- Norwich City F.C. Player of the Year
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For a list of all Norwich City players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Norwich City F.C. players. For the current Norwich City first-team squad, see Norwich City F.C.#First-team squad.
The Norwich City player of the year award is voted for annually by Norwich City's supporters, in recognition of the best overall performance by an individual player throughout the football season.[1] As a mark of respect, the trophy is named The Barry Butler memorial trophy after the club captain who was killed in a car accident on 9 April 1966.[2]
This is the more prestigious of just two awards made by Norwich City itself each year to its players, the other being the 'Young Player of the Year' accolade.[3] The 2003–04 winner Craig Fleming made clear just how important this award is to Norwich City players, "It is something you dream of winning... it is such a prestigious award".[4] Other awards available are awarded by other bodies, namely the Capital Canaries, Norwich City Independent Supporters Association and the "Ambassador Club".[5]
Since the inaugural award was made to Terry Allcock, eight players have won the award twice, most recently Grant Holt in 2010 and 2011.[citation needed] World Cup winner Martin Peters was the first to win the trophy in consecutive seasons, a feat since emulated by strikers Kevin Drinkell and Iwan Roberts, as well as Holt.[6] Just two winners have gone on to manage the club, Dave Stringer,[7] the 1972 winner, and double-winner Bryan Gunn.
Contents
Voting mechanism
This award is voted for by the fans of the club. Toward the end of the season, fans are invited to vote, either by submitting a paper slip to the club's Carrow Road offices, or by email or text message, with the winner being the player that polls the most votes.[8] A percentage of the votes from the 'Player of the Month' awards throughout the season also count towards the final votes for Player of the year.[8]
List of winners
Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame inductee[9]
Player name in bold text represents players still on the playing staff of the clubSeason Level[nb 1] Name[10] Position[nb 2] Nationality Caps[nb 3] Notes 1967 2 Terry Allcock Defender[nb 4] England Inaugural winner. 1968 2 Hugh Curran Striker Scotland 5 1969 2 Ken Foggo Winger Scotland 1970 2 Duncan Forbes Defender Scotland 1971 2 Ken Foggo Winger Scotland Second award. 1972 2 Dave Stringer Defender England Went on to manage the club, 1987-1992.[11] 1973 1 Kevin Keelan Goalkeeper England First goalkeeper to win the award, and retained it the following year. 1974 1 Kevin Keelan Goalkeeper England[nb 5] Second award. 1975 2 Colin Suggett Midfielder England 1976 1 Martin Peters Midfielder England 67 1977 1 Martin Peters Midfielder England 67 Second award. 1978 1 John Ryan Winger England 1979 1 Tony Powell Defender England 1980 1 Kevin Bond Defender England No voting for award this year 1981 1 Joe Royle Striker England 6 1982 2 Greg Downs Defender England 1983 1 Dave Watson Defender England 12 1984 1 Chris Woods Goalkeeper England 43 1985 1 Steve Bruce Defender England Won the award in his first season with Norwich, who were Football League Cup winners but suffered relegation to the Second Division. 1986 2 Kevin Drinkell Striker England Won the award in his first season with Norwich, who were promoted back to the First Division as Second Division champions. 1987 1 Kevin Drinkell Striker England Second award. His goals helped newly promoted Norwich finished fifth in the First Division. 1988 1 Bryan Gunn Goalkeeper Scotland 6 1989 1 Dale Gordon Midfielder England 1990 1 Mark Bowen Defender Wales 35 1991 1 Ian Culverhouse Defender England 1992 1 Robert Fleck Striker Scotland 4 1993 1 Bryan Gunn Goalkeeper Scotland 6 Second award. 1994 1 Chris Sutton Striker[nb 6] England 1 1995 2 Jon Newsome Defender England 1996 2 Spencer Prior Defender England 1997 2 Darren Eadie Winger England 1998 2 Matt Jackson Defender England 1999 2 Iwan Roberts Striker Wales 15 2000 2 Iwan Roberts Striker Wales 15 Second award.
Consecutive wins for first time since 1987.2001 2 Andy Marshall Goalkeeper England 2002 2 Gary Holt Midfielder Scotland 10 2003 2 Adam Drury Defender England Longest-standing award winner still with club. 2004 2 Craig Fleming Defender England 2005 1 Darren Huckerby Striker / Winger England 2006 2 Gary Doherty Defender[nb 7] Ireland 34 First non-British winner. 2007 2 Darren Huckerby Striker / Winger England Second award. 2008 2 Dion Dublin Striker / Defender England 4 The oldest winner at the age of 39; retired at end of season.[12] 2009 2 Lee Croft Midfielder / Winger England 2010 3 Grant Holt Striker England Won the award in his first season with Norwich, who sealed promotion to the Championship as League One champions. 2011 2 Grant Holt Striker England Second award for the player, whose goals helped Norwich reach the Premier League with a second successive promotion as Championship runners-up. Summary of wins by playing position
Position[nb 8] Number of winners[nb 9] Goalkeeper 6 Defender 16 Midfielder 7 Forward[nb 10] 14 Summary of wins by nationality
Nationality Number of winners[nb 9] English 31 Irish 1 Scottish 8 Welsh 3 Footnotes
- ^ The official "Level" of competition in the structure of the English league system.
- ^ For a full description of positions see Football Positions.
- ^ If blank, uncapped at full international level.
- ^ By this point in his career, the former forward was playing at "half-back".
- ^ Keelan was born in India, of English parents.
- ^ Played some games in defence, but scored 28 goals in all competitions and was then sold to Blackburn Rovers for a then national record fee of £5million.
- ^ Also played some games as a striker.
- ^ Doherty has been classed as a defender, Sutton as a striker, Allcock as a defender.
- ^ a b Multiple winners are counted multiple times.
- ^ Includes strikers and wingers.
References
- ^ "PLAYER OF THE YEAR". canaries.co.uk. 27 April 2007. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetails/0,,10355~1017653,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ Eastwood, John; Mike Davage (1986). Canary Citizens. Almeida Books. p. 107. ISBN 0711720207. "As a mark of permanent respect..."
- ^ "Roll up for the end of the year show". The Pink 'Un. 5 May 2007. http://new.pinkun.com/search/story.aspx?brand=PINKUNOnline&category=DavidCuffley&itemid=NOED05%20May%202007%2014:44:47:243&tBrand=PINKUNOnline&tCategory=search. Retrieved 2007-10-03. "Top honour, of course, was the Barry Butler Memorial Trophy for player of the year."
- ^ "FLEMING HONOURED TO WIN AWARD". canaries.co.uk. 7 November 2004. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetails/0,,10355~520356,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ "HUCKS ON A HAT-TRICK". canaries.co.uk. 4 May 2007. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetails/0,,10355~1018999,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ "Player of the Season - The Barry Butler Memorial Trophy". On The Ball, City. http://www.otbc.co.uk/pots.asp. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
- ^ "Dave Stringer's managerial career". Soccerbase. http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=333. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
- ^ a b "Race is on for Barry Butler trophy". The Pink 'Un. 16 March 2006. http://new.pinkun.com/search/story.aspx?brand=PINKUNOnline&category=Norwich&itemid=NOED15%20Mar%202006%2019:06:50:843&tBrand=PINKUNOnline&tCategory=search. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
- ^ "Canary stats - Norwich City Hall of Fame". Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927172948/http://www.edp24.co.uk/Content/Sport/CanaryCentenary/HallofFame.asp. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
- ^ "Player of the Season 1967-2007". canaries.co.uk. http://www.canaries.premiumtv.co.uk/page/History/0,,10355~1132064,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
- ^ "Dave Stringer's managerial career". soccerbase.com. http://www.soccerbase.com/managers2.sd?managerid=333. Retrieved 2007-10-15.
- ^ "Tearful Dublin in Carrow farewell". BBC Online. 2008-04-28. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/norwich/7370902.stm. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
Norwich City Football Club Club Records Records · Hall of Fame · Players of the YearPlayers Grounds Other Categories:- Norwich City F.C. players
- Lists of association football players by club
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