Aaron Collins' fine debut season in League One for Bristol Rovers was topped off on Sunday when he won the Player of the Year award. He beat Sheffield Wednesday's Barry Bannan and former Gas striker Jonson Clarke-Harris to win the ultimate individual prize for the division.
It is sure to add valuation to Collins' price tag, which will for sure alert several Championship clubs, who had interest during the January transfer window, but instead stayed at the Memorial Stadium. To date, the 25-year-old has got 16 goals and 11 assists for Joey Barton's side, and won the award with his club currently below mid-table whilst Bannan and Clarke-Harris are vying for promotion.
Rovers still have four games remaining in their season, and most are against teams fighting for a play-off pace, and if he can score against them then he can prove to the doubters and the naysayers that he is fully deserving of it. The Welsh striker was also named in the Team of the Season, as an exclusion would have been a shock had he not been included in an 11 of the best players. Despite his form, he has received any contact from Wales national team manager Rob Page, who has bizarrely ignored his form.
Here's every player who has won the Player of the Year award in the third tier, since the inception of the awards in 2006... Some went on to bigger and better things, and Collins will hope he can use this award now to achieve even more great things.
1. 2005/06 - Lee Trundle (Swansea City)
The streets won’t forget... Lee Trundle was a baller and was a regular feature on Soccer AM’s showboat. 20 goals and nine assists in 39 games for losing play-off finalists Swansea City. He’s still playing at the age of 46, in the second tier of Welsh football for Ammanford. Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images
2. 2006/07 - Billy Sharp (Scunthorpe United) 2016/17 - (Sheffield United)
One of several two-time winners though Sharp had ten years between his awards. Sharp got 30 goals and three assists in 45 games for League One winners Scunthorpe. He equalled his tally 10 years later with 30 goals but got eight assists. He’s still at Sheffield United, and captained them at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City. Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images
3. 2007/08, 2009/10 - Jermaine Beckford (Leeds United)
Another two-time winner. 20 goals and one assist in 40 appearances for Leeds United, who suffered play-off defeat to Doncaster Rovers. Two seasons later, he helped the Whites to promotion, with 25 goals and seven assists in 42 matches, going up in second. Since retiring in 2019, he has turned to punditry for BBC and Sky Sports. Photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
4. 2008/09 - Matty Fryatt (Leicester City)
Fryatt got 27 goals in 46 games as Leicester bounced back from relegation by winning the league title. He last played in 2017 after having to retire from an Achilles injury. The last bit of news about him was that he was a coach at Walsall’s academy. Photo: Matthew Lewis/Getty Images