FC 07 Ratpigs

FC 07 Ratpigs (956697)
Managed By:	bobbymkii
Location:	Teesside, England
Founded:	23-05-2007
Ground:	La Stade de John Hassall (AKA the Stade Hass) Capacity: 59,200
Youth Academy:	Ratpiglets (549265)
Fan Club:	Stylish Kids in the Riot
Coach:	Panait "Panni" Vlad
Captain:	Christopher Hill
Vice-captain:	Shamim Yaqub
Prize Shelf

Introduction

FC 07 Ratpigs are a team managed by bobbymkii. The team are from Teesside, England that was formed in 2007 and currently compete in IV.10 in England.

Etymology and Themes

There are a number of themes which run through various aspects of the naming of Ratpigs' stadium and fanclub etc. The name "Ratpigs" itself is based on a term that was thrown around during bobby's time as an A Level student amongst his peers. The term itself has no particular meaning and bobby couldn't think of anything else to name his team when it started.

The Libertines influence

Bobby's favourite band are The Libertines, an indie-punk band from London, England.

Albion Park

When the Ratpigs were formed in 2007 the chosen name for the club's arena was Albion Park, so named after The Libertines' song 'Albion.' The song was originally written and performed by the Libertines in their early days (it is also mythically the first song ever written by Pete Doherty) but did not appear on record until it was included in Doherty's post-Libertines band Babyshambles' debut album, 'Down in Albion.'

La Stade de John Hassall

Upon Ratpigs' promotion to series VI in season 33 it was decided that a new stadium be built and the club officially moved region for a short time to London. The stadium was named after Libertines' bassist John Hassall, due to him being the least publically recognised member of the band. The club still play their home matches at the stadium today, which is now back in Teesside and has a capacity of 59,200.

Stylish kids in the Riot

Based on lyrics from single 'Time for heroes;'

Did you see the stylish kids in the riot?/ shoveled up like muck they set the night on fire/ wombles bleed/ truncheons and shields/ you know I cherish you my love.

Billingham-Lincoln-London

Early in the Ratpigs' history their manager was seldom in one place long enough to decide on a permanent region for the team, which is reflected in these three locales being named below the club's logo and also influencing the logo itself. The club's logo was introduced in 2007 and has remained ever since.

Billingham

Billingham is bobby's hometown in Teesside, England where he was raised and still lives today. This is reflected in the logo at its' very core as the basis of the logo is a coarse vandalism of the logo for chemical giant ICI, who once employed tens of thousands of employees on it's enormous industrial estate by the river Tees and Teesmouth]. The letters "ICI" have been modified to read "FCR," the club's initials. The river Tees is also represented in the logo by the army green line below the "FCR" suffix, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the historic pollution problems associated with the river's location near such a high concentration of heavy industry.

Lincoln

Bobby first moved to Lincoln, Lincolnshire as an undergraduate student at the University of Lincoln in 2003. After graduating with a BA (hons) in Media Production in 2006 he stayed at the university to study an MA in the same subject and was still doing so at the time he began playing Hattrick in 2007. Lincoln is reflected in the 'FCR' logo by the green circle which forms its' base. Like the River Tees reference, it is a tongue-in-cheek reference to a body of water, the Brayford Pool. The Brayford Pool is situated near the centre of Lincoln and the University, highly populated with (infamously aggressive) swans it was historically used as a docking ground for canal boats which used the Foss Dyke navigation. The Brayford is a noticably green colour, which is reflected in the logo by the changing of the circle base colour which was originally blue in the "ICI" logo. Bobby's time in Lincoln ended on a sour note in 2009, when he had to drop out of his MA degree. Bobby has not been back since and has been known to describe returning to Lincoln at some stage in the near future "akin to visiting (his) own grave."

London

Perhaps overstated from the outset, bobby has spent a notable amount of his time since the formation of the Ratpigs in or near the capital without it ever being a permanent location. Once again, this is reflected in the logo by a tongue-in-cheek reference to water, with the lower line in the logo recoloured to reflect the brown colour of the River Thames.

Current playing squad

No.	POS	NAT	Player	Acquired	Born	Age	Short Bio
13	GK		Kyle Shelley	5-12-2011(*)	Teesside, England	18	Homegrown reserve keeper, Class of '11
1	GK		Warren Martin	09-07-2011(*)	Teesside, England	19	Long awaited homegrown keeper and key member of the Class of '11
3	WB		Shamim Yaqub	31-01-2012(**)	Teesside, England	23	Left in disarray, now back and destined to become an EPIC wingback!
2	WB		Phil Bannatyen	15-07-2008(*)	Teesside, England	30	Former academy player trained in defending and wing. Also a capable winger. 100 club member.
5	CD		Warren Meyer	24-02-2012	Sussex, England	19	Highly rated young defender and an outside bet for the U20's
26	CD		Nick Hall	16-01-2008(*)	Teesside, England	32	First academy player to be promoted to senior squad. 100 club member. Also plays as wingback.
17	CB		Gavin Watts	07-02-2012(*)	Teesside, England	18	Key and so far only member of a very weak Class of '12
12	CD		Dougie Trickett	27-02-2012	Yorkshire, England	17	Another young defender with great future potential, and almost homegrown as he hails from neighbouring Yorkshire!
8	WG		Drsalu "Salli" Nandyal	07-10-2009(*)	Teesside, England	25	Former academy player trained in winger.
11	WG		Ken McCartney	25-05-2009(*)	Teesside, England	26	Former academy player trained in winger. 100 club member and Wilf Mannion award winner. One of the club's most deadly homegrown weapons.
4	IM		Christopher Hill	12-07-2011	Cornwall, England	32	Recession bargain at £2 million. Club captain, future coach and free kick specialist.
39	IM		Neil Grant	18-02-2011(**)	Teesside, England	24	Former academy player re-bought after being trained at another club.
6	IM		Neil Jankowski	14-09-2011(**)	Teesside, England	29	Former academy player re-bought after being trained at another club.
7	IM		Panait "Panni" Vlad	30-09-2008	unknown, Romania	40	Became coach on 27-11-2010, winning promotion to series IV in season 44.
18	IM		Wilfred "Wilfy" Marks	04-04-2011(**)	Teesside, England	28	Former academy player re-bought after being trained at another club. Also a capable winger.
16	IM		Toby Chalmers	26-02-2012	London, England	24	Versatile midfielder currently benefitting from defending training.
21	FW		Christopher Young	29-08-2010(*)	Teesside, England	22	Former academy player trained in scoring and passing.
10	FW		David Clancy	18-03-2010(*)	Teesside, England	23	Former academy player trained in scoring and passing.
9	FW		Steven Clarke	02-05-2010(*)	Teesside, England	23	Former academy player trained in scoring and passing. Became a first team regular aged 18 and winning the Wilf Mannion award aged just 20.

Notes (*) Denotes that this player joined the club prior to this date as a Youth Academy player (**) Denotes that this player joined the club prior to this date as a Youth Academy player and was also previously a senior squad member

End of Season Player Awards

Each season the club hosts a low-key and somewhat obscure awards ceremony. First held at the end of season 39 several awards have been given out for various disciplines and under various names.

Most annoying Injury

Over the course of the club's history there has always been at least one major injury blow which has in effect hampered the club's fortunes. The player whose injury has most contributed to this is awarded this prize.

Season	Dedicatee	Winner
39	Michael Owen	Andy Laing
40	No Award	N/A
41	Michael Owen	Nick Hall
42	Michael Owen	Sead Tipura
43	Wayne Rooney	Vedran Santo
44	Andy Laing	Tommy Truman
45	Andy Laing	Andy Durrant
46	Andy Laing	Ken McCartney

Worst Form

Given to the player who has consistently cause the manager selection problems due to dreadful form over the course of a season.

Season	Dedicatee	Winner
39	Didier Drogba	Anker Christensen
40	Didier Drogba	Ken McCartney
41	Didier Drogba	Stan Esteban
42	Didier Drogba	Ken McCartney
43	Wayne Rooney	Si Dhawan
44	Anker Christensen	Phil Bannatyen
45	Anker Christensen	David Clancy
46	Anker Christensen	The whole squad

Most likely to be a letdown

Generally a display of typical Ratpigs' show of sarcasm in identifying the most promising young player in the squad, but also identifies the one most likely to be a letdown. A special award was given to the Ratpiglets' scouting team for their failure to scout a suitable goalkeeper prospect over the course of season 43.

Season	Dedicatee	Winner
39	Freddy Adu	Ken McCartney
40	Freddy Adu	Rod Aveyard
41	Freddy Adu	Shamim Yaqub
42	Freddy Adu	Christopher Young
43	Wayne Rooney	The Scouts
44	Shamim Yaqub	Warren Martin
45	Shamim Yaqub	Warren Martin
46	Shamim Yaqub	Herman Leeman

Lifetime Achievement

The most prestigious and serious award of the season, given to a player who has demonstrated his importance to the club over the course of the season and his whole career.

Season	Dedicatee	Winner
39	Sir Bobby Robson	Andy Mullen
40	Sir Bobby Robson	Horace Waite
41	Sir Bobby Robson	Anker Christensen
42	Sir Bobby Robson	Nick Hall
43	Wilf Mannion	Phil Bannatyen
44	Wilf Mannion	Ken McCartney
45	Wilf Mannion	Steven Clarke
46	Wilf Mannion	Tommy Trainer

The Terry Butcher Award

Discontinued after keeping track of injuries became too difficult, notably with all 1st team squad members receiving an award during the last two seasons of its' existence. The award is given to any player who played a match that season while bruised.

Season	Winners
39	Tommy Trainer, Richard Faulkes, Phil Bannatyen, Andrew Mullen and Anker Christensen
40	Andy Laing, Ken McCartney, Koen Van Tongeren
41	All first team squad members
42	All first team squad members

The Newcastle Brown Ale drinking competition

Held at the end of the night, this is exactly what it sounds like, with the event being dominated by Horace Harrington who won every competition held by the club until it was discontinued in protest at the closure of the Federation Brewery in Gateshead, and also due to an ultimatum by King's Arms (the venue for the ceremony) landlord George Hutchison, about the vomit the competition caused.

The 100 Club

The 100 Club is a select group of special Ratpigs who have played over 100 league and cup games for the club over their careers. The first player to reach this much celebrated milestone was Andy Mullen. When a player reaches this milestone a special Press Announcement is released, paying tribute to the player and his contribution to the club over the 100 games he has played for them. Here are the 100 club members and their tributes:

Andrew Mullen (19th July 2009) THE INAUGURAL 100 CLUB MEMBER

Andrew Mullen has become the first player in the club's history to reach the landmark of 100 appearances for the club in league and cup competitions, after his contribution to the Ratpigs 5-1 defeat of The Ultimate Arsenal.

A special trophy to commemorate the occasion was all ready to be presented to Mullen by bobby before the kick off until bobby refused to do it because he "detests" it when clubs celebrate "meaningless accolades" before league games.

Instead, hall of fame member Adam Florence, the coach who brought Mullen to the club for the measly sum of £100,000 from the red devels back in bobby's first season will present Mullen with his trophy on Tuesday night at the Stade Hass where a testimonial match will be played against one of the Cleveland region's finest teams, Dead From the Waist down.

Anker Christensen (15th February 2010) ANKER REACHES 100 WITH CLEAN SHEET

Legendary goalkeeper Anker Christensen celebrated his 100th match for the Ratpigs with a clean sheet in a fairly unconvincing 4-0 win away to strugglers Staveley FC. The great Dane spent much of the match counting blades of grass and chatting up female fans behind his goal which remained untroubled all afternoon. It wasn't always plain sailing for the goalkeeper who joined the club back in December 2007 and really struggled to find form early on prompting some fans to add a certain extra consonant towards the end of the alphabet in front of his first name. His form has been irrational over the years, meaning now he is usually the reserve to new boy Diogo Tilico for the big matches, Anker takes more of a backseat role in preparation for one day becoming a coach. He becomes the second Ratpig to reach 100, and will be presented with a special crate of Carlsberg Export by the first 100 club member, Andrew Mullen, to mark the occasion at the next Ratpigs home match.

Nick Hall (28th May 2010) BOBBY FORGETS BIG NICK'S BIG DAY

Like a husband who has forgotten his wife's birthday bobbymkii had to issue a grovelling apology to his star defender, Nick Hall for failing to notice he had reached a landmark which is usually recognised in a very ceremonious fashion, a player's 100th match for Ratpigs! It's a particularly important one for Nick as he was the club's first former youth player to break into the senior squad and is now the first of this crop to reach the much maligned landmark. "well done Nick" said a red faced Bobby "and may there be many more who follow in your footsteps!"

Phil Bannatyen (6th September 2010) from SUPERSUB TRUMAN SAVES THE DAY

Elsewhere at the club, there were two important appearance landmarks celebrated. Phil Bannatyen made his 100th appearance for the club and the first player to reach said feat, Andy Mullen now has over 150 appearances under his belt. Long may these versatile stalwarts of the Ratpigs setup continue to grace the team!

Tommy Trainer (26th December 2010) TOMMY TAKES THE HONOURS

Defender Tommy Trainer joined a list of Ratpigs legends as he made appearance number 100 for the club this afternoon, helping the team to a hard fought 3-1 victory against struggling 90 minute full speed.

Tommy has often been the bridesmaid to the more decorated and revered Ratpigs youth products such as Hall, McCartney and Clarke and has also found limited opportunities to get into bobby's increasingly offensive formations.

But with Hall having to watch from the sidelines today Tommy played out of his skin, practically as a lone defender.

Elsewhere, a rare start produced a late goal for Rudi Hopper to seal the victory late on.

Ken McCartney (15th May 2011) OOPS! SORRY KENNETH...

after a noticeably smaller amount of dedication to Hattrick attributed to the two season ruining defeats to Boltz bobby, once again, forgot to note that one of his key players reached the 100 game milestone.

Despite still only being 24 years old, Ken McCartney has reached this milestone, becoming the youngest ever to do so. The class of '09 winger was said to not mind this as he has his sights firmly set on becoming the first player to reach 200.

Only 98 to go Kenny!

Homegrown Policy

While not a fully homegrown club (yet), as shown in the playing staff roster the club is heavily based around academy trained players and the average competitive starting 11 usually contains 7 or 8 players who kicked their first ball in the hattrick system in the Ratpiglets youth academy. The club usually trains players in each position for one calendar year each, leading to the "Class of..." categories for each group of trainees.

Class of '08

Training: Defending

Name	Scouted	Promoted (Age)	Time at club	Additional Information
Nick Hall	27-05-2007	16-01-2008 (18)	Still at club	Original YA squad member, first player promoted and trained, first YA to join 100 club and win Sir Bobby Robson award,
Tommy Trainer	27-05-2007	28-03-2008 (18)	Still at club	Original YA squad member, 100 club member
Phil Bannatyen	??-??-2007	15-07-2008 (18)	Still at club	100 club member, Also received winger training with Class of '09
Craig Golding	27-05-2007	21-03-2008 (18)	27-05-2007 to 30-08-2008	Original YA squad member, sold for £41,330
Alexander Kellie	27-05-2007	23-05-2008 (18)	27-05-2007 to 10-05-2009	Last original YA squad member to promote, sold for £478,667
Siencyn Felix	??-??-2008	05-06-2008 (17)	??-??-2008 to 05-06-2008	Sold for £1,203,333, despite arguably being the most talented of the Ratpigs' defenders and 36 first team appearances
Michael Rae	27-05-2007	??-??-2008 (19)	27-05-2007 to ??-??-2008	Original YA squad member, now deleted from HT system
Bay Oberle	??-??-2007	??-??-2008 (18)	??-??-2007 to 05-06-2008	now deleted from HT system

Class of '09

Training: Winger

Name	Scouted	Promoted (Age)	Time at club	Additional Information
Ken McCartney	30-01-2009	25-05-2009 (17)	Still at club	Scouted by John Blaymires, Star winger of the class
Salli Nandyal	08-05-2009	07-10-2009 (17)	Still at club	Scouted by Danny Richards
Ronald Adams	21-09-2009	28-12-2009(17)	21-09-2009 - 23-10-2010	Sold to then league rivals Waterfront Rangers for £60,000. Deleted player
Rod Aveyard	01-05-2009	21-08-2009 (17)	27-05-2007 to 30-08-2008	Scouted by Danny Richards, sold for £822,667
Teddy Ford	02-09-2009	23-12-2009 (18)	02-09-2009 to 23-04-2010	Scouted by Paul Crombie, sold for £348,000

Class of '10

Training: Scoring & Passing

Name	Scouted	Promoted (Age)	Time at club	Additional Information
Steven Clarke	01-12-2009	02-05-2010 (17)	Still at club	Scouted by Paul Crombie, Star of the class, was actually REJECTED by a team before joining piglets!
David Clancy	16-10-2009	18-03-2010 (17)	Still at club	Scouted by Danny Richards
Rudi Hopper	06-11-2009	29-04-2010 (17)	06-11-2009 to 10-07-2011	Scouted by John Blaymires, sold for 1.5M after scoring 11 goals in 36 games
Christopher Young	09-05-2010	29-08-2010 (17)	Still at the club	Scouted by Howard Carney
Billy Rosen	25-09-2010	17-01-2011 (17)	25-09-2010 to 20-03-2011	Scouted by Joseph Kilcline, sold for £9,333

Class of '11

Training: Keeper

Name	Scouted	Promoted (Age)	Time at club	Additional Information
Warren Martin	04-02-2011	09-07-2011 (17)	Still at club	Scouted by Danny Richards, lead goalkeeper trainee

Competition History

Season 32 (VI.407)

Joining halfway through Season 32 and starting with 0 points Ratpigs were always going to struggle. Despite managing to notch up two wins Ratpigs were relegated on the last day after a defeat to JMB's Army, with soon-to-be-botified TheLiverpool sneaking into sixth with a 2-2 draw against bot team Hyuga Neji. The most memorable moment of the season came after the crushing 9-0 defeat to w.o.l.v.e.s and resulted in goalkeeper Horace Harrington's spectacular nervous meltdown, culminating in a standoff with Cleveland Police on Middlesbrough's Newport Bridge.

Transfers in: Andrew Mullen (£100K), Chiel Fabriek (£67k)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	w.o.l.v.e.s	85	42
	2.	YaGa-Yo AFC	27	30
	3.	FaTzy's Army	13	28
	4.	HARDCORE UNITED F.C	14	27
	5.	JMB's army	-2	22
	6.	TheLiverpool	-43	7
R	7.	FC 02 Ratpigs	-45	6
R	8.	Hyuga Neji FC(B)	-49	4

cup - Did not enter

lineup - Harrington, Cook, Fabriek, Gardyne, Mullen, Jankowski, Carnegie, Davis, Kellen, Evans, Vanteijlingen

Season 33 (VII.205)

Signs were that bobby's management hadn't improved when the club suffered an embarrassing defeat to bot team West Midlands Athletic early in the season and got booted straight out of the cup, but eventually bobby mastered the art of beating bots and with Allan Evans scoring millions of goals the club readied themselves for another crack at VI. It would prove to be a very long crack.

Transfers in: Jan Kastak (£53k)

Transfers out: Warren Vanteijlingen (£1k)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	FC 07 Ratpigs	56	39
P	2.	West Midlands Athletic(B)	3	23
	3.	bouncy blues 4eva(B)	-3	23
	4.	Craven Wanderers(B)	5	22
	5.	rochfords united(B)	-1	18
	6.	Cleveland Rovers FC(B)	-10	16
	7.	Sunderland untd(B)	-10	14
	8.	Nottinghamshire United FC(B)	-40	5

Cup Round 1 - L

lineup - Harrington, Cook, Fabriek, Gardyne, Mullen, Jankowski, Carnegie, Davis, Kellen, Evans, Vanteijlingen

Season 34 (VI.249)

The first of 8 torturous seasons in what eventually built to be one of the hardest and most active series VI leagues in England. Knocked out of the cup at the first hurdle yet again much of the season was a bitter relegation battle, but Ratpigs eventually did enough to stay up comfortably.

Transfers in: Anker Christensen (£74k), Transfers out: Chiel Fabriek (£209k),

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	the flying wombats	28	34
	2.	Lincolnshire Terriers	1	27
	3.	israel vibration	7	25
	4.	Buxton Massive	26	23
	5.	Luton Select X1	8	22
	6.	FC 07 Ratpigs	-1	18
R	7.	highfieldblues	-11	9
R	8.	Brockenhurst FC	-58	3

Cup R1 - L Semi-Skilled Cowboys 1-6 (H)

lineup - Christensen, Hall, Fabriek, Gardyne, Mullen, Wiebes, Carnegie, Vogten, Kellen, Evans, Kastak

Season 35 (VI.249)

The season started with the team relocating and finally settling in Teesside (then known as "Cleveland" in the Hattrick system) for good. It also saw a landmark first ever cup win. The rest of the season was typically inconsistent, but Ratpigs managed to achieve their goal of improving their previous season's performance and finished the season in 4th.

Transfers in: Ville Hentela (£6k), Ferry "Ferry" Vogten (£110k), Transfers out: Bradley Gardyne (£6k) Dougie Cook (£5k)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	Y-3	84	42
	2.	Lincolnshire Terriers	35	32
	3.	israel vibration	30	26
	4.	FC 07 Ratpigs	12	22
	5.	mark99	-17	19
	6.	FC Super Mars	-44	12
	7.	Evertoonies	-32	9
	8.	Bury Town	-68	3

Cup

lineup - Christensen, Hall, Oberle, Felix, Mullen, Wiebes, Montinho, Vogten, Kellen, Evans, Grosen

Season 36 (VI.249)

Once again the season was dominated by the team relegated from V in the previous season, in this case the little ones who romped their way back to V with a perfect 14 wins out of 14. Elsewhere however, competition was hotting up as Ratpigs and two other teams, 28G (previously known as Israel Vibration) and Lincolnshire Terriers began growing and developing at more or less the same rate. Ratpigs eventually came out on top of this pile of clubs to reach a record league position and cap a successful campaign, prompting bobby to break the club's transfer record on boosting the midfield for the following season's campaign.

Transfers in: Panait "Panni" Vlad £666,667, Hakan "Hank" Salzgeber £272,000, Gilberto Montinho £321,654. Transfers out: Craig Golding £41,330, Dougie Murray £102,000.

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	The little ones	67	42
	2.	FC 07 Ratpigs	41	33
	3.	28G	39	31
	4.	Lincolnshire Terriers	28	25
	5.	The Ultimate Arsenal	-23	15
	6.	FC Super Mars	-39	10
	7.	Exeter City F.C	-50	7
	8.	ONPINAL	-63	3

Cup

Round 1 W Trentvegas United 5-0 (A)

Round 2 L Athletico Fambridge 0-3 (H)

lineup - Christensen, Hall, Oberle, Felix, Mullen, Wiebes, Montinho, Vogten, Kellen, Evans, Grosen

Season 37 (VI.249)

The season began with a remarkable landmark victory over huge league favourites ZANDER BANDERS with a stunning victory using what was to become Bobby's trademark Counterattack tactic. With a squad that was considerably more powerful than in previous seasons due to the signings of Vlad and Salzgeber as well as the development of the Ratpigs' YA-born defence things looked promising for the Ratpigs, but defeats to Terriers and eventual runaway winners 28G put paid to that dream. The end of the season saw the notable arrival of future coach and hall of famer Horace Waite.

Players in:

Matthew Prentice (£400K), Horace Waite (£600K)

Players Out:

Wilfred Marks (400K), Neil Jankowski (83.3K), Talak Parte (7K), Mark Mulder (56.6K)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
	1.	28G	64	38
	2.	Lincolnshire Terriers	54	31
	3.	FC 07 Ratpigs	38	30
	4.	ZANDER BANDERS	49	29
	5.	The Ultimate Arsenal	-3	17
	6.	FC Super Mars	-28	13
R	7.	red city rovers(B)	-77	6
R	8.	kick ass crew (B)	-97	0

Cup

Round 1: W blackdragons 3000 3-0 (A)

Round 2: W Dancing dingo's FC 2-0 (H)

Round 3: W Cloggers 4-0 (H)

Round 4: L hangerouter 0-4 (H)

lineup - Christensen, Hall, Felix, Mullen, Wiebes, Montinho, Vlad, Salzgeber, Kellen, Evans, Grosen

Season 38 (VI.249)

ZANDER BANDERS managed to get their act together and eventually won the league with relative ease while Ratpigs managed to successfully make themselves the best of the rest to compensate for a disappointing early cup exit. With a full defence training scheme the main objective of the season, Bobby confidently announced that the following season would be the season Ratpigs made the big push for promotion.

Players In Josh Strathnairn £249,999, Andy Doyle £156,667, Jeffrey Johnson £70,667, Stan Esteban £1,233,334, Andy Laing £2,345,333,

Players Out Allen Stevens £66 667, Gilberto Montinho £131,333, Bay Oberle £1,284,667, Josh Strathnairn £680,667, Alexander Kellie £478,667, Andy Doyle £350,000,

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	ZANDER BANDERS	69	40
	2.	FC 07 Ratpigs	42	33
	3.	28G	50	29
	4.	The Ultimate Arsenal	15	24
	5.	Notts Terriers	27	22
	6.	FC Super Mars	-48	10
R	7.	Yorkshire Athletic (B)	-68	4
R	8.	Reaal Madrid (B)	-87	3

Lineup Christensen - Bannatyen, Hall, Felix, Oberle, Prentice - Wiebes, Salzgeber, Mullen - Esteban, Kašťák

Cup

Round 1 W Not Very United FC 4-0 (A)

Round 2 L Norflok United 0-2 (H)

Season 39 (VI.249)

So defence training ceased and without a troublesome "monster demotee" from series V Bobby set about on his first ever serious promotion charge, with some serious transfer activity to back his campaign. However a major injury crisis early in the season and some very dubious match engine outcomes meant that they missed out on the top spot on goal difference to 28G, who eventually won promotion by winning their qualifier, meaning Ratpigs had one less team to worry about for their push next season...

Players in: Richard Faulkes (£1.2M), Ernad Cavaljuga (£417K), Seun-Yun Kim (£347K); Players out: Siencyn Felix (£1.2M), Hank Salzgeber (£214K), Jeffrey Johnson (£350K), Mangar MacCrackin (£1.3k), Ernad Cavaljuga (£528K),

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	28G	66	35
	2.	FC 07 Ratpigs	67	35
	3.	Notts Terriers	69	31
	4.	The Ultimate Arsenal	49	30
	5.	Viladores	-58	13
	6.	Nansy's Nutters	-45	12
R	7.	tottenham12 (B)	-58	10
R	8.	FC Super Mars (B)	-90	0

Lineup: Christensen, Mullen, Hall, Trainer, Bannatyen, Prentice, Laing, Faulkes, Kim, Esteban, Waite.

Cup: 'W' g/w fc (A) 3-0 'W' Car-Toon Army (A) 1-0 'L' FC El Bennito (H) 2-3

Season 40 (VI.249)

Season 40 contained more drama, controversy and heartache than any other season so far. With long term adversary yayo and his 28G no longer there to ruin the party, Ratpigs started the season as strong (if not comfortable) favourites to take the crown. However, the season got off to a terrible start as the Ratpigs fell 3-2 to the semi defunct defensive monster that was Waterfront Rangers. The woes continued as the team were ejected from the cup in only round 2 and a pitiful performance away to Notts Terriers resulted in a disappointing 2-2 draw, leaving a season that had started with such optimism in tatters. Ratpigs rallied to win their next 8 games in order to remain in with a chance of catching the Terriers once the clubs met at the Stade Hass in round 12. Ratpigs dominated the stats and with 5 minutes to go held a comfortable 4-2 lead and seemed to be heading to victory, until goals in the 85th and 86th minutes from Terriers rocked the stadium and against all odds, Terriers maintained a 3 point lead in the title race. Despite this Ratpigs were still in with a chance on the last day due to an impressive goal difference as they once again faced Waterfront while Notts had a treacherous trip to up and coming Ultimate Arsenal. Notts were humbled by a stunning Arsenal display as they were thumped 6-0, leaving the door open for Ratpigs to lift the title if they could snatch victory over Waterfront. After a tense, goalless first half ratpigs finally took the lead on the hour thanks to lone striker Dean Johnston's effort and all seemed well, until Waterfront scored the final goal to strike a cruel blow and hold on to a draw, thus condemning Ratpigs to 2nd place yet again. The aftermath saw a huge series forum rant and club record signing Andy Laing left in disgrace as the club were left totally bemused by another disappointing failure to promote.

Players In: Dean Johnston (£2M), Koen Van Tongeren, Eran Baranes (£342K), Diogo Tilico (£1.5M),

Players Out: Matt Prentice (£2M), Koen Van Tongeren

	P	Team	GD	PTS
	1.	Notts Terriers	51	35
	2.	FC 07 Ratpigs	68	33
	3.	Waterfront Rangers Football Club	46	31
	4.	The Ultimate Arsenal	50	30
	5.	Viladores	-12	16
	6.	DSV FC	-20	13
R	7.	Moreton FC (B)	-84	6
R	8.	Nansy's Nutters (B)	-99	0

Lineup - Christensen, Bannatyen, Trainer, Hall, McCartney, Kim, Faulkes, Laing, Vlad, Johnston, Esteban

Cup: 'W' Gibbo's XI (A) 3-0, 'L' Polish Winged Hussar (A) 2-3

Season 41 (VI.249)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	FC 07 Ratpigs	66	40
	2.	The Ultimate Arsenal	60	35
	3.	Notts Terriers	45	29
	4.	Waterfront Rangers Football Club	-20	19
	5.	Viladores	-28	16
	6.	DSV FC	-26	13
	7.	Staveley FC	-36	10
	8.	Silent Victims FC	-61	1

Season 42 (V.97)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
	1.	FC AQUA Turčianske Teplice	25	32
	2.	FC 07 Ratpigs	22	28
	3.	Rage Power	17	25
	4.	90 minute full speed	17	22
	5.	Witham Allstars	2	18
R	6.	The March of the Penguins	-4	18
R	7.	Argyle	-14	18
R	8.	Muswell Hillbillies	-65	3

Season 43 (V.97)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	Rage Power	51	39
	2.	90 minute full speed	37	36
	3.	FC 07 Ratpigs	27	31
	4.	FC AQUA Turčianske Teplice	2	20
R	5.	Nabonidus	-15	14
R	6.	Witham Allstars	-28	11
R	7.	Woodie's Wanderers	-27	7
R	8.	Danny Begara's Blue & White Army	-47	4

Season 44 (V.97)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	FC 07 Ratpigs	40	34
	2.	FC AQUA Turčianske Teplice	11	31
	3.	Ostricz FC	16	27
	4.	90 minute full speed	26	26
R	5.	Nabonidus	1	18
	6.	Pygmies.com	1	16
R	7.	getdownmakeluv	-30	9
R	8.	LAMEIROS F.C.	-65	0

Qualifier FC Cobra Kai 3-4 FC 07 Ratpigs

Season 45 (IV.10)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	Boltz Utd	32	32
	2.	Alan's Allstars	19	32
	3.	Le Curva Sud	22	25
	4.	FC 07 Ratpigs	8	25
	5.	Pamplemousse FC	-11	14
R	6.	Hot Dragons	-20	14
R	7.	FC Rotor Clapton	-25	10
R	8.	The Golden Army	-25	6

Season 46 (IV.10)

	P	Team	GD	PTS
P	1.	DAZZERS	5	37
	2.	FC 07 Ratpigs	5	26
	3.	4th Dimension	22	24
	4.	Pamplemousse FC	8	22
	5.	Alan's Allstars	2	20
R	6.	Willenhall Town F.C	-5	17
R	7.	AFC Lesser	-6	15
R	8.	Le Curva Sud	-53	0

Hall of Fame

Adam Florence

Ratpigs' first coach, won promotion from VII.205.

Denis Jankowski

Ratpigs' original set piece master, now owns a restauraunt in the stadium's Tees End.

Allan Evans

Club record goalscorer with 50 goals, although Stevie Clarke is hot on his heels.

Alex Kellen

The former winger was recently appointed to be club secretary.

Horace Waite

Legendary striker and coach who coached England to Q2 elimination and Ratpigs to their VI.249 title.

Horace Harrington

Legendary boozehound and crazed 3rd choice goalkeeper, the final member of the original 1st team squad to retire from playing.

Andrew Mullen

The club's first ever signing and with over 150 appearances for the club a true legend.

Hall of Shame

Andy Laing

Promised much, but earned much more in wages than he delivered on the pitch, getting injured at just the wrong time. The former club record signing is much hated on Teesside and was forced to flee for Serbia.

Shamim "ShamYaq' Yaqub

The club's first ever excellent YA prospect, but timed his arrival with that of the current class of '10 and was unable to meet his potential. Now fulfilling his destiny under the watchful eye of Flanks at Wotcha.

Historic Rivalries

Strangely Brown

A local rivalry which has never seen a competitive fixture, only an almost-every-season encounter between the two clubs held at alternating venues. Early fortune favoured the Brown, but Ratpigs have dominated the fixture ever since, despite a resurgent Brown in recent times.

Most hated player: Wesley Zahren

Israel Vibration/28G

For 6 seasons Ratpigs competed against yayo's boys in a fierce rivalry which saw the teams lock horns for some fearsome battles. Ratpigs produced some good results at home to the Sussex boys, but were never able to beat or even draw when playing away to the team, thus eventually 28G beat Ratpigs to win two VI.249 titles, the latter resulting in the side's promotion to V. Since then, 28G have become a solid V team capable of promotion with a similar (if not as extreme) homegrown policy to the Ratpigs and many of the players who terrorised the Ratpigs at the Osefia'a stadium remain at the club today.

Most Hated Player: Ryan Navarro

Lincolnshire/Notts Terriers

The longest running competitive rivalry in Ratpigs' history, but unlike their other great rivals in VI.249, 28G, Ratpigs managed to beat JimmyDeemo's team from the East Midlands to win eventual promotion, despite the Terriers previously prevailing to snatch the trophy from Ratpigs' grasp in season 40. The Terriers recently managed to escape VI.249's vicious stranglehold and after a tricky start in V Jimmy has managed to solidify his team at that level, however has now left Hattrick.

Most Hated player: Glenn Mack

The Ultimate Arsenal

The term rivalry is used very loosely by some Ratpigs fans, as the team have never actually lost to the Arsenal. The closest the team have come to overcoming the Ratpigs was in season 41 when a well executed pressing tactic secured a draw at the Stade Hass, the only points Ratpigs would drop. The club gained momentum and, under the mentoring of nosliwttocs the club began to produce terrifying ratings, particularly in midfield. The Arsenal were quick to follow Ratpigs into V and very quickly progressed to IV where they are now threatening to make up for their poor competitive record against the Ratpigs by overtaking them in the Hattrick league system.

Most Hated Player: Andy Oberberberberberbatovenbuchner

Boltz Utd

Despite being a fiercely competitive and open league there were no notably active teams in V.97, therefore bobby was somewhat pleased to discover he would be sharing his new league with one of the HT world's most notorious participants, Welsh NT manager Boltz101. Bobby was somewhat less pleased when he saw Boltz's squad which far eclipsed his own in terms of quality, depth and most noticeably, experience, with the squad littered with former and current NT and U20 international players. With Bobby leading the way for the first half of the season his side came unstuck in a cruel double header with Boltz securing comfortable wins in both fixtures. Despite unfortunate results against other teams in the league Boltz stumbled through to a qualifier and promotion to III at the first attempt. He has since refused to renew his supporter subscription and stepped down from his NT manager's position and generally disappeared off the face of the HT world.