7 Glorious seasons have passed us by, and we sit on 16th July 2004. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we might have even learnt some things, but the purpose of this post is to pull it all together. So whether you’re brand new to this blog or you’ve been reading since day one, this should make sure you’re up to speed with the runners and riders. You may have noticed over the last few seasons, the game is getting more and more abstract.

The established stars are starting to fade away, with newer players coming to the fore. I appreciate the newer generation are less fun to read about, as you can’t relate to them. We all laughed when Alan Rogers turned up at Atletico Madrid and then Man Utd, not to mention Steve Haslam at Real Madrid, so to ensure we keep laughing, here’s a look at where we stand. Here are the most expensive players in the world as it stands:

Some real likely lads in there, the top four are not all that surprising, after that it’s all very odd. If England have Haslam, Curtis & Rogers to call on it’s a wonder they ever concede. Anyway, World Cup 2006 is in England so maybe that’ll be our year.

Premier League

The honours board:

It’s telling that Man Utd have finished in the top 2 every season until me and Colin Todd got in the way this season just gone. Now that Man Utd are out of the Champions League, I’m intrigued to see how they get on without the money. They still have a strong, but ageing, squad With Fowler out for a year, I’d expect them to buy a striker. The other constant name in there is Aston Villa, who have just won the UEFA cup. I don’t know why they bought Andy Gray from me or why he keeps Michael Owen out of the team but whatever. The FA Cup

Honours board:

It’s a lot more varied in here, with 6 names on the trophy in 7 years. Birmingham are a first division side managed by Ron Atkinson and will play in the Cup Winners Cup as a result of Bolton’s Champions League place. Spurs, Newcastle & Man Utd will all be in UEFA Cup action. Bolton are still managed by Colin Todd and have had a mixed time of it, I’m interested to see if they are a one hit wonder or not (and whether my Leeds side will be too!) The League Cup

The most pointless of the cups, as there is no European place reward, here’s who’s won it Liverpool were unvincible for most of the first 4 years, losing only one match. Villa and Chelsea have dominated in recent years, but Gordon Milne has since left Chelsea so that might not continue under Tony Adams.

Champions League Are we seeing a shift from Spain to Italy? Well, maybe. Barcelona and Real Madrid really dominated this tournament but recently it’s been the Italians. Interestingly, no English winner yet.

La Liga

This seems like a good time to drop over to La Liga… Neither team has been able to retain the trophy, remarkably. Their squads are decent though to say the least For completeness, here is Ligue 1 Marseille have really taken over since I took Auxerre close in 2001. Here are the best managers in the World at this point in time: Brian Little is the best manager in the world. Interesting to see Maldini, Shearer, Zidane & McManaman on the list despite having not yet retired. Quick look at the International scene, we’ve had 2 World Cups: World Cup 2006 will be in England. The European Championships meanwhile:

As you can see, Denmark are the form nation, being in 3 of the 4 finals and winning Euro 2004. To finish with, here’s the best of the individual awards handed out each year

European Footballers of the Year PFA Players of the Year They are all goalkeepers!

PFA Young Players of the Year

Managers of the Year Football Writers Players of the Year Top Goalscorers Still amazed at Robbie Fowler’s 51 in 97/98 – in 53 games. Anyway hopefully you’re up to speed with where we are in this game, and here’s to the next 7 seasons.