and there was no
  problem for me being away during that time. This
  could never have happened before.

40
Spotlight On...Haydn1732

• Let's continue the story. I had taken the
  decision, but phoned one of my best friends to
  talk about it before doing anything. He suggested
  that someone else could run the site, and I could
  be in the background. I could still code and
  develop the site, but someone else could do all
  that other work (which is MASSIVE!).I couldn't
  believe I didn't think about this myself. It
  seemed like a mature way of handling it. I asked
  myself who could take it over, and I think I
  thought about 0.2 seconds before getting Stubri's
  name in my brain. It was the most easy option. I
  talked to him, he accepted and he continued to
  persuade me not to close down the site. But he
  thought he need a second admin. Good idea, and
  Lukus was very soon an obvious choice.The way
  Stubri and Lukus helped me and organize this was
  amazing. If it weren't for those two guys, EFL
  would not be online today. It's that easy.Since
  then they have run the site in a fantastic
  manner, and I'm so happy they still are admins.
  Again, they are doing an incredible job, and
  deserve so much credit for it. Thanks guys.I
  hope that answers your question. I have now a
  completely different approach to the site. When I
  have time, I spend the same amount of it to
  develop the site (and that is much yes). But a
  couple of weeks ago we moved, and there was no
  problem for me being away during that time. This
  could never have happened before.

41
Spotlight On...Haydn1732

• 10) Fifa 11 is due out shortly, which of
  the improvements are you looking forward to
  most?This is a little bit embarrassing, but I
  haven't actually checked it out properly. I just
  love Fifa so much, and I think it's the greatest
  game I played. I think Fifa 11 will be even
  better, and I hope the game play will make these
  custom formations more vulnerable.11) Finally,
  some random questions to get an insight into
  Haydn?Favourite Food? My girlfriends! She's an
  amazing cook!Favourite Drink? I love Brandy,
  beer and coffee (maybe not at the same
  time...)Favourite Film? Oh, there's so many...
  The Godfather trilogy, The Shawshank Redemption,
  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and City
  Slickers!Favourite Music? Well, the composers
  that lie closest to my heart are Chopin, Bach,
  Mozart and Schumann. In Jazz there's the
  marvellous Bill Evans. I should mention someone
  alive as well, so then there's the most charming,
  creative and original band from Halmstad, Sweden
  Paintbox(MySpace link)Play any sports? Played
  Football all my life, but my Achilles on both
  feet are unfortunately simple too damaged. I have
  started to bicycle though!

42

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  in touch with your idea.
• See You Soon!