Clydesdale Bank Premier League Season Awards 2010/2011

The fourth annual Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards ceremony, held to celebrate the best of the SPL on and off the field, took place on Tuesday 3rd May at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow. In total, nine awards were presented which were Manager, Player and Young Player of the Season, Goal and Save of the Season, Under 19 League Player of the Season, Best Club Media Relations, Best Community Initiative, and the SPL Family Champions.

Former Kilmarnock Manager Mixu Paatelainen was named Manager of the Season . Mixu took over a Kilmarnock side that had less than a full squad of registered players at the start of the season, and with virtually no pre-season training moulded them into a team which played attractive, attacking football. In the nine months he was Manager, he took the club to within a point off fourth place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, comfortably securing a top six finish as a result.

Player of the Season was awarded to Celtic defender Emilio Izaguirre .  In his first season for the club the 24 year old Honduran has been outstanding, a “class act” who has already secured the PFA Scotland’s Player of the Season award..

Dundee United striker David Goodwillie was named Young Player of the Season for the second year in a row. The 22 year old has become a mainstay of the team, and his performances have been superb this season, with 16 Clydesdale Bank Premier League goals to his name.

Goal of the Season went to Hibernian’s Derek Riordan for his goal against Celtic at Celtic Park on 25th September 2010. The best goals of the SPL season were shortlisted, and our panel of experts decided that Riordan’s chip over Fraser Forster was best.

Save of the Season was performed by Hearts’ Marian Kello, during the match against Rangers on 2nd October 2010 at Tynecastle. A short list of the best saves of the season were considered by our panel of ex goalkeepers, and Kello’s fantastic finger tip save from Steven Davis was picked as the best.

The Clydesdale Bank Under 19 League Player of the Season was won by Jason Holt of Heart of Midlothian, a driven and technically-gifted 18 year old midfielder who has scored seven U19 goals this season. Most people who've seen him play would reckon he has a great future in the game.

Best Club Media Relations went to Motherwell FC for the third successive season. This year the sports media were asked to rate the clubs on a number of areas including facilities, player accessibility and helpfulness of club staff, to give an all round view, and Motherwell came out on top.

Rangers FC are the winners of the second SPL Family Champions Award . This initiative, run by the SPL, is aimed at improving the match day experience for families across all SPL clubs. Mystery shoppers visited each club and reported back to the SPL and the clubs on the experience – everything from contacting the ticket office to buying a pie. Last year’s winner St Mirren receives a special commendation for their continued good work, but Rangers performed highly in all areas and showed real evidence of having a family strategy in place - with family ticket offers, entertainment, meal deals, family activities, proactive stewards and helpful staff. These factors combined to make it an enjoyable day out for each of the four families and would encourage them all to attend again as a family.

Mystery shoppers visited each club and reported back to the SPL and the clubs on the experience – everything from contacting the ticket office to buying a pie. St Mirren rated highly on three key parts of the match day experience for families: stewarding, catering and control of bad language. These factors combined to make it an enjoyable day out for families and would encourage them to attend again as a family.

The award for Best Community Initiative was again fiercely contested, demonstrating the range of fantastic projects that the SPL clubs are involved with in their local communities.

The winner was St Mirren FC , for their Renfrewshire Street Stuff activity. This project provides mobile diversionary activities for hard to reach, disaffected young people in the area, and has had some great results. Thousands of children have attended the sessions in hot spot areas highlighted by the police and youth disorder has been reduced with vandalism at a six year low. The project has grown in size and now operates six nights a week and due to its success, will be funded for another year.

Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive, SPL said: 

“The Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards celebrate the very best of Scottish football in what has been another dramatic season. As well as honouring excellent performances on the pitch this season, the awards also recognise the hard work of clubs off the pitch and I am delighted that their efforts will be celebrated this evening. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Clydesdale Bank for their continued and valued support of Scottish football and for their efforts in putting together tonight’s event.”

A panel of Scottish football experts chose the award winners for the Manager, Player, Young Player, Goal and Save of the Season. The Under 19 League Player of the Season was voted for by the Under 19 coaches at each of the 12 Clydesdale Bank Premier League clubs. Submissions were invited from all clubs for Best Community Initiative with the winners chosen by a panel of representatives from both Clydesdale Bank and the Scottish Premier League. Best Club Media Relations was voted for by Scotland’s sports media. The SPL Family Champions award was chosen by a panel of representatives from the SPL, Mark Bradley Projects and Coca-Cola after reviewing information from the mystery shoppers.

Season 2010/2011 Awards Photo Gallery

The full list of winners is:

Manager of the Season – Mixu Paatelainen, Kilmarnock FC
Player of the Season – Emilio Izaguirre, Celtic FC
Young Player of the Season – David Goodwillie, Dundee United FC
Goal of the Season – Derek Riordan, Hibernian FC
Save of the Season – Marian Kello, Heart of Midlothian FC
Under 19 League Player of the Season – Jason Holt, Heart of Midlothian FC Best Club Media Relations - Motherwell FC
Best Community Initiative – St Mirren FC
SPL Family Champions – Rangers FC

Season 2010/2011 Awards Video Gallery