I’m not saying it’s a strategy that will lead me to sustained glory against Graham Hunter, Martin BackPage and the listeners of The Big Interview all season long, but for week one of the Graham Hunter Podcast Challenge on FanDuel, I thought I’d be guided, as I so often am in life, by Falkirk FC.
The academy at my club has had a good few years. I’m not sure there have been many Premier League fantasy drafts that have included three graduates of our youth system, but this season, I can build a team around former Bairns.
Scott Arfield will certainly play for Burnley in their first game back in the big league and has matured into an all-action midfielder who may be perfectly suited to FanDuel’s OPTA-driven scoring system. He’ll pick up points for passes, tackles, interceptions shots on target, chances created… and hopefully won’t lose too many for yellow and red cards. I’ll never understand why he wasn’t given a chance for Scotland, but I’ve been to Canada, the people are nice there and he’ll represent them with distinction.
Stephen Kingsley was a few years behind Arfield in the youth teams at Falkirk, but the left-back has made great progress as the most successful of several exports to Swansea City. He signed an extended contract with them during the close season, after making his Scotland debut, and is dukeing it out with his counterpart in the Wales team, Neil Taylor, for a starting slot against Arfield’s Burnley this weekend.
Jay Fulton is closer to hanging on to a first team shirt than at any time since he moved to Swansea from Falkirk in January 2014. The midfielder got plenty of game time in pre-season and also signed a new contract during the summer. He’s one of the most inexpensive signings on the FanDuel roster and if he comes off the bench and scores a couple of rakers, I’m pretty sure I’ll be the only one in the competition with him in my team. Needless to say, I’ll have the last laugh.
Finally, only the fact that our inaugural competition runs only across the Saturday fixtures prevented me from selecting another former Bairn. Lest we forget, Kasper Schmeichel’s Premier League winner’s medal is only his second most treasured possession, after the Falkirk shirt he wore with distinction in 2007.
Join in by picking your team for opening day at FanDuel. Use promo code BIGINTERVIEW and then join the GRAHAM HUNTER PODCAST CHALLENGE in the ‘competitions’ list. See you there!
Neil BackPage (producer)
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