The Supporters Club annual Player of the Year function was held at Bar 39 on Saturday evening. The do was MC'd by Dave Tuson, David Allan and Sandy Ferguson of the Cowdenbeath Supporters Club with various fans being invited up to make the presentations.
This year it was John Gemmell who won the prestigious and venerable Central Fife Times Cowdenbeath Player of the Year trophy while Darren McGregor carried off no less than 3 of the Player of the Year trophies - Players' Player of the Year, Online Player of the Year, and Fans' Player of the Year. Davie Hay too was honoured more than once. The trophy winners this year were Darren McGregor 3, Davie Hay 2, John Gemmell 2, Kenny Adamson, Paul McQuade, Danny Mackay, John Cameron and Aaron Tuson. Supporters of the year were the aforementioned John Cameron and Aaron Tuson; John has been a Cowden fan since the 1960s. He was on the Committee of the Junior Supporters Club in the sixties, organised the Supporters' buses back then when he was just a teenager (plus the occasional Supporters train), helped build the boundary wall at Central Park in 1970 and in recent years raised a 5 figure sum for the club via Blue Brazil lottery sales. Aaron Tuson by way of contrast is still just a teenager but he has already served on the Supporters Club committee for several years. This season he helped along with other volunteers pre-season with the painting work at Central Park and then worked unpaid in the club's office for several months. Recently, he has been one of the mainstays in running the club shop every matchday.
Following a suggestion by Ian Fraser, the Supporters Club had also decided to honour any Cowden player who made over 100 appearances for the club. Davie Hay and Mark Baxter were thus the first to be so honoured as centenarians. They were presented with plaques and were also both awarded Life Membership of the Cowdenbeath Supporters Club.
Danny Lennon too took the microphone to thank all the supporters on behalf of himself and the players. Firstly, for inviting them along and also for their loyal support throughout the season even when things did not work out as desired towards the end. He hoped that after the play offs we will have something to be proud off and assured the fans that the players would certainly be giving their all to earn promotion to Division 2. Danny intimated that he and the players greatly appreciated the passionate support offered by the Cowden fans and long may that continue. He also personally thanked some of many individuals behind the scenes who did such great work throughout the campaign: On the club shop front there was John and Evelyn Anderson and the great efforts of th e volunteers who ran the shop - Anne Weatherston, Aaron Tuson, Tommy Thomson and Derek Neilson; Ben Conway and Elaine Fotheringham for working as the 'doormen'; Dave Tuson, David Allan, Sandy Ferguson, Stuart Juner and Ewan Dow on the Board; the owners David and Alex Brewster; chairman James Methven (who passed on his apologies for being unable to attend) for his support and commitment (just ask Dick Campbell!); local businessman Jim Paterson; and all the staff and players at Central Park. Danny asked everyone to enjoy a great night and really hoped that things would go our way in the play offs to give us all something to celebrate in a fortnight's time.
Here is the full list of honours from the event.
Blue Brazil Online Player of the Year - 1st Darren McGregor (8 man of the match awards), 2nd John Gemmell (5 man of the match awards), 3rd Joe Mbu (3 man of the match awards). Recent past winners were: 2008 Davie Hay, 2007 Liam Buchanan, 2006 Davie Hay.
Blue Brazil Online Young Player of the Year - 1st Paul McQuade, 2nd Danny Mackay, 3rd Kenny Adamson. Recent past winners were: 2008 Jon Robertson, 2007 Pat Scullion, 2006 Mark Baxter.
Blue Brazil Online Fans' Player of the Year - 1st Davie Hay, 2nd Darren McGregor, 3rd Paul McQuade. Recent past winners were: 2008 Dougie Hill, 2007 Laurie Ellis, 2006 Markus Paatelainen.
Supporters Club Player of the Year (Central Fife Times Trophy) - 1st John Gemmell, 2nd Joe Mbu, 3rd Marek Tomana. Recent past winners were: 2008 Davie Hay, 2007 Liam Buchanan, 2006 Markus Paatelainen, 2005 Darren Gribben, 2004 Bryan Gilfillan, 2003 Davie White, 2002 Graeme Brown, 2001 Davie White, 2000 Graeme Brown, 1999 Scott Snedden, 1998 Craig Winter, 1997 Barry McMahon, 1996 Sammy Conn, 1995 Brian Malloy, 1994 Willie Callaghan.
Supporters Club Young Player of the Year (John Finlay snr Memorial Trophy) - 1st Danny Mackay, 2nd Paul McQuade, 3rd Kenny Adamson. Recent past winners were: 2008 Mark Ramsay, 2007 Pat Clarke, 2006 Liam Buchanan, 2005 Calvin Shand, 2004 Liam Buchanan.
Players' Player of the Year (Eric Mitchell Trophy) - 1st Darren McGregor, 2nd John Armstrong/John Gemmell/Paul McQuade/Davie Hay. Recent past winners were: 2008 Davie H ay, 2007 Dougie Hill, 2006 Markus Paatelainen, 2005 Innes Ritchie, 2004 Innes Ritchie.
Fans' Player of the Year (Junction Bar Trophy) - 1st Darren McGregor, 2nd Joe Mbu/Paul McQuade/Davie Hay/Mark Baxter. Recent past winners were: 2008 Dougie Hill, 2007 Dougie Hill, 2006 John Ward, 2005 Innes Ritchie, 2004 Innes Ritchie.
Top League Goalscorer (Hookey Leonard Trophy) - 1st John Gemmell 12 goals, 2nd Paul McQuade 10 goals, 3rd John Armstrong/John Dempster/Brian Fairbairn 5 goals. Recent past winners were: 2008 Pat Clarke, 2007 Liam Buchanan, 2006 Liam Buchanan, 2005 Darren Gribben, 2004 Dene Shields.
Best Individual display (The Pollock Shield) - 1st Davie Hay (0-0 game at Albion Rovers), 2nd Davie Hay (1-1 draw v Dumbarton), 3rd Joe Mbu (v Stenhousemuir)/Brian Fairbairn (v East Stirling). Recent past winners were: 2008 Denis McLaughlin, 2007 Pat Clarke, 2006 Armand One, 2005 Paul McHale.
Goal of the Season (One Stop Mortgages Trophy) - 1st Kenny Adamson (v East Stirling), 2nd John Gemmell (overhead kick v Albion Rovers), 3rd Paul McQuade (v Montrose). Recent past winners were: 2008 Pat Scullion, 2007 Pat Scullion, 2006 Mikko Paatelainen, 2005 Darren Gribben, 2004 Bryan Gilfillan.
Supporter of the Year (Lord Ewing Shield sponsored by the BLCC) -. John Cameron & Aaron Tuson. Recent past winners were: 2008 Jimmy Scade & Willie Nellies, 2007 Andy Mullen & David Allan, 2006 Ron & Sandy Ferguson, 2005 Willie Anderson & Jack Gilmour, 2004 Tom Ogilvie