Student beats 3 million to become top of the offical fantasy football Premier League

“I just wanted to beat my mates, now I’m #1 out of 3,042,558.”

On Sunday evening Jon Whalley, a Master’s student here in Leeds, was ranked first on the Official Fantasy Football Premier League – an achievement every football fan worth their salt knows is a big deal.

99 problems but a pitch ain’t one … Jon Whalley

“It was a tense 25 minutes of refreshing the page and preparing my victory Facebook status”, Jon told The Tab.

The free online game allows players to pick their own squad, create and join leagues and choose their own team each week.

Jon had been playing since the season began in mid August and although he is over the moon with his performance, he knows he still has “a long way to go”.

 He admitted it had begun as something to do with his mates, but as Jon improved week on week he knew he was on to something: “The game chose me, I didn’t choose the game”, he confessed.

But Jon’s success was almost in jeopardy at the start of the season – his original team name made explicit references to Lloyd Grossman’s genitalia. After the league threatened a ban, his team became ‘CHANGE NAME’.

Basking in his success, Jon said: “It’s not even that hard, I take pleasure in looking at the losers below me.”

It may be interesting to note Jon’s real life football skills don’t match up with his performance behind the screen. After a 10 minute half in Power League he was left showering the pavements of Hyde Park with his stomach contents.

So what does Jon really gain from his accomplishment? Nothing yet… prizes are awarded monthly, quarterly and for overall success. But as he says himself, “I’m not in it for the prizes, I do it for the pride.”

How they line up:

GK – Artur Boruc

DF – Per Mertesacker

DF – Sylvan Distin

DF – Michael Dawson

MF – Aaron Ramsey

MF – Mezet Ozil

MF – Steven Gerrard

MF – Paulinhio

FW – Luis Suarez

FW – Daniel Sturridge

FW – Sergio Aguero