Vital Swindon Awards: The Winners

The first Vital Swindon Awards are done and YOU have voted and all the results are in.

Regardless of what happens at Wembley a week on Saturday it has been a truly magnificant effort by Danny Wilson, his staff and players.

Forget the 5-0 opening day loss at Gillingham, I imagine few predicted such a season at the dawn of the campaign.

Here are the winners of the Vital Swindon Awards 2010 as voted by you.

Loanee of the Season:

SIMON FERRY

A fantastic bit of business by the Town. A good working relationship between Wilson and (now former) Celtic manager Tony Mowbray resulted in the promising Scottish midfielder coming down to Wiltshire along with loan flop Ben Hutchinson.

Ferry’s enthusiasm and commitment to the cause has been quite clear since day one and many hope he will stay at the County Ground beyond his loan spell.

Young Player of the Season

CHARLIE AUSTIN

Simply a remarkable debut season in the Football League.

From the moment he got his first proper opportunity he has impressed and threatened opposition defences.

Prior to Wembley, Austin has bagged scored 20 goals in 35 games since joining in October.

An incredible effort.

Cult Hero 2010

LESCINEL JEAN-FRANCOIS

Nobody had heard of the Haiti international defender when he arrived on a Free Transfer late last season.

The guy hardly featured yet still earned a new deal at the end of the season when so many players were sent packing by Danny Wilson.

Jean-Francois has had an emotional season, he was directly affected by the devastating earthquake that destroyed Haiti but he kept going.

He won’t ever go down as a Town ‘great’ in fact to many he’s a bit of a scape goat – this was encapsulated on Monday night when his less than impressive first half performance resulted in many groans. However, after Danny Wilson moved him to the centre after Gordon Greer’s sending off he was a different player.

Most Improved Player of the Season

JON-PAUL McGOVERN

It has been a sensational season in comparison to previous efforts from the Scottish midfielder.

Followers of Milton Keynes Dons were surprised and disappointed when he left Stadium:MK for the County Ground in 2007. He had also got decent reviews by fans of Sheffield Wednesday too.

However, he never reached the potential that was really expected of him under both Paul Sturrock and Maurice Malpas

This season changed all that. McGovern has missed only one league game all season (the opening day thrashing by now relegated Gillingham)

Best Team Performance of the Season

03/04/10: LEEDS UNITED 0-3 SWINDON TOWN

A remarkable performance by Swindon. Leeds were suffering a blip and were under pressure to get a result at Elland Road. Swindon went to Leeds with no pressure and it paid off.

We shouldn’t forget that before a goal was scored Leeds had dominated the match but Town soaked up the pressure before pouncing on 43 minutes through a Billy Paynter effort.

His next goal was sublime on 48 minutes, a long distance effort that went into the top corner leaving Shane Higgs with no chance whatsoever.

Town fans went mental once more less than 10 minutes later when Charlie Austin headed home to make it 3-0 to Swindon Town at Elland Road. Incredible.

TOWN SIDE THAT LINED-UP AGAINST LEEDS UNITED

1. David Lucas
2. Scott Cuthbert
4. Jonathan Douglas
6. Gordon Greer (Capt)
7. Jon-Paul McGovern
19. Lescinel Jean-Francois
20. Billy Paynter
21. Stephen Darby
24. Danny Ward
30. Simon Ferry
32. Charlie Austin

SUBS USED:

8. Craig Easton (replaced Ward on 79 mins)
9. Frank Nouble (replaced Paynter on 84 mins)

SUBS NOT USED:

10. Michael Timlin
12. Phil Smith
14. Sean Morrison
15. Kevin Amankwaah
25. Mark Marshall

Player of the Season

JONATHAN DOUGLAS

The former Republic of Ireland international raised many eyebrows when he joined Swindon Town upon his release from Leeds United last summer.

He was largely expected to join a Championship side but Danny Wilson sold STFC to the central midfielder.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be unfair to say that at other clubs he wouldn’t be considered an utterly essential member of the squad. At Swindon, he is a ‘star’.

Douglas has swept all the big accolades from local media and supporter groups this season.

VITAL SWINDON TOWN WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE WHO VOTED! KEEP VISITING.

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