General End of Season Awards

To be honest, I would do away with POTY awards in a relegation season - not just us but all clubs. It's rewarding failure, that should never ever be recognised or applauded. You're basically rewarding effort over ability and that's just a nonsense. Mills was the best player but when the bar is set so very low it's an embarrassing award to receive. Win as a team, lose as a team, that's the old adage and on that basis no player should be absolved from being part of a wider problem that they've been a part of. Yes, the likes of Mills and Lankshear have done well but clearly needed to do even better as we've been relegated. I think some other clubs have scrapped POTY night in the event of a relegation and I'd like to have seen us do the same.
 
dickwalton1964 said:
To be honest, I would do away with POTY awards in a relegation season - not just us but all clubs. It's rewarding failure, that should never ever be recognised or applauded. You're basically rewarding effort over ability and that's just a nonsense. Mills was the best player but when the bar is set so very low it's an embarrassing award to receive. Win as a team, lose as a team, that's the old adage and on that basis no player should be absolved from being part of a wider problem that they've been a part of. Yes, the likes of Mills and Lankshear have done well but clearly needed to do even better as we've been relegated. I think some other clubs have scrapped POTY night in the event of a relegation and I'd like to have seen us do the same.
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Someone has to go down, it's no disgrace, for without relegation there is no promotion.
 
dickwalton1964 said:
To be honest, I would do away with POTY awards in a relegation season - not just us but all clubs. It's rewarding failure, that should never ever be recognised or applauded. You're basically rewarding effort over ability and that's just a nonsense. Mills was the best player but when the bar is set so very low it's an embarrassing award to receive. Win as a team, lose as a team, that's the old adage and on that basis no player should be absolved from being part of a wider problem that they've been a part of. Yes, the likes of Mills and Lankshear have done well but clearly needed to do even better as we've been relegated. I think some other clubs have scrapped POTY night in the event of a relegation and I'd like to have seen us do the same.
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We're not giving awards for "best player of the Championship" - the players don't need to have achieved whatever standard it is you want to hold them to.

They have entertained me, week in week out, for several months, and I would like to recognise that. If you don't want to vote for a player of the season then you don't need to vote, and if you don't want to know the outcome then you don't need to read it.

We're not all sulking, even if we would have preferred to stay in the Championship.
 
Carpy said:
Or recognising and rewarding individual success in an otherwise poor collective season...

Both Mills and Lankshear derserved recognition to their contributions this season, relegation or not.
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I like Mills a lot but if Stan buries two late gilt edged chances in back to back home games v Bristol CIty and QPR we are most likely still a Championship club. If Will Lankshear doesn't snatch at that chance v Charlton late on and we go 2 up then we go 4 wins on the trot and marching up the table. They've made big contributions but lets not pretend they are blameless and it's all other players fault. Both have been virtually ever present and are 20% of a collective problem. The defence and keeper have, in the main, done OK and with a game to go we have conceded eight goals less so there is a very legitimate claim that the defence are the least of our problems. Who exactly is to blame for this season ? With a considerably improved defence and two starlets up front something has gone desperately awry elsewhere.
 
SirAndyOfCrosby said:
My favourite was undoubtedly Shemmy v Ipswich (the ball from BDK, the touch, the finish).

Didn't even make the shortlist!
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Shemmy at Ashton Gate for me. It was a special moment as well as a special goal. Lot's of people had gone down for drinks and pies where we were stood and my seven year old and me were jumping around together. Great time to score as well, we spent the whole of half-time with massive grins on our faces.
 
Lost Marbles said:
Shemmy at Ashton Gate for me. It was a special moment as well as a special goal. Lot's of people had gone down for drinks and pies where we were stood and my seven year old and me were jumping around together. Great time to score as well, we spent the whole of half-time with massive grins on our faces.
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One of my favourite games over the two years, also one of the better ones to watch with end to end football, good goals etc.
 
holdsteady said:
One of my favourite games over the two years, also one of the better ones to watch with end to end football, good goals etc.
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Shame they didn’t award Short & Hackett their P45 in recognition of their under performance again this season!
If better is possible then good is not enough
 
dickwalton1964 said:
I like Mills a lot but if Stan buries two late gilt edged chances in back to back home games v Bristol CIty and QPR we are most likely still a Championship club. If Will Lankshear doesn't snatch at that chance v Charlton late on and we go 2 up then we go 4 wins on the trot and marching up the table. They've made big contributions but lets not pretend they are blameless and it's all other players fault. Both have been virtually ever present and are 20% of a collective problem. The defence and keeper have, in the main, done OK and with a game to go we have conceded eight goals less so there is a very legitimate claim that the defence are the least of our problems. Who exactly is to blame for this season ? With a considerably improved defence and two starlets up front something has gone desperately awry elsewhere.
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So if all we're doing is comparing to us last season.......then I think the truth of the matter is that it simply boils down to the fact that last year we got 18 goals from our defenders, and this year we got 7. Add another eleven goals on to our total this year, and we're not even in the relegation scrap, we're comfortably lower mid-table.

But frankly, I think this says less about what went wrong this season, but more about what went right last year.

In both seasons, the state of our general play was mostly bottom three. We didn't have much possession or create many chances in either season. We just had our defenders converting a ridiculously high percent of chances that came their way in 2024/25. But that was never a sustainable way to win at this level.....or any level. And it reverted back to the norm this year, and that was enough to sink us.
 
Slade Yellow said:
Shame they didn’t award Short & Hackett their P45 in recognition of their under performance again this season!
If better is possible then good is not enough
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Schrodingers assistant manager again. Do they not get credit for their coaching last season and of a fantastic Wembley game plan?

Out of all the people to blame for us absolutely shitting ourselves on the big stage, Short and Hackett are way down any list.
 
Rach said:
I'm guessing there was no social media coverage because some "fans" would be unable to accept that anyone did anything worth celebrating this year.
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If only I'd seen this earlier, I would have been able to have a guess which dick would have been first to have a strop about this!

dickwalton1964 said:
To be honest, I would do away with POTY awards in a relegation season.
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And there he is!!!!

Personally I think its great that we have recognised the efforts of Stan and Will this season. Two young players who have been an absolute credit to this club and are those that routinely get us fans out of our seats.

But the greatest award was the Women's Young Player Award going to Amelia Aplin and that all future awards will be in her name.

Such a beautiful tribute and one that show that Oxford United really are a very special club.
 
Scotchegg said:
If only I'd seen this earlier, I would have been able to have a guess which dick would have been first to have a strop about this!



And there he is!!!!

Personally I think its great that we have recognised the efforts of Stan and Will this season. Two young players who have been an absolute credit to this club and are those that routinely get us fans out of our seats.

But the greatest award was the Women's Young Player Award going to Amelia Aplin and that all future awards will be in her name.

Such a beautiful tribute and one that show that Oxford United really are a very special club.
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A beautiful club as young Lankshear rightly said!
 
Surely the point is these are awards for the players at our club. Judged or voted relative to the rest of the squad and club as a collective.

Not against the rest of the league. Because that would be the EFL championship awards.
 
Scotchegg said:
Heard that the club pulled the coverage after Will Vaulks did a backflip when picking up his Community award!
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I heard there was no coverage because people in attendance had the audacity to clap the players who won awards.
 
Well, w
tonyw said:
So if all we're doing is comparing to us last season.......then I think the truth of the matter is that it simply boils down to the fact that last year we got 18 goals from our defenders, and this year we got 7. Add another eleven goals on to our total this year, and we're not even in the relegation scrap, we're comfortably lower mid-table.

But frankly, I think this says less about what went wrong this season, but more about what went right last year.

In both seasons, the state of our general play was mostly bottom three. We didn't have much possession or create many chances in either season. We just had our defenders converting a ridiculously high percent of chances that came their way in 2024/25. But that was never a sustainable way to win at this level.....or any level. And it reverted back to the norm this year, and that was enough to sink us.
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Well, when you have a free scoring centre back, Helik, inexplicably displaced by players who get a nose bleed past the halfway line you’re asking for trouble. And when another relatively free scoring defender, Leigh, can’t get in the 25 and his replacement doesn’t contribute a single goal you’re asking for even more trouble. It’s been a bewildering season on the decision making front.
 
dickwalton1964 said:
Well, when you have a free scoring centre back, Helik, inexplicably displaced by players who get a nose bleed past the halfway line you’re asking for trouble. And when another relatively free scoring defender, Leigh, can’t get in the 25 and his replacement doesn’t contribute a single goal you’re asking for even more trouble. It’s been a bewildering season on the decision making front.
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The salient point is that the strikers have scored more than last season. As have the wingers. As have the centre-midfielders. All net gains.

The 'loss' has been at centre-half, at full-back, and at '10'.

So yes, Helik nowhere near the levels, the inexplicable banishment of Leigh, and for me the failure to adequately replace Ruben Rodrigues (combined with an underutilised and then injured Tyler) are all contributing factors.

But to imply it comes down to the failings of Lankshear and Mills, as you did above, is way wide of the mark.
 
Scotchegg said:
If only I'd seen this earlier, I would have been able to have a guess which dick would have been first to have a strop about this!



And there he is!!!!

Personally I think its great that we have recognised the efforts of Stan and Will this season. Two young players who have been an absolute credit to this club and are those that routinely get us fans out of our seats.

But the greatest award was the Women's Young Player Award going to Amelia Aplin and that all future awards will be in her name.

Such a beautiful tribute and one that show that Oxford United really are a very special club.
Click to expand...

It’s just an opinion and one that other clubs have initiated after a dire season, to scrap the end of season awards. The ladies can have theirs but that’s a separate entity from the men’s so it’s unrelated - for all I know they might have won their league so you can’t compare on a worthiness scale. Having a future club award in honour of Amelia is a fitting tribute. Of course OUFC is special to us fans but you do often talk as if we are an exception to the rule, all clubs will do things with class in certain circumstances - you only have to look at how Liverpool and Manchester United, to this day, mark their respective disasters decades on.
 
dickwalton1964 said:
It’s just an opinion and one that other clubs have initiated after a dire season, to scrap the end of season awards. The ladies can have theirs but that’s a separate entity from the men’s so it’s unrelated - for all I know they might have won their league so you can’t compare on a worthiness scale. Having a future club award in honour of Amelia is a fitting tribute. Of course OUFC is special to us fans but you do often talk as if we are an exception to the rule, all clubs will do things with class in certain circumstances - you only have to look at how Liverpool and Manchester United, to this day, mark their respective disasters decades on.
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You seem to be in a permanent state of misery.

The end of season awards are a way to recognise those who have given their all to the club, even in a difficult season. And Stan Mills and Will Lankshear are very worthy winners. Sadly Will be unlikely to return anytime soon, but who knows if this is something that helps Stan decide to stick with us next season to get us back up. I know that Ciaron Brown and Cam both feel a huge loyalty to the club for the way they have been treated and recognised by their peers and the fans.

And the awards are also an opportunity to bring together sponsors and representatives of the club to recognise their support throughout the season. Of course we are focused on the league standings at the end of a season, but football clubs are so much more than that now - and rightly so. Our entire stadium bid is about those community links and bringing together the men and women's team under the one club vision.

And you'd want to sack that all off because Charlton beat Hull 36 hours before the Awards night?

And I stand by the fact that this is an incredibly special football club. That's not to say that other clubs don't do good things, of course they do. But that doesn't take away from the fact that despite the footballing frustrations at times, there is a real heart to our club that seems to get the big things right. The way that we have recognised Joey, Mickey Lewis and now Amelia is special and deserves praise regardless of anything done elsewhere.
 
Scotchegg said:
You seem to be in a permanent state of misery.

The end of season awards are a way to recognise those who have given their all to the club, even in a difficult season. And Stan Mills and Will Lankshear are very worthy winners. Sadly Will be unlikely to return anytime soon, but who knows if this is something that helps Stan decide to stick with us next season to get us back up. I know that Ciaron Brown and Cam both feel a huge loyalty to the club for the way they have been treated and recognised by their peers and the fans.

And the awards are also an opportunity to bring together sponsors and representatives of the club to recognise their support throughout the season. Of course we are focused on the league standings at the end of a season, but football clubs are so much more than that now - and rightly so. Our entire stadium bid is about those community links and bringing together the men and women's team under the one club vision.

And you'd want to sack that all off because Charlton beat Hull 36 hours before the Awards night?

And I stand by the fact that this is an incredibly special football club. That's not to say that other clubs don't do good things, of course they do. But that doesn't take away from the fact that despite the footballing frustrations at times, there is a real heart to our club that seems to get the big things right. The way that we have recognised Joey, Mickey Lewis and now Amelia is special and deserves praise regardless of anything done elsewhere.
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Your first sentence is laughable!!! I must have been one of the most positive and upbeat posters on this forum during this relegation scrap but ultimately we have failed from a position of relative strength and that, rightly in my opinion, needs calling out. We had it in our hands and the players, as a collective - and it’s a team sport - have failed us and that’s every player. In every collective failure there has to be some better than others but it can’t remove the fact it’s been a hopeless and often hapless season. A back slapping awards night should have been scrapped for this season. Yes, we get it that the club is special to us but it’s not uniquely special that it sets us apart from others - every club unfortunately has sadness to deal with and looking in from the outside all others mark these occasions very similarly. I think you need to step back sometimes and add reality to what you post, you’ll have us all believing in Father Christmas and Fairies next.
 
dickwalton1964 said:
It’s just an opinion and one that other clubs have initiated after a dire season, to scrap the end of season awards. The ladies can have theirs but that’s a separate entity from the men’s so it’s unrelated - for all I know they might have won their league so you can’t compare on a worthiness scale. Having a future club award in honour of Amelia is a fitting tribute. Of course OUFC is special to us fans but you do often talk as if we are an exception to the rule, all clubs will do things with class in certain circumstances - you only have to look at how Liverpool and Manchester United, to this day, mark their respective disasters decades on.
Click to expand...
It's 2026, not 1976, and whether you like it or not, the women's team is every bit as much a part of Oxford United as the men's team. They are well worth a watch - some very good technical play (and less rolling around the floor pretending to be injured).
 
dickwalton1964 said:
To be honest, I would do away with POTY awards in a relegation season - not just us but all clubs. It's rewarding failure, that should never ever be recognised or applauded. You're basically rewarding effort over ability and that's just a nonsense. Mills was the best player but when the bar is set so very low it's an embarrassing award to receive. Win as a team, lose as a team, that's the old adage and on that basis no player should be absolved from being part of a wider problem that they've been a part of. Yes, the likes of Mills and Lankshear have done well but clearly needed to do even better as we've been relegated. I think some other clubs have scrapped POTY night in the event of a relegation and I'd like to have seen us do the same.
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Gillingham agree:

 
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