A Wolves fan has shown he is on the ball by winning the Express & Star’s Fantasy Football game.
Mark Lakin, 48, of Robin Grove, Wednesfield, received a cheque for £2,000, courtesy of game sponsor Wickes, after topping the table by two points.
His team Wodensfield amassed 574 points over the course of the season, beating more than 4,260 rivals to top spot.
His team of Premier League stars was: J Reina (Liverpool), G Clichy (Arsenal), S Distin (Portsmouth), J Lescott (Everton), Z Knight (Aston Villa), P Evra (Man Utd), A Young (Aston Villa), D Bentley (Blackburn) C Ronaldo (Man Utd), E Adebayor (Arsenal), F Torres (Liverpool).
Mark, who works as a financial analyst, said he spent a nervous afternoon watching the final results come in.
He said: “I had Sky Sports News on so I could see when every goal was scored, as I knew it was going to be close.
“It was quite nerve wracking as everything kept changing, minute by minute.”
Mark’s team, which is named after the original name for Wednesfield, came from behind to grab first place after the final round of games.
He said: “Going into the final day, I was level on points with my main rivals. Three of us could have won it on the last day.
“Torres of Liverpool scored at Tottenham which put me in front but it was the transfers I made in the run-up which helped me over the line.”
Mark made three transfers in the run-up to the season’s finale, bringing in Ronaldo, Distin and Knight.
“I hadn’t had Ronaldo in my team all season so I thought it was time to bring him in and he certainly scored a few points,” he says.
Fantasy football fan Mark signed up to the Express & Star’s online competition when the game was launched last August.
“I saw it in the paper and thought I would enter as it was free to play,” he said
“I buy the Express & Star every day so it seemed a logical thing to do.”
Mark built his team around Torres and Adebayor, who were in from the start.
“I picked Lescott not just for his Wolves connection but also because he scores a lot of goals even though he is a defender, plus he was priced quite reasonably.”
Mark, who works for the Housing Corporation, in Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, was delighted to scoop first prize.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to spend the money on - maybe a holiday,” he said.
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