Middlesbrough’s Patrick Bamford has been named the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Year at The Football League Awards 2015 following a vote among club managers.
Bamford, on loan at the Riverside from Chelsea, received the award at the gala ceremony at The Brewery, London, on Sunday evening in front of over 600 guests from clubs, sponsors and the football industry.
The Football League Awards 2015 mark the 10th year of the awards, which celebrate on and off pitch excellence across The League’s 72 clubs. This year all 72 clubs were nominated for at least one award.
Bamford beat competition from Ipswich Town’s Daryl Murphy and Watford’s Troy Deeney to claim the overall Sky Bet Championship Player of the Year Award.
At just 21-years-old, Bamford has already earned himself a reputation as a prolific goal scorer and one of the most highly-rated young players around. Having joined Chelsea in 2012 from his boyhood club Nottingham Forest who signed him as an 8 year-old, loan spells at Milton Keynes Dons and Derby County saw him establish himself at first team level before being given the opportunity to join Middlesbrough for the 2014/15 season. His stylish forward play and his 17 league goals have been at the forefront of Middlesbrough’s promotion push, earning him the acclaim of not just ‘Boro supporters and Aitor Karanka, but all the other managers in the Championship who voted for him.
On winning the award, Bamford said:
“First and foremost I have to concentrate on these last few games and hope that Boro as a team go up and we can push into the Premier League. After that I’m concentrating on the Euro’s with England so I think by the time I’m back from the Euro’s I can sit down with Chelsea and see what’s happening. There is a chance I could play against Boro next season but its open ended and I won’t really find out till July. Thanks to the club, my team mates – without them I wouldn’t be here and of course the manager and my family.”
The Sky Bet Player of the Year awards have been voted for by managers of the clubs in each division. Each manager was asked to list their top five players from this season in order, with the scores added up to get a shortlist and an overall winner.
Shaun Harvey, Chief Executive of The Football League, said: "The 10th Football League Awards has given us the opportunity to reward outstanding performance, both on and off the pitch, during what has been a memorable Football League season.
"Each of our winners thoroughly deserves this recognition and, once again, we've seen exceptional levels of talent, dedication and achievement across all our nominees."
The Football League Awards 2015 were streamed live on The Football League's official YouTube channel and website, while highlights will be shown on Sky Sports 1 on Monday evening at 6:15pm and 9:15pm.
To find out more about The Football League Awards, and for a full list of Award categories, please visit www.FLAwards.com or search #FLAwards on Twitter.