There will be three presentations before Saturday’s last home game of the season when Oxford United take on Doncaster Rovers.
Voting ended yesterday for the Supporters’ Player of the Season trophy while the votes have also been counted for the Players Player of the Year award. Both will be presented shortly before kick off this weekend but there is a slight change of emphasis for our third award.
The Young Player of the Year award is named after Jack Casley who spent 50 years with the U’s, first as a player and then as a scout bringing the best young players to the club. The award will still go to the best young player, but we felt it was right to recognise the role that the Academy plays in developing our own young players and so the award will be presented to the best homegrown young player, whether that is within the academy or in the first team squad.
There are some high quality contenders for the award this year:
Sam Long
Having just turned 24 Sam has been outstanding this year for the under 23 side and then a model of consistency since he forced his way in to the first team, playing a major part in our storming second half of the season.
Nico Jones
Made his first team debut at Shrewsbury on Monday after impressing at the heart of the defence for the under 18s in his first year as a scholar.
Slavi Spasov
Became United’s youngster goalscorer for 50 years after making his debut earlier this season aged just 16, and had scored 23 goals before injury cut his season short
Shandon Baptiste
Another to have his season curtailed by injury, Shandon had been in outstanding form and had the honour of captaining the U’s against Manchester City this season.
Max Harris
Appeared on the bench for the first time on Monday and an outstanding young goalkeeper who achieved remarkable academic results during his scholarship
There are also honourable mentions for Owen James, Kyran Lofthouse and Aaron McCreadie who have all contributed hugely to the under 18s’ season.
Who will win the award? Judges Dan Harris, Karl Robinson, Chris Allen, Leon Blackmore-Such and Chris Hackett have made their decision. Find out who they chose this Saturday…