The Bleacher Report Football Article (BRFA) Team of the Year

A couple of weeks ago I contacted many of the regular writers on the football section of Bleacher Report. The general idea was to come up with a few lines on a writer on the page that they like, but the twist was that they had to fit them into a starting XI somewhere.

I have to say that the idea went down pretty well and was received with much good humor, treated in exactly the way I had envisioned.

Obviously on a site like this, you're never going to agree with everyone 100 percent of the time, but what I found in the many replies to the article is that there is a nice little community blossoming here in B/R football land.

Before I name the squad for the BRFA team of the season, I'd like to whole-heartedly thank everyone that contributed to making the article as much fun as I had hoped.

Cheers,

Willie.

The BRFA Team of the Season...

1. Shyam - (Goalkeeper)

He saves me from myself a lot when I tend to get carried away. Fully reliable and comes up with the articles when needed. (Maire Ofeire)

2. Carolina Tiger - (Right Back)
An old-fashioned centre-back, Carolina never shirks a tackle. He always goes in hard but is mostly fair. However, he doesn't mind laying the odd dirty tackle, always coming out smiling from these encounters...(Joseppio)

3. Maire Ofeire - (Left Back)

Mary has been pretty consistent over the course of the season, and has cemented herself as being the best left full on Bleacher. Her incisive forward runs can only be matched by the vicious tackles she puts in when someone insults her or her team. (Willie Gannon)

4. Jason Halfpenny - (Centre Back)

Every team needs a dirty player and this ex-quarry worker fits the bill. Loves a two-footed tackle and it doesn't bother him to go over the top, in fact he always goes over the top. Rabid and ferocious, the B/Rs own 'Mad Dog'. (Duncan McDowell)

5. Yoosof Farah - (Center back)

Yoosof is a great defender, one of the strongest in the league. His passes and tackles have saved his team from defeat on a number of occasions. He is always there for his teammates and has a great passion for football and his club. (Myles Cameron)

6. Willie Gannon - (Midfield)

The water carrier of the side, equally adept helping out others as working on his own, teammates know Gannon will always give 100% ever game and consistently put in eye-catching performances. Due to his prolific strikerate, however, sometimes his behind-the-scenes work gets overlooked...(Alex Dimond)

7. Jamie Ward - (Right Wing)

Jamie is a player in the mould of Dirk Kuyt. Works his arse off for the team, playing incisive passes and scoring crucial goals. He nips down the wing and puts in crosses (articles) from impossible angles, making the defence work hard to repel his well constructed attacks (articles). (Joseppio)

8. Barney Corkhill - (Midfield)

A young , enthusiastic and tireless attacking weapon, sees himself as a bit of a Lampard in his youth...(Dave Miller)

9. Andrew McNair (Striker) 

I don't know. He's scary!! (Stefan Vasilev)

10. Illya Mclellan - (Midfield)

This creative genius provides inspiration to all around him but needs to be carefully man-managed as his wild activities away from the pitch sometimes threaten to hamper his performances. (Anthony Sanchez)

11. Alex Dimond -  (Winger)

Does all the fancy footwork with his articles - top quality stuff! (Shyam)

12. Anthony Sanchez - (Goalkeeper)

Fancies himself as an outfield player with silky ball-skills but is as brave as they come.A born goalkeeper. You'd fancy him to stand up to anything, even a Peruvian firing squad. (Duncan McDowall)

13. Joe Guarr - (Midfield) 

A non-stop dog who runs up and down and the field, harassing offenses and defenses alike, his unappreciated physical effort is second fiddle to his cerebral game managing and spectacular vision of the field. A future manager in the making. (Eric Gomez)

14. S B (Winger)

The mercurially talented Brazilian continues to infuriate many of his teammates with his own political and footballing views, but he brings something to the table with his skill and trickery that no other player in the squad can match.(Alex Dimond)

As you can see, the article was treated as the fun it was intended to be.

If you want to read more of the comments that were left on the original article, click here (Vote for the BRFA Team of the Year).

There were a lot of nice things said about many people who have contributed over the course of the season. And just to mention that there were also a few nominations for managers of the team, too; that will have to be something for next year.

Thanks again; hope you liked the team.