About

The Shanters and Slappers Premier Alliance (SSPA) is a fantasy football league* that was formed way back in the year 2000. It was founded by members of the Shanters Badminton Club, an ancient sporting institution, and a couple of associated slappers (wags). The personnel involved have changed over the years but numbers have remained at a decent level ever since and this year the league has 11 managers taking part.

There are four different competitions. The main SSPA league where the team that amasses most points throughout the season is the winner. There is also a head to head league called the Tosspot League; teams are pitched against each other during different weeks of the season and highest scoring team during the week gets three Tosspot points. There is a knock-out competition called the Jillytub Memorial Trophy, in honour of founder member, Jill Broughton, who sadly passed away in 2017. This works in the same way as the Tosspot League, except if you lose you are out of the competition. And there is the Onion Bag Cup which takes a group format - the main difference here is that only goals scored count.

*Fantasy football league is a game where you pick a squad of players from a football league, such as the English Premier League. Your team collects points if the players in your squad score goals, assist goals or keep clean sheets, and lose points if your defenders concede goals.