Rise of a Football God

'Crystal Palace scored…?'

This was Sam's last thought before all hell broke loose in Craven Cottage.

…

Matchday 38 of the English premier league came to an end…

(Premier league:)

(Matchday 38 of 38:)

(Bournemouth 1-1 Leicester City)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Fulham 6-1 Man City)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Wolves 2-0 Brentford)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Nottm Forest 1-0 Chelsea)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Man United 2-1 Aston Vila)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Southampton 1-4 Arsenal)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Newcastle 3-0 Everton)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Liverpool 2-1 Crystal Palace)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Ipswich Town 2-1 West Ham)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Tottenham 5-2 Brighton)

(Date: 25th May, 2025)

…

(Updated premier league table standings:)

(1. Fulham GP: 38/ W:30/ D:6/ L:2/ Pts: 96)

(2. Liverpool GP: 38/ W:30/ D:6/ L:2/ Pts: 96)

(3. Arsenal GP: 38/ W:25/ D:8/ L:5/ Pts: 83)

(4. Chelsea GP: 38/ W:22/ D:11/ L:5/ Pts: 77)

(5. Nottm Forest GP: 38/ W:17/ D:12/ L:9/ Pts: 63)

(6. Man City GP: 38/ W:18/ D:8/ L:10/ Pts: 62) Read the latest on My Virtual Library Empire

(7. Tottenham GP: 38/ W:18/ D:6/ L:14/ Pts: 60)

(8. Aston Villa GP: 38/ W:15/ D:11/ L:13/ Pts: 56)

(9. Man United GP: 38/ W:16/ D:7/ L:15/ Pts: 55)

(10. Newcastle GP: 38/ W:14/ D:12/ L:12/ Pts: 54)

(11. Brighton GP: 38/ W:14/ D:9/ L:15/ Pts: 51)

(12. Crystal Palace GP: 38/ W:12/ D:11/ L:15/ Pts: 47)

(13. Brentford GP: 38/ W:12/ D:9/ L:17/ Pts: 45)

(14. Bournemouth GP: 38/ W:11/ D:10/ L:16/ Pts: 43)

(15. West Ham GP: 38/ W:9/ D:9/ L:20/ Pts: 35)

(16. Leicester GP: 38/ W:5/ D:13/ L:20/ Pts: 28)

(17. Wolves GP: 38/ W:6/ D:10/ L:21/ Pts: 28)

(18. Everton GP: 38/ W:6/ D:7/ L:25/ Pts: 25)

(19. Ipswich Town GP: 38/ W:5/ D:10/ L:22/ Pts: 25)

(20. Southampton GP: 38/ W:3/ D:5/ L:30/ Pts: 14)

…

'Crystal Palace scored…?'

This was the last thought that Sam had before all hell broke loose in Craven Cottage, instantly turning this stadium into a stadium-sized night club!

"OH MY GOD!!!"

"OH MY GOD…!!!" The commentator screamed at the top of his lungs, screaming so shrilly that you would think someone died.

"CRYSTAL PALACE JUST SCORED IN THE LAST MINUTE OF THE GAME IN ANFIELD!"

"THE GAME HAS ENDED; LIVERPOOL AND FULHAM ARE LEVEL ON POINTS!"

"FULHAM ARE THE PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!"

Fulham are premier league champions…, what is the math behind it?

At 6-1, thrashing Manchester City in Craven Cottage while Liverpool was leading 2-0 against Crystal Palace in Anfield, Fulham were still losing since the goal difference was still in Liverpool's favor by just one goal.

But in the last minute, Crystal Palace scored. It was just a consolation goal in that match but in the grand scheme of things, that goal changed everything.

That goal killed Liverpool's advantage in terms of goal difference, making Liverpool and Fulham to be level on not just points but goal difference too but that was not why Fulham became champions.

In the premier league, the criteria to win the league title was total amount of points amassed in a premier league campaign.

If the champion could not be decided by that, the next criteria was goal difference and if the champion still could not be decided by that, the next criteria was the head-to-head record between the 2 competing sides.

This season, Fulham's head-to-head record against Liverpool was one-sided, Fulham won both games against Liverpool.

And that… was the difference in the title race.

Fulham won; Fulham was the 2024/2025 premier league champion.

"FULHAM ARE THE PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!"

As soon as Sam heard those words from the commentator, he could not contain his emotions as he instantly collapsed to his knees in tears.

In that moment, he experienced a rollercoaster of emotions.

One moment, he and his teammates just lost it, narrowly losing to Liverpool in the premier league title race but in the next, Crystal Palace actually managed to bail them out of trouble.

'I did it,' he thought. 'No, we did it'.

In that moment, Sam's teammates swarmed him, surrounding him and celebrating excitedly even as Craven Cottage exploded.

BOOM!

Ecstatic Fulham fans roared at the top of their lungs, a lot of fans collapsing in a fit of tears while some even passed out immediately out of sheer excitement!

The atmosphere in this stadium was electric and joyful.

"Sam!" "Sam!" "Sam!"

Across this massive stadium, a familiar chant started as tens of thousands of Fulham supporters sang the name of their superstar player at the top of their lungs, giving him one last acknowledgement for a legendary premier league season.

Even as his name was chanted by the fans, the Fulham players on the pitch responded, lifting Sam up above their heads as they paraded him round the pitch.

Coach Marco Silva already charged into the pitch to celebrate alongside his players long ago, this coach also could not control his emotions as he cried.

He could not believe it, they actually did it!

As soon as Sam was brought down by his teammates, this excited coach hugged his star player, kissing him on the forehead excitedly.

"Thank you Sam, thank you, thank you". He kept on muttering.

It was while the celebrations continued that the players' family were finally allowed into the pitch, and that was where Sam was shocked.

To his shock, Kayla, Ian, and Sophia appeared on the pitch but their appearance was not the most shocking. What shocked him most was the appearance of Mr. and Mrs. Moses, his parents.

"How…?"

Mr. Moses grinned. "Congratulations son". This man hugged his son excitedly. "You did it, I'm so proud of you".

Mrs. Moses didn't exactly know the gravitas of this moment but the cascading emotions around already got to her, she was also crying.

Spending this moment with his family, there was no feeling like it in the world.

Sam felt on top of the world.

A few minutes later, Fulham's name was finally engraved in the premier league title even as Cairney, the Fulham captain carried the title the next moment.

Going to the part of the pitch that was already prepared for them, the Fulham players grouped together before lifting the trophy.

"Yeahhhhh…!!!" They celebrated excitedly.

On that night, Fulham became premier league champions.