Last Man Standing Season 1 recap: 171 players, five matchweeks, one winner

Our first Last Man Standing season on the Premier League is over. 171 players started in August, and five matchweeks later there was one left: SeskOffender, the first Champs FC champion. Five matchweeks, five different teams, five wins, not one draw.

Everyone else went out somewhere along the way. Here's where, and what we can learn from it.

The field, week by week

Matchweek	Started	Survived	Out
1	171	142	29
2	142	49	93
3	49	32	17
4	32	4	28
5	4	1	3

Matchweek 1: Hull did Manchester United

Seven in ten players went for Arsenal at home to Coventry, and Arsenal won 3-0. Most of the damage came from the 18 players who backed Manchester United away at Hull. United lost 2-0 and all 18 went out, beaten by a side that had only just been promoted.

Matchweek 2: the auto-pick that took out 80

This was the week that decided the season. 80 players never got a pick in before the round locked. The auto-pick put every one of them on Crystal Palace, and Palace lost 4-1 at home to Manchester City. That's 80 of the 93 players knocked out that week.

If you take one thing from Season 1, take this one. Set your pick early. You can change it as often as you like until the first kick-off.

Matchweek 3: City and Liverpool, then the draws start

With the big clubs mostly used up, 19 players went with City (1-0 v Coventry) and 13 with Liverpool (2-0 at Ipswich). Both came through. The draws started to bite: Newcastle's 2-2 with Bournemouth caught 5 players and Hull's 0-0 with Villa caught 4 more. Ipswich losing at home to Liverpool took out another 4.

Matchweek 4: 32 became 4

This is the week that shows how Last Man Standing really works. Liverpool were the popular pick at home to Fulham and drew 0-0, which sent 12 players out. Chelsea drew 2-2 with Hull (7 out), and Aston Villa lost at home to Forest (6 out).

Only the 4 players who backed Brighton away at Coventry got through, and Brighton won 5-0.

Matchweek 5: Leeds or Liverpool

Four players left. Three backed Leeds at home to Crystal Palace, and Leeds drew 0-0. The fourth backed Liverpool away at Bournemouth. Liverpool won 1-0, and that was the season.

Across the last two matchweeks, 24 of the 31 players knocked out went out on a draw. That's the rule people forget: in Last Man Standing a draw is a loss. Your team has to win.

What Season 1 teaches you

• Get your pick in. The single biggest round of eliminations was an auto-pick, not a bad call.
• A draw kills you. Two evenly matched sides with good defences is a trap, however big the names.
• Plan beyond this week. You can only use each team once. By Matchweek 4 most of the field had used up the obvious sides, and the winner was the one still holding a good option.

Season 2 is open

Season 2 of the Global Pool starts with Matchweek 6 on Saturday 10 October. Everyone starts level, and every team is back in play. It's free to enter, and you can see how it works or read the full rules first.

SeskOffender's name is in the Champs FC Hall of Fame for good. See you in Season 2.