LEAGUE Champions Warrington Town figured prominently when a record audience of more than 300 players, managers, club officials and their friends and families saw Leeds United manager Steve Evans honour the stars of the season at the 2016 EVO-STIK Northern Premier Players of the Year Awards.
Warrington hot-shot Ciaran Kilheeney won the EVO-STIK NPL First Division North Division’s Player of the Year award and took third place in the fans’ poll, the first of the awards to be handed out at the plush four star Brooklands Holiday Inn near Barnsley.
He was also named in the Evo-Stik Division One North team of the year alongside team mates goal keeper Karl Wills and Centre Back James McCarten.
Despite the focus on the season’s stars, the awards weren’t limited to the players this year. EVO-STIK NPL vice president and Respect manager Phil Bradley was honoured with the Alan Olgey Achievement Award, collecting the accolade from the event’s founder, the former Manchester City and Stockport County stopper.
Before handing it over, Ogley paid a warm tribute to Bradley for 24 years of loyal service to the league, including a decade as secretary and most recently his success promoting the FA’s Respect campaign, work that earned him the FA’s prestigious Bobby Moore Award three years ago.
As Ogley told the audience, thanks to Bradley the EVO-STIK NPL has a remarkable record of domination after winning the FA’s league award four out of five times and monopolising the individual club award since the campaign was launched six years ago.
The brainchild of NPL stalwart Alan Ogley, the annual awards are unique in the top levels of Non-League football with the focus purely on recognising the league’s star players and the winners chosen by the league’s managers.
The Division One North Team of the Yaer which featured three Warrington Town players PICTURES Graham Lindley
