It has certainly been a season to remember for West Ham United. The team have achieved a highest ever points total with three games still to play, and with the are embarking on a new chapter in the club's history; they have certainly given the famous Boleyn Ground a fitting farewell.
The end of season player awards took place on Tuesday night, with a number of awards up for grabs.
Payet picks up five awards
In any other season, you could state your claim for six or seven of the current players to be named the player of the season, but there is one man who really stole the show this season. Dimitri Payet, the very talented attacking midfielder, who was brought to the club in the summer for just over 10 million pounds, has been a revelation for the club since he signed.
The Frenchman picked up his first award of the evening when he picked up the ‘Top Goalscorer’ award. He notched up twelve goals in all competitions with some notably amazing free kicks scored along the way. He was quickly back on stage again as he was awarded the ‘Goal of the Season’ for his stunning free kick against Crystal Palace, which also won the ‘Goal of the Month’ for April in the Premier League.
The third award of the evening was the ‘Players’ Player of the Season’ and again it was Dimitri Payet who received this great honour, to pick up 100% of the awards given so far. He very quickly retained his 100% record for the night as he also won ‘Signing of the Season’, it was starting to look like it was going to be a near on whitewash of the awards.
Antonio and Randolph honoured
The next award was the ‘Best Individual Performance’ and it was awarded to Michail Antonio for his brilliant display in the 1-0 victory over Tottenham in March. He has also been a revelation since he joined from Nottingham Forest in the summer for a fee in the region of seven million pounds.
The ‘Save of the Season’ award was to follow and it was Darren Randolph who won this for his fine triple save in the FA Cup fourth round match at Anfield against Liverpool. A match which could have quite easily been lost, had it not been for the scintillating display from Randolph.
There were so many team performances to choose from in the ‘Best Team Performance’ award, any of them would have been worthy winners; from the 2-0 win away at Arsenal on the opening day of the season, to the 2-1 away victory at the Etihad - ending Manchester City’s 100% win rate at the time.
But it was the 3-2 away victory against Everton which took the prize. The Hammers recovered from a terrible start, going 2-0 down, to come back and score three goals in 12 minutes to secure the win. A result which showed the fighting spirit of the team, which has contributed to the club's best ever season in the Premier League.
Oxford and Payet the big winners
The next honour was the prestigious ‘Young Hammer of the Year’ award. West Ham have been known to produce a lot of amazing footballers and a lot of players who win this award, go on to great things in their career. The winner of the award was 17-year-old Reece Oxford who started in the 2-0 win over Arsenal, aged only 16 at the time, and he didn’t look one bit out of place. He went on to play in a few more games for the team and he will certainly be in the managers’ future plans.
The last award of the night was the big one, ‘The Hammer of the Year’. The player that the fans think has been the best player this season. An award that would have been very tightly contested in previous years, was widely expected to be one man this year as Dimitri Payet was rewarded for his amazing season with the club.
His performances also saw him be the first player for West Ham to be included in the ‘PFA Team of the Year’ and no-one could argue against it. The awards may have made it look like a one man show, but every single one player contributed to an amazing season for the club; and one thing is for sure, the club are entering into a very exciting era.