The Fantrax NMA-11 Cup: Qualifying

As we move into the second half of the season we have our second Fantrax cup. The first cup of the year, the hard-fought NMA “Blog Cup”, saw Sir Boy United FC triumph as recorded here, so congratulations to them. Our second cup started with everyone again in contention, and qualification was determined by the league positions at the end of game week 20.

This cup is run on a head-to-head basis, so there’s a good amount of fortune needed to avoid the in-form teams each round. To make it a bit more like England’s FA Cup, I have seeded teams, so that the higher-placed teams enter the competition later on, just as the Premier League and Championship teams enter the real FA Cup at round 3. Just for a bit of fun, I have allocated a real team alongside each fantasy team, based on league positions at the conclusion of GW-20. Last year it was pseudo-Southampton who won the NMA-11 Cup, defeating pseudo-Manchester City in the final, so you never know! (And on January 11 this year, the real Southampton defeated the real Manchester City in the EFL Cup, so you never never know!)

At the time of qualifying, our NMA-11 league had 306 teams in it, so nearly half of the teams have fallen at the first hurdle. This is a huge increase on last year, where we had 165 teams and so only a handful of non-qualifiers. Commiserations if you’ve failed to qualify — There’s always next year!

Here are the qualifying positions in full:

I expect there will be some discussion in the comments about which ‘real’ team your team is the equivalent of. I can’t see Stall being thrilled at trying to do well for Arsenal...

As the holders of this competition, my own team The Motley Crewe has a target on its back this year. Last year I was virtual Southampton, but this year I’m representing Aston Villa!

I’ve completed the random draw for the qualifying round, which sees all the ‘non-league’ teams fight for a place in Round 1:

GW-22 will see the qualifying round take place, with a new round every even week after that.

Best of luck to all!

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How do you feel about this competition and your equivalent team? Are you in playing in the qualifying round or coming in later? Let’s hear from you in the comments!

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