Louise Payne picked up her prize after winning The Royal Gazette Fantasy League this season.

The 73-year-old collected her prize of $6,000 worth of BermudAir tickets from Bill Zuill, Editor of The Royal Gazette at Press Court.

“I’m excited and surprised at winning,” Payne said.

“I’ve been playing for three years competitively. The first year I entered The Royal Gazette League, I somehow did not sign up correctly, so I competed against the average for a whole year.

“It showed that I was definitely interested in the game but when I joined the league, that’s when it really sort of took over and became a passion.”

The winner was amazed to find out that she was in the running for the top prize towards the end of the season.

“The secret to winning this year was patience,” she said.

“Having a learning mindset so not doing anything outrageous, just playing boring fantasy football, following the rules, colouring within the lines, but that’s what got me here.

“At the end I actually was surprised to know that I was in contention. It was actually a Royal Gazette reader who said ‘oh I see your name in the paper but I don’t understand that fantasy’, AND then I started paying attention.

“On the last day of the season I just adopted the quote from the crest of Bermuda, Quo Fata Ferunt [whither the fates carry us].

“My son said for the final game since you’re contending, we will go and watch all of the games at one of the bars and so I had a beautiful last day of the season and won to top it off.”

Payne is a Chelsea fan and it was not a great season for her in the English Premier League with her team finishing tenth.

“I do support Chelsea because my son followed Chelsea,” the winner said.

“When I decided to get on board with an English Premier League team, then it was natural to say I’ll follow the same team.

“I’m a Chelsea fan although there's not been much to cheer about lately, but I still enjoy all of the football. I’ve been to the Chelsea stadium but not to see a game yet.”

With BermudAir flying directly to the United States and Canada, Payne is yet to decide on which destination she will use her prize.

“I just found out and I’ve got to figure out where I’m flying to,” she added.

“I never thought that I could win a league and so I never even thought beyond that.”