The pool was formed in 1987. As such, it pre-dates “Daily Fantasy Football” by a couple of decades (we tell people all the time, “we were DFS before there ever was such a thing as DFS”). The pool was developed by a group of Brits, and for many years, pool participants were predominantly located in the UK and the European continent.

As Steve tells it:

Back in the day, I spent my winters in N.Y. making Slippy's life a misery. I took an interest in fantasy football and thought (naturally) that I could do better. I came back with some ideas and roped in JB and QBob amongst others. One night, we sat in the pub, as we were prone to do, and, after a drink or twelve, we worked out the rules and cobbled together a draft league, figuring that you've got to play it first to see the faults.

The problem, as we saw it, with draft leagues was that most players lost interest very quickly if they didn't have the star player: Barry Sanders, or the equivalent, in their teams. We realised the limitations and that the key to the game was being able to change your entire team selection each and every week.

The other pivotal decision was the one player one team rule: for instance, you could no longer have Jerry Rice and the SF QB. You had to pick one or the other. Finally, the plus/minus idea came about because we wanted something different, team as opposed to individual based.

Growth came quickly, in no small part, down to QBob's computer skills, JB's enthusiasm in recruiting (blackmailing) players, and Slippy, Ferg and Dennis taking care of U.S. expansion.

For many years, the pool was run out of a video store (remember those) called Video City in London, and was (as was the case with “rotisserie” or pre-internet “fantasy” football) an incredibly manual operation. QBob computerized both the team entry and standings in the late 1990’s, though scoring remained manually calculated well into the 2000’s.

The current administrators (Ryan and Alex) took over pool operations in 2008, branded the pool as “The Best NFL Pool” and quickly worked to upgrade the pool infrastructure – building a new website, implementing live scoring, and making minor tweaks to the scoring system.

But as Steve notes, “the rules have changed very little from what we came up with all those years ago and it's what makes this game we all love so very unique. Guess we must've done something right.”

Ferg

Although I have been a part of every single season of the pool, I can’t say I was a “Founding Father”. I was just a high schooler who worked for Steve at the Video Store and was told I had to join this new pool if I wanted to keep my part time job.

In college, I persuaded (quite easily) my roommate Justin (Fojuice) to split a team with me. Every year, Justin and I pick the name of an infamous athlete from the previous year who just sucked (T. Woods, J. Barton, A. Rodriguez, L. Armstrong, D. Trump, J. Bezos–you can see we started to make some exceptions to the athlete requirement).

The first time we won the pool, we had to wait for the newspaper to be published the next morning to see if John Taylor had run for enough yards on the last meaningless play of the game. I think we got the first copy of the Boston Globe published that day.

Working at Video City for Steve, I quickly learned it was more important to see if someone was into American Football and therefore a good candidate for the pool. I spent my Sunday shift at the store taking people’s teams over the phone rather than serving any customers.

IMaybe my greatest gift to the pool is being part of its expansion (My cousin Aaron brought the pool to DC, Justin brought it to Philly, Little One brought it to San Fran, Package brought it to FL, etc.). Now my role in its expansion has taken different forms: My cousin Aaron and I have taken over my father’s team (Package) after he passed away, and my two sons (Notrelame and Steve Stokoe) are now in the pool.

The pool has taken up way too many hours of my life and ruined many of my weekends, but it has also brought me many more good times and has kept me connected with many good friends and rivals.

QBob

I remember Steve trying to explain the concept in the snooker hall in Shepherd's Bush – it must have been 1987. I can't remember how many were in it, sure we had a draft of sorts. Think I came 2nd behind Steve, both of us having drafted Randall Cunningham . . What a player!

We also had the “little game” - picking winners from the week's schedule.

Miriam's little Black Book lasted many many seasons - probably until we got IPads and the internet caught up. MrsQ still scribbles stuff of interest on a notepad though! We also had the Miriam'sMum team which often did better than us. She picked from choices Miriam gave to her .. 1 from 2 QB's, 2 from 4 RB's etc. Loved picking Reed, Rice & Rison.

I remember the recession in 1992. My mate Steve Long (now CaptainCatastic) won and I was able to give him a huge wedge of cash - at a time when he really needed it!

We used to have divisions over which we spread the loose geographical groups so you were not “playing” against your friends - but there are no friends in the pool!

Winning in 95/96 was exciting - edged out JB with some late return yards from Green Bay - used the winnings to buy my first personal computer. So, it kind of went back into the pool!

JB

I used to collate all the teams on a Sunday afternoon @ Video City, the phone ringing non-stop as teams came in from all over the world.

Back in the early days, we used to listen to games on the Armed Forces Radio Network beamed from Germany. It was always Hank Stram on the commentary but the signal used to fade in and out so just at that crucial moment....

I remember Ferg having to wait 2 days to confirm his win in 89/90 as we waited for the USA Today to be printed. He needed John Taylor of the 49ers to do something but Jerry Rice was getting everything. Deep in the 4th, he got his one pass of the game – only a 10-yarder but he was standing in the endzone!

We had a "ticker tape" era- a thickly accented Scotsman at the end of a bookies premium rate telephone number giving us real time updates! How today's poolies would laugh 😂

It was all held together by friendship, bravado and QBob's nascent computer skills- well he was an accountant and the only one of us who knew anything about them because Steve could barely load a tape into a VCR in those days! And there was Miriam's Little Black Book. This was the Holy Grail, Talmud, Bible and Quran all in one. It was the font of all knowledge, seasons past and present. THE Almanac for all time. Eat your heart out Biff and Marty... I'll bet it's still active - QBob can confirm.

Know this...

• It's all just shoulda, woulda, coulda and had him but took him out.
• There are no friends in the pool-it's life or death making the Double*
• Never change your mind- even when THAT RUNNING BACK who is listed as one foot in the grave, suddenly suits up at the last minute and knocks you out...
• I've been fortunate to make a few finals, won some and lost some.
• Remember it's a bit of fun. Enjoy it

Oh and like The Slipmeister, there's a few I've crossed off my Christmas Card list over the years. No vitriol reserved for QBs as we got the back-up but the following feckers owe me big time: Barry "feckin" Foster, Ricky "bloody" Watters, Jerome "gnome" Bettis, Bo "knows" Jackson... Sterling "silver" Sharpe, "marvellous" Marvin Harrison, Randy "dandy" Moss and Isaac "steve" Bruce.

Oll an Gwella!

Steve

Back in the day, I remember listening to the Armed forces radio network for snippets of info - the only way we could listen - then waiting for Tuesday's edition of the USA Today to verify scores before faxing the results out to everyone. 'You try telling that to the kids today....'

I remember being interviewed (along with JB) by NBC TV. They wondered how a group of Brits had re-invented, for the better, 'rotisserie' fantasy football as you guys called it back then. I've still got a recording on a VHS tape somewhere.

Watched games in the Bronx many moons ago with Slippy amongst others. The bars tended to be the two tattoos minimum entry requirement type of places (and that was just the women!). The locals always gave us a very wide birth, thinking we were more psychotic than they were as we kept switching from supporting one team to another depending on our picks.

Favorite Quotes: Slippy's 'there are no friends in the pool' and the one attributed to Flip's style of playing, 'he'd sell his Grandmother for a point.'

Most memories tend to be about bad beats, no one likes a showoff:

• Jayraj ( Blue Army) lost a final because Brett Favre took a knee on the final two snaps of the game. That was the first time anyone realised the QB lost .1 for taking a knee.
• Dennis lost a final because the final throw of the game went to Keenan McCardell and not Jimmy Smith. That one still hurts
• I lost one playoff game to Malcolm Bowman (there's still a couple of the old school kicking around that he originally bought into the pool right at the start) because Morton Anderson missed a chip field goal, he hadn't missed a kick for at least a decade up to that moment
• Many moons ago, in one final I went back and forth between Emmett Smith and Ricky Watters and opted for the latter as Smith was meant to be dead. Unfortunately, he rose from his coffin to score a zillion points. I still blame JB for the 'planted' false injury report!

However, my proudest pool moment, and claim to fame, is not the six wins with various teams that I've been involved with over the years but being the proud owner of the plus-minus record, a somewhat impressive score of -17.5!!! Beat that, suckers. I can't remember who my minus pick was but my plus was a KC team with an easy fixture with Joe Montana at the helm. They got a fat doughnut! After the game, it was announced that Montana had a virus. Yeah, thanks for that, Flu Boy. Always preferred Steve Young.

Dennis

It’s hard to remember my early days of the pool, but basically Steve’s indoctrination added to the fun and excitement of the early pool days.

I have memories of Steve’s dad Gerald Lambert having a team with my wife Lynne -- and the concept of not having to draft your team added to the lazy way out for weekly picks.

I endorsed the pool and over the years. Besides my family joining and enjoying, we actually even won or came very close on many occasions. I had close calls winning and losing by a fraction.

Over the years the sophistication of the pool has greatly increased. I just hope the broken trophy I received, which looks like it was hit by a monster linebacker, is not indicative of my inexplicable failure to not make the playoffs for the first time in memory.

In truth the pool has actually saved me a fortune in unplaced bets. The ability to spend so little and have every game mean something is the best part is all.

Slippy

I remember being in the final four a long time ago.....and finishing in a dead tie with Dennis...we had the same kicker as the 'tie breaker"....so we went to the second kicker....and he won.

I remember having 2 teams one year...SLIPPY and TEAM USA. I submitted the exact same picks for both teams... every week...and was tied for #1 overall with myself for the whole season

I ended up having to play against myself in the 8 man elimination round. I put in the exact same picks for both teams....and identical tie breaker picks. It became both awkward and obtuse.

And....I can't remember all the details....but Andre Reed is....and always will be....DEAD to me.

There are NO FRIENDS in the pool.