As this is our last game of 1999 it seems a fitting time to reveal the 'All Time Best XI' as selected by visitors to the U's Net web site. I ran the poll over about five weeks to allow visitors to name their all time Cambridge United team and the response was huge. Supporters of all ages and locations placed their votes and it took some time to collate the results, but the results were published on the web site this week and I am sharing the details with those of you that won't have chance to visit the site.

Players were chosen from all eras and this resulted in a lot of suggestions for every area of the team, so only three players were clear choices for their position: Liam Daish, Alan Kimble and Dion Dublin. But before you assume this was a John Beck XI, read on!

Starting with the goalkeeper, there were ten nominees of whom the most popular were John Filan, John Vaughan, Malcolm Webster and Keith Branagan. The top choice was John Filan, and although the Aussie arrived too late to enjoy the success of the Beck years he has played in the top flight for Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers, successfully displacing England's Tim Flowers at Ewood Park.

There were fourteen suggestions for right back and several people commented that they were struggling to recall a really good one, but Brendon Batson, Matt Joseph and Gary Rowett were all popular choices. The overall winner was Brendon Batson, a cultured player under Ron Atkinson who is now Deputy Chief Executive for the PFA.

In the hunt for a central defensive pairing it soon became clear that the task was to find a partner for runaway top choice Liam Daish. Sixteen names were suggested and Mick Heathcote, Jody Craddock, Phil Chapple, Dave Stringer and Lindsay "Wolfie" Smith were all popular nominations that spanned the decades, but the final pairing is Liam Daish and Steve Fallon. Daish was forced into retirement by injury earlier this year but reached the top flight with Coventry City, while Fallon has made the second highest total of league appearances for the club and currently manages Histon.

Left back was an easy choice with only five nominations and, although Danny Granville and Jamie Murray had their supporters, Alan Kimble was the near-automatic choice of U's fans. A deadball specialist throughout the Beck years at the start of this decade, he moved on to play in the Premiership with Wimbledon where he still plays and recently, at the age of 32, his name was suggested as a solution to England's shortage of left-sided players.

For the position on the right of a four man midfield there were 20 nominations but it soon turned into a straight fight between Steve Spriggs and Michael Cheetham, with the honours going to the little man who made a record 416 league appearance for the U's.

The closest contest of all came in central midfield. There were 21 suggestions and of those half a dozen attracted serious support. Richard Wilkins was first choice by a handful of votes while current skipper Paul Wanless pipped Watford's Micah Hyde by one vote to take the second place. Close behind those three were a trio from different eras in Tom Finney, Steve Spriggs again, and Alex Russell of today's team. Wilkins is still in the game at Colchester United and was a classy player and popular captain in his time at the Abbey.

There were eleven suggestions for the left of midfield but Lee Philpott was the clear winner ahead of Andy Sinton. Another of the Wembley winning side, Philpott moved on to Leicester City and Blackpool and is currently playing at Lincoln City, while United's youngest ever player Sinton reached the top of his career by representing England and played at the top level with Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham. He is still playing and joined Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this season.

Up front it was another case of who would partner the clear winner. Dion Dublin was an automatic choice for many voters but for a while it was a close battle to find his partner. Alan Biley, Steve Claridge and Martin Butler had their supporters but Dublin's partner in this 'All Time Best XI' is the same man who partnered him for much of his United career and has returned to become player-coach: John Taylor. While Shaggy scored goals for Bristol Rovers, Bradford, Luton, Lincoln and Colchester in between his two glorious spells at the Abbey, Dion has represented England while playing for Manchester United, Coventry City and Aston Villa.

So the final team looks like this: Filan, Batson, Daish, Fallon, Kimble; Spriggs, Wilkins, Wanless, Philpott; Dublin, Taylor.

The five substitutes, based on the runner-up goalkeeper plus the next most popular outfield players, would be: John Vaughan, Mick Heathcote, Micah Hyde, Tom Finney, Alan Biley.

However good the side, they all need a manager and the choice was Ron Atkinson who was chosen ahead of John Beck and Roy McFarland.

I'm sure you have your own ideas about your best eleven and if you visit the web site to read the page on the site that refers to this vote, you can add your comments for others to read.

With just a few days left to the year 2000, all that remains is to wish you all a Happy New Year and for three points this afternoon.

Andrea Thrussell