2008 - 09 Player Awards
The Lingwood end of season drinking session / awards do / curry night took place on Sarurday 18th April, starting at the York Tavern in Norwich and continuing on to the Oasis Curry House and sundry drinking establishments thereafter.
The evening saw the presentation of the prestigious Players' Player of the Season, Most Improved Player of the Season, Clubman, and Manager's Player of the Season awards by manager Andrew Nobbs (to skip straight to those, click here), but before these were reached, several light ales were consumed, and club journo Chris Boyle presented his first annual spoof awards. The winners of these hotly-contested accolades were as follows:
| Award | Description | Comments | Winner |
The award |
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| Target Man | For the other team… who has been on the receiving end of rough tackles all season? |
This award received some varied voting - it seems there are quite a few of us that the opponents just love to hate! Christian Doyle, Joe Prentice, Aby & Tobes (justified) were all in the frame for the award. But only one man could win this award. |
John Fornear
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| Water Carrier | Potential unsung hero. Every team needs a Darren Fletcher. Not the most technically gifted, but covers a whole lot of Grass. |
Hotly contested award, testament to the amount of unsung heroes we have in the team. However, some people must have thought this award was for a player who "looks like Darren Fletcher". |
Toby Ellenor
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| Vinnie | Lingwood 'Hardman'. Who is our Roughest/toughest player? |
This guy hasn't received many kicks this season... or any season in fact! |
Dan Allum  |
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| The Saint | Who has been sweet talking the ref all season? Butter wouldn't melt for this person who has probably never seen yellow in their life. |
Honourable mention to the polite Christian Doyle and Rob Hartford - close runners up. However, the 'referee sweet talk' line must have sold this one! |
Neil Harrison  |
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| The Sinner | The red mist award'. Referee backchat is commonplace. Who has been the worst for discipline and late tackles? |
This one was a very close two horse race. But Toby must have had too many other awards for this one. And perhaps kicking an opponent's water bottle away in a fit of rage at Mousehold, after a 'misunderstanding' with the referee, was what finally sold it. |
Stuart Fryer
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| Lingwood Journeyman | Who has long lost that yard of pace, and then some? Who requires deep heat to be able to touch their toes? They still have some tricks up their sleeve though… |
The least contested award…with 100% of the votes. In both the most complimentary and derogatory way possible, this guy has been around the block more times than he can remember. In fact, sometimes he gets half way round the block and forgets why he was there in the first place. But he's been a real stalwart this season. |
Nigel Holmes
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| Weirdest Moment | A special award for the most inexplicable moment of the season. Perhaps also the most contested award, with some very good shouts. Before we move onto the winner let's reflect on just a few of them: |
• Being told the pitch was "unplayable" against Blofeild • Nobby being alikened to Sean Bean • Nobby falling over backwards in pre-season training • Ross - taking outrageously misplaced r*cial abuse - told to go back to his own country • Rant of the season: Neil's eruption at the Medics goalkeeper when he ran the length of the pitch to celebrate their fifth - "get back in your f*cking goal you c*nt" • In the end it went to the mistaken identity case of a young 'Lee Stevens' that got the most votes… |
Wes "Lee" Stevens |
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| Random Noise Generator | Nobbsy likes us all to talk on the pitch. Is anyone vocal, even though it doesn't always come out as something useful or coherent? |
We all have to talk more, but does it matter what we say? Sometimes it's comforting to be challenging for a header and hear a booming voice behind you shouting "Get it on the deck!"! |
Ant Howell
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| The Stevie Wonder Award | Who couldn't hit a donkey with a banjo? We aren't talking least goals, we are talking about shots/goals ratio here. 1 in 3? Some people would be happy with 1 in 30… |
This one was another two horse (or donkey?) race. But the lucky man who just edged it is actually the second highest scorer too! Who would've guessed it? |
Ryan Bolt
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| Miss of the Season | Speaks for itself. What was the single worst shot? This one could be a shoe-in skipper… |
No surprises here. But it was still some achievement to get 100% of the votes with some of the other shots we have missed this season! |
Toby Ellenor  |
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| Goal of the Season | Is there any stonker of a goal which stands out this season? |
Ross finally understand what all those people have been saying to him over the years. It's better if we close our eyes - honest. (For his "cultured lob" v Mousehold). |
Ross Cater
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| Andrew Nobbs Award | Very special award that Chris decided not to put out to the public vote. An award so special that there could only ever be one winner. Was initially going to be called "quote of the season, but ended up being named after the runaway winner. |
Quote of the season: Nobby - anything he says! Chris B personally liked the one about Toby being sh*t but first on the teamsheet, although cases could be made for his "views on youth", the usual "get in his shorts/up his arse lads" outbursts, or the classic "pass it to me and I'll do the rest"! |
Andrew Nobbs  |
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To view the award certificates, click here.
The Manager then took centre stage to present the main awards of the evening. Likening the team to a "second family", he also advised the lads to treasure every minute they spend on the pitch, as it's something he misses while kicking every ball on the touchline.
The main awards, as presented by Nobbsy were as follows:
| Award | Winner |
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| Player of the Season | Stuart Watson |
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| Most Improved Player of the Season | John Fornear |
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| Clubman | Nigel Holmes |
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| Manager's Player of the Season | Ross Cater |
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Chairman's Speech.
Proceedings were brought to a close with a short speech by Club Chairman Rob Hartford, who thanked management team Andrew Nobbs and Nigel Holmes for their hard work all season, and (with wonderfully subtle use of the code word "sparrow"), presented them with a bottle of champagne each to show the players' appreciation.
Then it was off to the curry house and more drinking - further pics of which may follow if Aby gets his hands on those taken by Cap'n Tobes!
Head on over to the Team Blog for one or two more photos that couldn't be crowbarred in to this page!
