Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards - Season 2011/12

The fifth annual Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards ceremony, held to celebrate the best of the SPL on and off the field, took place on Tuesday evening at the Hilton Hotel, 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 Clydesdale Bank Family Champions.

Celtic Manager Neil Lennon was named Manager of the Season . Neil led his side to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League championship and took Celtic on a 17 match winning run during the course of the season. Lennon styled his side to play attractive football and this together with the consistency his side showed on their way to winning the title capped a brilliant season for both Neil Lennon and Celtic.

Player of the Season was awarded to Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew . Mulgrew has been in scintillating form in this season’s Clydesdale Bank Premier League. He has helped his side keep an SPL record 24 clean sheets this season, as well as providing an attacking threat for his side with 8 goals and numerous assists. Mulgrew has been a stand out in a championship winning side and this was further highlighted when he secured the PFA Scotland Player of the Season award last weekend.

Celtic midfielder James Forrest was named Young Player of the Season . The 20 year old has become a mainstay of the team and his performances have been superb this season, with 7 Clydesdale Bank Premier League goals to his name.

Goal of the Season went to Kilmarnock’s James Dayton for his goal against Dundee United at Rugby Park on 17th December 2011. The best goals of the SPL season were shortlisted, and our panel of football experts decided that Dayton’s top corner strike past Dusan Pernis was the best.

Save of the Season was performed by Rangers’ Allan McGregor , during the match against Celtic on 29th April 2012 at Celtic Park. A shortlist of the best saves of the season were considered by our panel of ex goalkeepers, and McGregor’s fantastic save from Joe Ledley’s volley was picked as the best.

The Clydesdale Bank Under 19 League Player of the Season was won by Paul George of Celtic, a driven and technically-gifted 18 year old midfielder who has scored four U19 goals this season. Most people who've seen him play would reckon he has a great future in the game and his season was topped off as Celtic won the Clydesdale Bank U19s League for the third season in a row.

Best Club Media Relations went to Alan Burrows , Motherwell FC for the fourth successive season. 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.

St Mirren FC are the winners of the second Clydesdale Bank Family Champions Award . This initiative, run by the SPL, is aimed at improving the match day experience for families across all SPL clubs and in turn encourage more families to attend Clydesdale Bank Premier League matches. 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 Rangers and Kilmarnock receive special commendations for their efforts. St Mirren won the inaugural Family Champions Award in 2009/10 and the club has strived to maintain these high standards and has a true culture of fan engagement and a family strategy that is evident throughout the club.

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 Kick and Collect activity. This project is a community involvement reward scheme and 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.

Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive, SPL said: 

“The Clydesdale Bank Premier League Awards showcases the very best in Scottish football, both on and off the pitch. The Clydesdale Bank Premier League is more than just 90 minutes on a Saturday and these awards celebrate the excellent work our clubs do off the pitch to support their local community, develop young Scottish talent and improve the match day experience for fans. The Clydesdale Bank has been a valued supporter of the SPL since 2007 and this event is a true celebration of that partnership. On behalf of the SPL, I would like to thank the Clydesdale Bank for putting together tonight’s event which is a fitting end to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League season.”

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 after reviewing information from the mystery shoppers.

Season 2011/12 Awards Photo Gallery

The full list of winners is:

Manager of the Season – Neil Lennon, Celtic FC
Player of the Season – Charlie Mulgrew, Celtic FC
Young Player of the Season – James Forrest, Celtic FC
Goal of the Season – James Dayton, Kilmarnock FC
Save of the Season – Allan McGregor, Rangers FC
Under 19 League Player of the Season – Paul George, Celtic FC
Best Club Media Relations – Alan Burrows, Motherwell FC
Best Community Initiative – St Mirren FC
SPL Family Champions – St Mirren FC