Bobby Zamora, Steve Foster, Andy Ritchie,…….. there have been some great names in the past who have won the player of the season award at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Despite the recent run of victories, it has not been the most successful of seasons on the south coast and there are only really two main candidates and a handful of possibilities for ths award this year:
The two main candidates must surely:
Andrew Whing – Skillful,reliable and pacy full back,he has been a revalation this season. Even when the rest of the team were going through a barren patch of poor form recently Andy was always 100% commited and his enthusiasm has made him a favourtie with supporters.
Nicky Forster – Albion captain and chief goal-getter who is top scorer for the second season running and has been in brilliant form whenever he has played. He has unfortunately suffered with various injuries which have kept him out for prolonged periods. It is likely that the Albion would have already been relegated had it not been for his goals but by the same token you could also say that had he not been out with injury so much the team could be safe by now.
Other possilities include:
Gary Hart – Eyebrows were raised by some supporters at the start of the season when he was rewarded a further contract and he then had the misfortune of missing a large part of the campaign through injury but he has emphatically proven his detractors wrong in recent weeks with a series of superb displays as a striker alongside Lloyd Owusu.
Lloyd Owusu – As a loan player,he might not actually qualify but maybe an exception could be made for him as his 6 goals and overall workrate and enthusiasm have been paramount in the teams recent revival in form.
Glenn Murray- Albions second top goalscorer,who has,like Forster,suffered a lot with injuries. When he has played he has scored goals for fun and will be a valualble assett next season if the club can keep hold of him.
Bradley Johnson – Another loan player who was a cut above the rest in his loan spell just before christmas, it was a huge blow when he returned to Leeds United at the turn of the year.
Michel Kuipers – Albions first choice keeper is now approaching his tenth year at the Sussex club and althougth he has enjoyed more successful campaigns than this one, he has still shown glimpses of the form that have previously given him legendary status at the Albion.
Tommy Elphick – Possibly Albions brightest prospect, not his best season but he has still proved an invaluable asset nonetheless and the club may well face a battle to keep hold of him over the summer
Share this article
