I'm 49 years old and work for a well known telephone company. I'm married to Denise and have a 12 year old daughter Holly and  9 month old dog called Mickey. I currently manage teams in 2 SOS leagues Dundee United in SESL and Dundee Broncos in SFLSL. I also manage Tayside Tigers in Gridiron 3, an American Football Sim and still wile away much of my spare time playing computer games. I do try and do some real life stuff as well, I regularly attend Dundee Stars (Ice Hockey) matches and also manage to fit in a couple of 5 a side football matches per week whilst being a lapsed Tannadice season ticket holder.

I started my SESL career in season 10 with Saint Mirren. I managed a couple of promotions to the top flight but we were relegated once and in season 15 were on our way to another when I was offered the opportunity to take over at struggling 2nd Division Ross County.  Out of the frying panand into the fire I managed to steer ROS away from relegation but the honeymoon period didn't last and season 16 saw a failed relegation battle.

At this point the vultures were circling over my SESL career when I got a dream opportunity. The Dundee United manager had decided to abdicate his position and after an anxious couple of weeks wait it was confirmed that I had got the job with my boyhood heroes. I'd won no trophies in the SESL and neither had United, not what you'd consider a match made in heaven but something together we'd hoped to change. My 1st season with United went even better than I could have expected, winning the The CECIL Cup against Peterhead and finishing a creditable 2nd in the league. Season 20 saw me finally achieve the ultimate goal in SESL securing the title on the last day of the season and in a nail-biting finish we saw our rivals EF NMR their last 2 games. After that I added 3 more league championships giving me 4 successive titles a feat which has only been achieved once before.

So after winning 4 titles on the trot in the next 7 seasons I only managed to add 1 solitary SESL Cup to the DUU trophy room along with a host of runners up medals. In my time with DUU we have been one of, if not the most consistent side in SESL having never finished lower than 7th and between S25 & S29 appeared in 5 consecutive SESL Cup finals. We have also had a couple of decent SOS/OLMEC cup runs with an early Final appearance and more recently a Semi-Final after losing our only decent GK in the 1st knockout match.

Season 34 Update

Since the update above success has returned and utilising the improved BC tactic I've picked up further titles in season 31 & 32 and last season managed to add championship number 7 to my resume. My tactic of focussing solely on the league at the expense of the cups continues to pay dividends despite the continually high standard of opponent in what in my opinion is still the toughest league in all of SOS. The last time we managed to record 3 championship wins in a row we managed to go on and make it 4 between season 20 & 23 so I will be hoping history repeats

Season 37 Update

I've continued to utilise BC since the update above and added a 2nd quadruple title run with 4 wins between S31 & S34. I still consider SESL to be the toughest league by a distance and most of the top managers from other leagues find their way here at one time or another. For that reason I'm immensely proud to hold the all time record for wins with 592 at present and also to hold the record for league title wins with 8. 

On a personal level most of the info above still applies, I'm now 44 and daughter Holly will be 8 this year. We will be moving  to a new house in Monifieth early next year, my first time living outside of the city of Dundee. I'm also having to give up my season ticket at Tannadice for the 1st time in many years. No, not due to relegation but due to some rota changes at work restricting my free Saturday afternoons. I will more than likely still punish myself with a visit whenever I do get a free Saturday though.

Season 46 Update

Nothing much changes, still living in Monifieth, still working for BT but with an almost 12 year old, YouTube, Tik Tok, Social media addict. Currently working from home as I assume most are and to be honest I quite like it. Missing my Fives and Badminton, thank god for being able to get out for a bit of a cycle. With any luck over the next week or 2 I can get back to my scenic 22 mile round trip from Monifieth to Arbroath. Hoping to return to Tannadice at some point next season when we mix it with the big boys again

Season 47

Really only 1 major change to add from Season 46 update all of which still applies. We got a dog, a black Lab going by the name of Mickey. Daughter has been begging for a pet for a while and a cat was a no no. I had a couple of dogs when I was young, we'll get one of them easy peasy. Well let me stop you right there. First of all with this Covid crisis actually finding one available was a nightmare, Also I don't remember any of the sleepless nights that a new puppy brings. Getting up every couple of hours for him to pee was a shock to the system. As loveable as he is he isn't half a bitey little bugger, apparently all labs start off like that. It's fair to say he is getting better as long as you don't present your fingers to him and he is now sleeping for a good 6 or 7 hours.  Another couple of months and i'm sure he will be mans best friend.

Season 48

Still with BT. Check

Still living in Monifieth. Check

Still have a daughter. Check

Still working from home. Check

Dog growing up. Check

Theres not really much to update this year as feck all is actually happening. Lets hope we are nearing the end and can get back to some sort of normality soon. I must admit i do like working from home and hope to be able to continue to some degree when restrctions are lifted. The 30 second commute and extra half hour in bed swing it for me. The dog is better now doing puppy stuff although he still likes an early rise. Better weather and lights nights mean so overdue exercise is round the corner with a bit of cycling and tennis on the horizon.

Season 49

Genuinely got nothing this year. Dog is now 1 and has calmed down a little. Work is still from home and have no real desire to return any time soon. Playing some Tennis, Badminton and doing a bit of cycling. Not sure what is happening with 5's, am 49 now anyway and after a year and a half out, will I still manage or is my career over ?

Season 50

Ok what to add ? Well 5's is back and pleased to say the body is still coping ... just. Think I'm about a stone heavier that when we played last but let's get Christmas out the way and we can start making some inroads. Nothing much else has changed but I have a couple of Deacon Blue concerts scheduled over the next couple of weeks. Lets hope we don't get any sudden announcements to spoil that.

Season 52

What is new. Well been back in the office currently doing 20% of our days and the rest at home but the company now want us to gradually get up to 65%. Lot of not happy people and i am personally much happier working on my own at home.

Not going to let that worry me to much at the moment though as we are off to Florida in a couple of weeks for 3 whole weeks. This holiday has been a long time coming !!. We managed to catch Covid at a concert in Glasgow a few months back so glad catching it is not a big worry as the days count down. Both the wife and myself got it, just like a normal cold really.

Sport wise now into my 50's but still going strong at 5's and with the nights drawing in the bike and Tennis raquet are off to storage with the Badminton raquet taking over.

Season 53 Update

As usual i have very little to update, I'm afraid my life is not exciting enough to warrant a 6 monthly update.

Florida holiday was great as always but very busy and a lot more expensive than in previous years. It was very much a lighter than normal suitcase than we normally return with. As mentioned in the last update we are back in the office 65% of the time. Not overly happy but it's not likely to change so just need to get on with it.

Cousin has decided she wants to go and watch Dundee United regularly so have had to re-engage after a few seasons with only the odd appearance. We didn't exactly pick the best season to return as a relegation slog is upon us. Last nights transfer window dealings did nothing to lighten the mood. I still work a couple of Saturdays a month so at least I don't need to endure it every week.

I've also become addicted to Football Manager again after many years away, i played 2015 a bit on iPad but before that FM2007 was my go to and hadn't played seriously after the introduction of the 3D match engine. 

Season 54

Whilst SESL DUU pulled off an unlikely escape from relegation the same could not be said of our real life counterparts. We went in to the last 5 games split with real hope after 3 consecutive wins but then proceeded to lose all 5. I went to our 2nd last game against Ross County where, as had been the case all season, the defeat was self inflicted due to defensive and goal keeping errors. So back to the championship for us where last time it took 4 years to escape. Not to worry though as our chairmen assured us in March that it wasn't a problem, "We won't go down but if we do we will come straight back up". Weekend working means a season ticket is out of the question but i will take in a few.

Season 55

Well real life DUU have started the season with a bang. 17 games undefeated and scoring goals for fun. Top of the league but haven't yet managed to shake off Raith Rovers. Maybe the owner was right when he said we'd come straight back up. Have managed to make a few games and will try to take in as many as I can in the 2nd half of the season. 

On the domestic front we have a new addition to the family. A new puppy, a little sister for Mickey. For the first week or so he was hating it and us I think but he has come round since. I must admit it seems a lot easier this time, when we got Mickey it was a total culture shock.

Season 56

In real life DUU continue to hang on to top spot in the championship but still we can't shake RR and our form of late has not been great. If we do go on to win the league we will probably stumble over the line and it will have more to do with the quality of the rest of the league. 
The new puppy is now 9 months old and has now been fully accepted as part of the family. 
Still managing to play 5's weekly and I've started playing tennis more regularly with the odd game of badminton thrown in.

Season 58 Update

Following  on from our last update RL DUU did achieve promotion. Far from stumbling over the line we beat RR with a few games left and then hit our stride securing promotion with a week to spare. There was a mini rebuild in the summer to bring in some Premiership quality players and this sees us comfortably sitting in 5th place as we speak. Built on a solid defensive foundation it has been far from spectacular football but if we can stay well clear of the relegation places then it's far more than we expected. Got myself a half season ticket for the 1st time in a while so let's hope we can kick on in the remainder of the season. 
Not much else to report in life, moved to a shiny new office building within the last few weeks. 2 dogs are happy, settled and loving life and still managing to do some 5's, tennis and badminton. 

Season 59 Update

Just a short update here I'm afraid. My life simply isn't exciting enough to support a six monthly update. 

Real Life DUU saw form and performances tapering off a bit in the season run in and 4 losses on the bounce after the split meant that 3rd place and the guaranteed riches of the conference league group stages out of reach. We played Aberdeen in the last game with the chance of finishing any where from 4th to 6th. It looked like it wouldbe 6th when we were 1 down and SM took a shock lead at Parrkhead. A stirring comeback then ensued with United coming from behind to win 2-1. 4th place meant 2 European games guaranteed or so we thought until Celtic decided to ruin our week again by letting Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup.  Conference league qualifiers it is then, win 3 ties for group stage football but lose 1 and that's it.

Despite this it was a great 1st season back in the top flight but our pragmatic style will only take us so far. It looks like another close season squad overhaul will be required to put us on the front foot next season. A full season ticket has been bought though "in for a penny in for a pound"

Season 61 Update

What is new this year. 

RL DUU. Disappointing season so far, top 6 looks out of reach and we need a few wins just to make sure we aren't anywhere near the dreaded 11th place play-off position. Still in the cup though with an away quarter again FAL to come. Maybe a wee trip to Hampden

Rugby - After a disappointing 6 nations start Scotland managed to redeem themselves making it a happy Valentines day trip to Murrayfield with Mrs B for our yearly victory against our friends from down the road. Sets up an intersting game against France in a few weeks if we can see of Wales tomorrow.  

Big year on the holiday front, 20th Wedding Anniversary trip for two in April, followed by a boys week in New York in June for the World Cup and rounded off with an 18th birthday trip for the child to Florida in September.