2014: Challenge Trophies Premier League Awards

2014 has come to a close, and it’s safe to say it hasn’t been a quiet one for the Premier League. We’ve picked a few awards to give out for the calendar year.

Goal of the Year

There has been a fair few special goals this year, and it’s a tough one to call, depending on whether you prefer slick passing movements or a thunderbolt from 40 yards out. However, after much deliberation we have awarded the trophy to Wayne Rooney for his finish against West Ham earlier in the year. Replicating that of former United captain, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney took the ball down, turned and beat the keeper from the halfway line with a superb finish.

Manager of the Year

This is another tough one to call due to the changings of fortunes in the second half of the year. Had this been decided in May, it would have been hard to look past Tony Pulis or Brendan Rogers. However, both have been in much controversy since then, with Pulis leaving Palace on the eve of the season, and Rodgers having a less than average start to this season. Koeman deserves a mention for an impressive start to life at Southampton after many had tipped them to be relegation candidates. Overall, for 2014 we have given the award to Jose Mourinho for his overall consistency. They had a strong finish to last season and have progressed further to look unstoppable in terms of winning the Premier League this season.

Game of the Year

A slightly easier award, that I’m sure fans from 19 out of the 20 Premier League clubs would find it hard to disagree with. For the result, as well as the way it came about, it has to go to the end-of-season thriller between Crystal Palace and Liverpool. Two teams who had excelled in the season met in the penultimate game of the season and Liverpool took a comfortable 3-0 lead as they looked to pip Manchester City to the title. However, Palace were not to be outdone, and they played their part in the title race by scoring 3 goals in 10 minutes to ruin Liverpool’s chances and to cause Luis Suarez to break down in tears at the end of the game.

Most Prolific Goalscorer

An award that is decided by stats rather than opinion, the most prolific goalscorer in 2014 has actually only been playing in the Premier League since August. Diego Costa was fairly unknown just a year ago, but he has turned out to be a brilliant signing for Chelsea with a ratio of 0.8 goals per game which is impressive to say the least.

Controversial Moment of the Year

There’s been plenty of bad tackles and controversial offside decisions, but it’s hard to look past the Alan Pardew incident with this award. Managers lose their temper regularly but he took it slightly too far in head butting a player, and it certainly caused uproar amongst the media. I’m sure he’ll be doing his best not to repeat that action in the near future.

Have you got any other awards of the year you think deserve a mention? Tweet them to us at @SportsTrophies.