THE FLP’S END OF SEASON AWARD
Highs & lows of exciting EFL year
FROM titanic title tussles to epic relegation battles and an FA Cup run for the ages, the 2023-24 season has had it all.
Now the dust has settled – on the regular season at least – it’s time to hand out some end-of-year awards. Astounding goals, a Wembley heartbreaker and an England star crashing to earth – they’re all here as The FLP rounds up the best (and worst) of another captivating campaign in the EFL…
BEST GAME: MANCHESTER UNIT-ED 3-3 COVENTRY CITY (AET, MAN U WON 4-2 ON PENS)
Honourable mentions must go the way of Wrexham and Swindon, who played out a marvellous 5-5 thriller in August that saw the Dragons overcome a 4-1 half-time deficit by scoring twice in second-half stoppage time.
Nothing, though, holds a candle to the sheer drama of Coventry’s miraculous comeback against the 13-time Premier League champions at Wembley in last month’s FA Cup semi-finals.
Dead and buried at 3-0 down, the Sky Blues summoned the spirit of ‘87 and much, much more as late goals from Ellis Simms, Callum O’Hare and Haji Wright – the latter a stoppage time penalty leveller - took the tie to extra-time before Victor Torp’s 121st-minute strike left the shattered Red Devils splattered on the Wembley turf.
Sadly, VAR intervened to save United’s bacon and the Premier League side triumphed on penalties but the humiliation on the faces of their players told everyone who the real winners were. An FA Cup semi-final that will never be forgotten.
BIGGEST FLOP: WAYNE ROONEY
In a statement that has already gone down in football folklore, Birmingham explained the decision to sack John Eustace in October by stating that Rooney had been hired to play ‘No Fear’ football.
Clearly, nobody told the Blues’ new owner Tom Wagner that buzzwords have a tendency to bite you on the backside in this game, but he certainly knows now.
Sixth when Rooney arrived, the Blues tumbled headlong down the Championship standings playing football that wasn’t so much fearless as feckless. Which isn’t surprising, as there was absolutely nothing on the former England captain’s coaching CV that suggested he was the heir to Johan Cruyff. Sacked after 15 games, the 38-year-old is now highly unlikely to earn another Championship post. Saudi Arabia beckons.
BEST GOAL: JADEN PHILOGENE
Wes Burns won the official EFL gong for his extraordinary trivela against Coventry, but it was Hull’s Jaden Philogene who earned a nomination for the 2023-24 Puskas Award thanks to a frankly ridiculous strike in the Tigers’ 2-1 win over Rotherham in February.
The cheeky nutmeg to buy a yard of space was impressive enough, but what followed - a spectacular rabona lob over Viktor Johansson from pract
