The competition

With Marc Thom’s Theatre of Dreams exiting the Gameworld, a gap has been left to be filled at the top of the AEFA Premiership. Here’s a look at some of the other contenders for the title…

Monobrow City

Alun spent the third season playing with a Welsh only side, managing survival only by the narrowest of margins. This season the full team is back, with Dzeko and Foti leading the line, Ramsey at CM, Bale at LB and the monster that is Adler between the sticks. The only question mark over the coming season are the finances, as Monobrow are known to be dangerously close to being insolvent ahead of the switch to stadium based income (See my earlier post with regards to stadiums and future projection to understand why).

Toon Town

Arno Nel’s side have snuck up the Gameworld rankings into the top 20 and are a financially sound, low wage team. With the impressive Frederico Laurito and Xisco upfront and young wonderkid Osvaldo on the bench, this young side really have matured over the last two seasons. Beaulieu FC have had the better of the results in recent times, but this side is definitely not to be underestimated.

Rice ‘n’ Furry FC

Any side featuring a front pairing of Cassano and Quagliarella is to be feared. One of the most prolific front lines last season was backed up by a solid midfield and defence. Again, question marks over Toto Trans’ finances create a large hole in their title challenge, with rumours that Cassano is up for sale.

AFC Carpathia

Barry Welch’s side may be an odd pick for a title challenge, but they’ve been in and around the top half for two seasons in a row. He’s bought wisely over the last couple of weeks to strengthen his squad without blowing his wage budget and he’s got a nice stadium on the way. Defoe upfront backed up by Valbuena, Rameriz and tactical ability ensures his place among my pick for the title contenders

Bohemians FC

A side who have been in the bottom half of the table for a while may be a very unusual place to expect a title challenge, but I’m picking Derek Tobin’s side as the dark horses for the coming competition. An emphasis on producing great quality youth has seen Bohemians near the top of the youth rankings for a long time and his players are starting to really come of age. Fausto Rossi on the left wing is deadly-effective and Mutu upfront bristles with threat. A recent friendly saw Beaulieu FC emerge with a 4-4 draw, thanks only to wonder-goals by Guilherme, underlining the attacking prowess present in Derek’s side.

There are, of course, other serious contenders like Marko’s Magicians, Huntstown Villa and so on – those are just my pick of a few of them. :)