A few weeks ago, I did a series of posts analysing the major contests (title race, 4th place, relegation), and the way that (at the time) recently announced fixtures seemed to initially suggest the momentum was swinging. I had intended that series to be a 4-part series, as over the last couple of years, my dad and I have been developing a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with all of the fixtures for the Premier League season, designed to allow users to make predictions. I had intended to post my updated spreadsheet with the other three posts in the series. Unfortunately, due to both time constraints, and a couple of technical problems in my formula writing, this year's spreadsheet has taken me longer than expected to produce. I am pleased to report, however, that it is now fully operational, and can be found at the bottom of this post. This means that I can now, belatedly, bring you the fourth, and final post in my series about the Premier League fixtures.
I started developing this spreadsheet after doing a prediction competition within my family for the 2010 World Cup. The first year's Premier League sheet was fairly primitive, with little in the way of formulae or calculations. I enlisted the help of my dad, a PC expert, and Maths graduate for year 2. He helped my spreadsheet automatically assign points when the correct result is input, calculate the tables (without the need for several sheets of A4 and a pencil) and create other interesting statistical facts regarding the predictions (such as percentages, leads and monthly scores). My sheet is now thorough, simple to use, and comes with a lot of interesting stats and analysis, which I have found interesting to design, and even more interesting to use.
And so to this year, and the competition I am offering online. Since I started my blog a couple of months ago, I have been wanting to extend the number of users in my spreadsheet this year. Last year I found it worked far better with 5 than it did the first edition (when it was just me and my brother). So now I am uploading it onto here, so that anyone that wants to have a go can! I will briefly outline the rules in a second, but firstly, I just want to explain the layout, and the way you can enter. The spreadsheet is laid out in columns, with the first two being time and date related, the next six being the fixture itself, followed by five columns designed for a user's predictions. After that, there are another five columns that allow me to generate the current table as it happens. As you will see, there is a blank either side of the hyphen in the 'user' columns. This is where you can input your prediction for each of the fixtures in the rows. The differentiation between white and green indicates the beginning and end of each week of fixtures, allowing me to calculate weekly statistics more easily, and keep track of the season as it happens.
Entering could not be simpler. All you have to do is fill in the prediction column, with your name (or nickname) at the top and send it back to me at itsmorethanjustagameblog@gmail.com. I will then add your predictions to my master sheet, which will contain all users. Users can choose if they want to send me their predictions all in one go (as I tend to do, as I often forget to predict each week), or on a weekly basis. A separate competition will be undertaken between the two sets, to prevent anyone gaining an unfair advantage. For those who are sending me weekly updates, please note that if you do forget a week, or even an individual mid-week match, you will instantly be given 0 for that week. Please also remember to fill in your predicted top goalscorer and creator at the bottom of the sheet. This, for obvious reasons, must be done at the start of the season!
Now, for the rules of the competition. All entries must have been recieved (either for the whole season, or just the first week), by 12:00 noon GMT on the 17th August 2013. In terms of the way the points are allocated, a user recieves 1 point if they correctly predict the result (e.g. home win, away win, draw), regardless of the score, and they recieve 2 points if they accurately predict the exact scoreline. The user also recieves 5 points if they correctly predict the top goalscorer, and 5 points for the top creator. Both of these will be added to their final total. Obviously, the person with the highest number of points at the end of the season wins! Unfortunately, this is done purely for fun, so no prize will be awarded. This is just for those who want to get involved and test their prediction skills! I will be posting a weekly update on my blog of the running score totals, so keep an eye out for them!
If there is anything I haven't explained properly, or any other questions you have about the competition, please email me at the above address, and I would be happy to answer.
EXCEL SPREADSHEET: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3ZJeaoViDrNb0RXb2NQTV9pUXc/edit?usp=sharing
To open, click on link and then click on file and open through Google Sheets to input your scores.
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