Man of the year

"My secret? People believe in me: they have seen how much I have done for football since 1975. Heads of state court me. You know, football has become a monster – but it's a positive monster!"

Best Sepp moment: 2009 - South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, denies 16 counts of corruption, bribery, fraud and racketeering; all charges dropped.

2010 - Zuma praises Sepp as a "true inspiration".

2010's best FA official

• November: Croatia FA head Vlatko Markovic denies election fraud and says critics of his pledge never to allow a gay player to play for Croatia should back off. "You want to know how I feel about that? Write this down: I'm fucking sick of you reporters. Write it down."

December: Markovic re-elected for a fourth term.

• Plus: Indonesia FA head Nurdin Halid – jailed in 2008 for misappropriating an $18m cooking oil distribution fund, but now back in the job. Last week's highlight: paying a $250k bonus to players using cash from a cardboard box. "They deserved it!"

Best test

The Fit-and-Proper-Person Test – embraced everyone at Portsmouth: Sacha Gaydamak, son of a billionaire arms dealer; Ali al-Faraj, a Saudi billionaire with no money who put convicted fraudster Daniel Azougy in day-to-day charge; and Sulaiman al-Fahim, "close friend" of human-rights abuser and fraudster Thaksin Shinawatra, and of Piers Morgan.

Biggest hero

October: Peter Storrie's wife defending his salary as Portsmouth's chief executive (£600k basic, £500k bonus, plus a "football bonus" of £3k for a win, £1.5k for a draw): "The only thing Peter is guilty of is trying to be a hero. We've been living a nightmare."

Most giving

£20.6m: Commitment made by Coca-Cola to their World Cup clean water scheme for African children. Chief executive Muhtar Kent: "This is unprecedented. It will make a lasting impact."

£23.6m: Amount Kent paid himself in the past two years.

Best World Cup salary

£22,000: Sven's daily income as coach of Ivory Coast (23% of the population earning under 80p a day). "I don't think I am paid that well," said Sven. "But I'm happy."

Best economy drive

September: FA accounts showed £41m allocated for lower-level football development last year, but with "certain payments" to the Football Foundation grassroots charity deferred due to the economic slowdown.

£42.6m: The FA's wage bill.

Most convincing

June: David Cameron: "I keep saying we are all in this together, and that is particularly true when cheering on the England team. Come on England!"

Best transfer

11 August: Sotirios Kyrgiakos: "I am a player for AEK for the next four years: I'm not some type of tradeable product. I have shown to everybody that I honour my contracts."

20 August: Joins Liverpool.

Best votes of confidence

• 30 Sep: Milan Mandaric, Leicester: "We can't turn things upside down now, for goodness sake. Now is the time to show how united we are behind Paulo Sousa, not to listen to media speculation. It is as simple as that." 1 Oct: Sacks him.

• 26 Jan: Darragh MacAnthony on Peterborough manager Mark Cooper: "Nobody has given the bloke a chance. He has had to deal with one fiasco after another and deserves support. I'm not ready to throw the towel in." 1 Feb: throws towel in.

• Plus: one to watch – November: Karren Brady on Avram Grant: "Only weak-minded people press the panic button ... I can assure you there is no finger on the button."

Best leader

24 Sep: John Hughes, Hibs manager: "I've asked my players to show character – and I'll lead the fight. Bring it on. I love proving people wrong, I love a siege mentality, looking into the eye of the tiger. You need to stand up to adversity. Resign? Jesus Christ, we're only six games in – behave yourselves." 4 Oct: Resigns.

Most inevitable

Aug: Gigi Becali says new Steaua Bucharest coach Ilie Dumitrescu – his 12th in seven years after previous coaches were sacked for reasons including "being too Muslim" – is "wonderful ... He is doing this unpaid." Dumitrescu: "Money does not interest me. I just want respect."

Sept: Resigns.

Best newcomers

• Montpellier president Louis Nicollin on critics who said his team were joint top because it's a weak league. "I piss in their arse cracks. That's a good answer, don't you think? It's all scandalous talk."

• Plus: Timisoara's Marian Iancu – suspended by Romania's FA for baiting Universitatea Craiova coach Victor Piturca on live TV as a "homosexual satanist" after Piturca said Iancu was "bloated and stuffed with shit". Iancu: "The FA should be ashamed of themselves. It's a total lack of respect."

Best Joey Barton tribute

24 Feb: Laryea Kingston pledges to improve his behaviour at Hearts after being fined for a "team bus bust-up": "The manager is like a father to me. I will not let him down again. But it is not about words, it is about what I deliver on the pitch."

27 Feb: Kicks opponent in testicles after seven minutes of his next match. Sent off.

And finally: top models

• Amalia Granata, October, on ending her relationship with River Plate's Cristian Fabbiani. "At times it was annoying. His wife was so insecure."

• Larissa Riquelme, November, claiming official Paraguay team model status and doing a 3D photo-shoot: "Football has changed my life. I like being famous!"

• Plus Dallys Ferreira, April, on why footballers are a letdown. "I like to be dominated, but frankly, footballers are ninnies. They disappoint a girl like me."