SIBLING RIVALRY SPARKS VICTORY
WHEN Simon Asbury entered Fantasy Non-League this time last year, he only had one objective in mind – but ended up clinching the £2,000 cash prize!
The 53-year-old, bank support manager, had suffered many years of losing to his brother, Mike, in The NLP’s
popular competition.
He dreamed this season would be different and AsaS Hornets certainly delivered, not only claiming family bragging rights but also beating more than a thousand other entrants to become the 2019-20 champion.
“Me and my brother and my son, Sam, use it as a competition between us,” a thrilled Asbury told The NLP.
“My brother has beaten me every single year! Normally I’m winning for a bit and then he slowly catches me up. We’re very competitive.
“I’d been in the top ten all season and then the last week I was top when everything stopped. To reach the summit and then to have lockdown I was thinking, ‘Oh no, what’s going to happen?’ especially when some of the leagues were scrapped.”
Points per game, null and void and play-offs were all used to conclude the season at different levels of the Pyramid.
Fantasy Non-League was decided by using the places from Step 3 and below as they stood when games came to a halt and waited for Steps 1 and 2 to conclude with the playoffs.
It made for an agonising lockdown for Asbury but his tactics came good in the end.
“I always leave it until the last minute to send in my team,” he revealed. “I look at the tables and pick the teams who are at the top out of the specific groups. I think that’s the best way of doing it.
“I’ve been in the top 30 or 50 reasonably regularly over the years, but then it tends to drop down. That’s what I was concerned about this year as my main National League teams didn’t do very well.”
Asbury, a Watford fan, was brought up in Kingsborough in north west London and has fond memories of watching a young Stuart Pearce play for Wealdstone.
He’s lived in Hayes since 1989 and regularly attends United matches when he isn’t following the Hornets home and away.
Last season he went to more than 20 Hayes fixtures, including trips to Merthyr and Weston-super-Mare, and plans to reinvest his prize money back into the game.
“It’ll definitely be spent all on football,” he added. “I’ll probably sponsor a Hayes player and certainly buy a season ticket. I’ve really missed going to matches and can’t wait to be able to go to pre-season. And then I’ll be entering Fantasy next season to try and beat my brother and son again, winning the money was just a bonus!”