VOTING FOR THE FOUR PLAYER OF THE SEASON AWARDS HAS OPENED, SO LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT THE RUNNERS AND RIDERS. EVERY DAY UNTIL SATURDAY WE’LL GO THROUGH THE CONTENDERS FOR ONE OF THE TROPHIES

When it comes to the men’s team, a consideration of the contenders always tells you a lot about how the campaign went.

Some seasons there’s one obvious candidate, as nine months of adequacy fail to throw up many players who covered themselves in glory.

Occasionally a season is so depressing that there are no real contenders at all: remember when Martin Riley won it? He essentially strung three good games together!

This year is the exact opposite: how do you pick a favourite from a team of heroes?

THE CONTENDERS

Paul Mullin is the obvious option. After all, he nearly managed to become just the second player in our history to strike 50 goals in a season for us.

There’s a more to him than that though. He creates, he forces errors from terrified defenders, and he works. My, how he works! It might seem odd when you consider the procession of thrilling moments he’s produced, constantly stepping up to the mark when the stakes were high, but the Mullin moment which sticks in my mind most came near the end of a home game which we had already essentially won.

He was carrying a slight injury, and was clearly exhausted by the terrific shift he’d already put in, but in order to stop a break from developing he raced deep into his own half to cover a run by a full back. It was a lung-buster that late in the game, but it showed that Mullin is no goal-hanger, happy to showcase his talents and leave it to the others to see the win out.

Every week you’ll see post-match interviews on TV in which players claim to be glad to have scored, but disappointed not to have won. Mullin doesn’t spout that cliché post-match: he does something about it while the game is live.

He has plenty of star quality, but no noticeable ego, and that’s why he’s the obvious choice.

He’s not the only choice though. How many players, over the years, have had a better season than the one Elliot Lee just enjoyed?

Look at the number of goals he scored. Look at the number of brilliant goals he scored! On that basis alone he’s had a phenomenal campaign. But there’s more to him than scoring. His ability to adapt to the left side of our midfield trio, as I’ve written previously, was perhaps the tactical tweak which made our record-breaking season possible.

Who’s won this award before? Click here and find out

There are so many others who hit the heights. Aaron Hayden became the first Wrexham centre back to reach double figures in a season, and he managed the feat in essentially half the campaign!

Ben Tozer was a permanent, rock solid presence alongside the likes of Eoghan O’Connell and Jordan Tunnicliffe.

In midfield you can take your pick from a wide range of superb performers. Luke Young might have dropped out of the side in the run-in, but he was a constant presence at the heart of the team, leading with grit, decisiveness and attacking threat.

James Jones’ tireless running was a crucial, if perhaps under-appreciated, element of the promotion team. Watch him when he doesn’t have the ball, constantly dragging opponents out of position or making a 20-yard sprint in the 89th minute to plug a gap and thwart a counter-attack. Priceless.

PREDICTION

How many players have turned in a season which is worthy of the award? Plenty. But Mullin simply has to get the nod after his unbelievable scoring feats.

To vote for the awards, go to the club website.