A brief history of the L.M.S.

The summer of 2001 was a heady time in Japan, Junichiro Koizumi was a few months into his first term as Prime Minister, Kashima were on the way to their fourth J. League title and it was also the time when an irritable Australian and an affable Welshman, co-workers and toto tragics, decided to go in on a fantasy football league. They didn't know it at the time, but in creating the Last Man Standing, they were to change forever the lives of all those brave young men who would join as members over the years.

That first season, 2001/02, will forever be regarded as the * (asterix) season by some, as the two founding fathers were the only competitors, and the young tyro from the land of red-back spiders and Vegemite soundly defeated the man from the land of (insert whatever Wales is famous for at a later date....nah, still can't think of anything).

In the 2002/03 season, though, the Welshie would have his revenge, and with the number of managers swelling to 10, there was a decent financial reward for his success, as well as a raggedy Detroit Red Wings notepad presented as inaugural Head-to-Head winners.

Word had quickly spread throughout the male, football-loving, English-teaching community in central Kanagawa (admittedly, a small demographic) of this demanding, competitive league, and with enough prospective managers knocking on the door, the next season, 03/04, saw the L.M.S. expand again, to 20 teams, and also saw the introduction of The L.M.S. Cup. That was the season a young Yorkshireman took all before him, and with the number of teams capped at 20, managers looking on from the outside had to wait for someone to wuss out a team to go into administration before they could have a shot at glory. One man took his chance by the bollocks, and the league by storm, in 04/05, and became the first Geordie manager in league history and first Geordie champion in the same season.

For the next three seasons the traditional powers returned to prominence, with two league titles for the angry Aussie sandwiched around another for the wily Welshman, but then in 08/09 a canny Scot made the breakthrough he had been threatening (often verbally) for several seasons and took his first title.

Finally, in May 2010, a haddock fisherman from Grimsby became the 09/10 L.M.S. Champion, the sixth manager to win the ultimate prize in football. Nine seasons have passed under the bridge and 10 managers have come and gone, but, without question, the 20 that remain for the upcoming 2010/2011 Last Man Standing season are the absolute cream of the crop.