The newly-crowned champion won the Toy Trade Masters league by a single point, after a nail-biting finish on the last day of the season.

Carl Lawrence

There is a new name on the (metaphorical) Toy Trade Masters Fantasy Football League cup, with licensing guru Carl Lawrence emerging as the winner of the league by a single point on a last day full of twists and turns. Carl improved on last year’s top 10 finish by fending off strong competition from Character Options’ Hayden Partridge, who came within a whisker of stealing the title, only for Carl to hold on by the slimmest of margins, thanks to Newcastle defender Jan Botman picking up an unlikely bonus point in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea (it is unusual for defenders to pick up a bonus point after conceding a goal and having no involvement with a goal themselves). That one single point was enough to separate the two challengers. Indeed, had Hayden played Brenford keeper Raya rather than Chelsea keeper Kepa, he would have pulled off an unlikely snatch and grab, having started the day 18 points behind Carl.

Former winners Jack Day and Hugh Evans came in 6th and 8th place respectively this time round, while the top 5 had a strong retail presence, featuring two Smyths employees – Conor Buckley in 3rd place and Niall Crossan in 5th – and Bargainmax’s Daniel Roskell-Dean in 4th. Warner Bros’ Garry Lawford, Zuru’s Will Collinson and Hasbro’s Joe Havenhand-Beal made up the remainder of the top 10, while Golden Bear’s Gareth Lloyd and former Argos buyer Ian Chaplin narrowly missed out on a top 10 place.

As this year’s Premier League season finished later than usual, due to the winter World Cup in Qatar, next season’s Fantasy Premier League game is expected to open in just over a month. Anyone wishing to join the Toy World league for the 23/24 season can email john@toyworldmag.co.uk for the entry code.