This time last year, the Oxford Pythons were shattering UK Dynasty’s long run of first-time winners by picking up their second title. But roll on to 2026, and the Andover Sandslashers finally broke their decade-long duck to claim their first-ever UKD Championship, defeating the Coventry Eagles 137.7 to 128.24 in a Britannia Bowl showdown that took us all the way to the final whistle (do they even blow a whistle at the end? - Ed).
In a year where the Sandslashers were the only team to hit the 2000 point mark across the regular season, they made the most of their bye week gained from their #2 seeding, sauntering through Week 16’s semi-final against the Lurgan Leopards by a 60+ point margin before edging past the Eagles in a titanic final.
The Eagles had stormed past the Oxford Seahawks in their semi-final, with a 30+ point victory of their own. In the final, Drake Maye led from the front with a 5-touchdown performance that solidified his MVP case, contributing 32.44 points to Coventry’s total, but beyond the quarterback position the points were only trickling in. A solid but unspectacular showing from the stars - Achane with 12.7, Amon-Ra with 10.8, Ashton Jeanty with 8.3.
But Jalen Hurts, on the Sandslashers’ side, stuttered. A measly 8.9-point performance from him, alongside similarly abject showings from Justin Jefferson and Tyrone Tracy both failing to hit even the 7 point mark, meant that the big points had to come from elsewhere. In the early window, Chris Olave stepped up with 21.9, and the 49ers pairing of Jake Tonges and the ever-reliable Christian McCaffrey combined for 41.6.
But, heading into Monday Night Football, the Eagles had the champagne on ice, with the Sandslashers needing a relatively gargantuan 27.95 points from Bijan Robinson, a mark he had only hit once all season, to snatch the title. Andover needed a miracle on Monday night. A Falcons all-time record 93-yard rushing touchdown. A career-high 229 combined yards to make him the Falcons’ new single-season all purpose yards leader, a record that’s stood for 42 years. A punctured Eagles heart, and a jubilant Scott Westwood.
Rookie Draft Order
Plans for the 2026 UKD Rookie Draft are ongoing, and with the hope of an in-person event being held this year to celebrate 10 years since our startup draft, the date is not fully confirmed. If in-person, the plan is for the draft to take place on Saturday 6th June, with a much shorter timer than usual (!). If plans for this fall through, we’ll reconsider this date and move it closer to the usual early May.
The draft order is as follows:
- Gateshead Spartans
- Flitwick Fireflies
- Nottingham Bandits
- Wigan Wombats
- Oxford Pythons
- Cymru Cobras
- Chippenham Beavers
- Derby Otters
- Lurgan Leopards
- Oxford Seahawks
- Coventry Eagles
- Andover Sandslashers
Owners Meeting will kick off the Thursday before the Super Bowl (February 5th). This means all rule change suggestions must be in by then. Once discussed, we’ll vote on any suggestions from the following Thursday. Thread for suggestions: https://www42.myfantasyleague.com/2025/mb/topic_show.pl?tid=6676422
Trading will re-open at midnight on the night of the Super Bowl.
The Free Agency Auction will begin on July 1st.