ASM is voted fans’ player of the year

ALLAN Saint-Maximin has been named as Newcastle Fans’ Footballer of the Year following an eye-catching 2021 with the club.

He returned to full fitness in February and played a crucial role in the reversal of form Steve Bruce’s men underwent in the spring that secured Premier League survival.

His impact as a substitute at Turf Moor, with Newcastle losing 1-0 to Burnley, was seen as a huge turning point in Newcastle’s season. They claimed 13 points from the remaining seven games, with ASM playing the majority of each.

The 2021/22 campaign has been fraught with poor results, awful form and the off-field ripples of a long-awaited takeover finally going through, not to mention a managerial change.

Saint-Maximin has so far managed to feature in every single game and contribute three goals and three assists.

Newcastle fans voted in their thousands for their Player of 2021 and it was a close-run battle with just over 100 votes separating the top two.

In the end, Saint-Maximin claimed by 4%, pipping striker Callum Wilson who attracted 42% of fans’ votes.

Wilson has had an equally impressive 2021, scoring 10 league goals in 27 appearances, but the award goes to his teammate SaintMaximin who finished with 46% of votes.

Perhaps his off-the-field interactions with the local community helped tip the voting in his direction. He gifted a fan a watch after a game earlier in the season, bought games consoles for disadvantaged local children and has publicly championed the efforts of the Newcastle West End Food Bank and NHS staff.

Across the Reach PLC football network, supporters have been voting for their Player of the Year from all clubs.

Saint-Maximin was not nominated for that particular award, despite his win in the Newcastle category. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah claimed 61% of over 140,000

votes, meaning he is

unquestionably 2021’s Player of the Year in the eyes of the British footballing

public.