As the teams prepare for Season 62 the Mongrels backroom staff began to reflect on the history of the Dream League and its Champions, and asking which team is the Greatest?
To be considered for this title it was decided that some criteria would have to be met, that is the club would have to be still playing in the league. As such teams like Zalmoxis Demons - the first team to with the title a second time, or Defend Soderort the first to do a back to back, will not be considered.
Even teams that would be considered truly great and could be considered in the top few, like Nearly There, the first and only team every to do 5-in-a-row will not be considered as they went into administration, and despite rumours that they restarted as Nearly There International and claimed to be the same entity - this is clearly not so. Nearly There died and their history will not be transferred to any new entity even if it has a similar name or plays in the same place. I appreciate that these things are obvious, but sometimes they are misunderstood.
So the honorary mentions, and the teams that are pushing to get onto the list of greats include our current champion the Polestar Celts - a fantastic champion that just won the title for their first time, with a total of 12 league titles across the divisions to their name and 2 cup wins - Polestar Celts are a team moving upwards in the hall of fame.
We cannot forget to mention JC Sunbeams (1 Dream League, 16 titles, 2 cups) who just won Division 1 and are back in the tip tier to go again for the title, or The North Remembers (1 Dream League, 10 titles, 2 cups, 1 Team of the Month) who just fell out of the Dream Leagues top division this season and will be looking to bounce back.
We also have to mention Temporarily United here, the only team on the GOAT list that has not won the Dream League - however they have won 8 titles, the cup and the Champions League (as far as we know the only non champion to win that trophy, certainly from the Dream League!)
A handful of teams are also sitting on 2 titles, some are struggling to recapture their glory days and others are thinking how close to the ultimate season it was, to then come away with noting, and no team feels more like this than FC Geggveck, I'd assume.
Geggveck had won the previous 2 dream leagues, including a league and cup double, to give them 6 titles in total, but this season they failed to maintain their title by just a point - also losing the cup final - and the champions league semi final by a penalty. It was a great season in so many ways, but one that will sting them for years to come knowing how close they came.
Serrinha Academy and Kloppoholics Anonymous, teams that have both won Back to Backs both lost out in play offs (Div 4 and 1 respectively) this season whilst Telmo Eleven and Dukla Prague Awaykit both won their respective divisions (3 and 5).
Heeds - the first ever winner of the Dream League - and the team that holds the record for the longest gap between titles at 53 seasons - had a disaster of a season finishing on just 3 points in division 4 and look way off the pace.
The above teams are some of the best teams the league has produced BUT their is a massive game between them and the Top 3 teams from the Dream League, that avoided administration and February surprises.
Censurados - a team that has won 5 Dream Leagues, 8 Titles in total, 4 Dream League Cups, 1 Champions League and has done a 4-in-a-row - including a league and cup double in that period. They have also had different managers take them to the top, as one manager resigned after a title win! They were demoted from division 2 this season, but remain one of the top three teams in DL history.
It is very close between the top two, and I think an argument can be made for either, but the second best team has to be the South Hooligans. They have won a record equaling 6 Dreams Leagues, part of a 15 Title haul, 1 Dream League Cup, 1 Champions League and also done a 4-in-a-row, including the League and Cup double too. They just won their division 5 league at a canter, with what seemed like 6 games to spare, and certainly seem to be a team looking to get back to the very very top. Truly a team that casts a long shadow.
That leaves us with the GOAT - and it is one to argue - but who would not put Shady Rebels up at the top or near it! They too have won 6 Dream Leagues, part of a 13 Title haul, but with a mind boggling and record breaking 6 Dream League Cups, 1 Champions League and 2 Team of the Month awards! Their won 6 out of 7 leagues, they did 2 doubles in a row, and maybe even a treble with a Champs League - they have played in 3 champ league finals! A truly remarkable team.
They were demoted from division 4 this season and it does look like a rebuild is being done to bring back the Shady Rebels to the glorious heights at the top of the dream league tree.
Perhaps in the gap between seasons next year we could see Shady Rebels and South Hooligans face off in a friendly and lay down a marker for each other and the rest of us - about what it takes to be the GOAT.
On the Mongrels!
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