Last 7 Championship Players of the Year: Where Are They Now?

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The Championship has once again proved to be one of the most wildly unpredictable leagues in world sport this season, and whilst the quality has at times been found a little wanting, no-one can accuse English football’s second tier of lacking drama, entertainment and some comebacks of truly epic proportions.

At the start of the season, I gave my prediction on who would be the top seven in the Championship this season, and I probably got about two right. Had I done it for the Premier League, I’d have got at least six of them, and so would you, all your mates and probably your nan.

So today is our first Championship video for a while, and it’s one that has been requested a fair few times in the comments, as we take a look at the last 7 Championship Player of the Year winners, although not including this season I should add, which saw the award go to Norwich goal getter Teemu Pukki.

Here are the last 7 Championship Player of the Year winners: Where are they now?

7. Ryan Sessegnon – Fulham

Ryan Sessegnon’s contribution to Fulham’s play-off winning campaign last season as a teenager was quite extraordinary, but he never should have won the Championship Player of the Year award, as Wolves star Ruben Neves was a class apart from the rest of the division. This is who the EFL chooses and not who I’d choose though, so Sessegnon it is. Remarkably still only 18, Sessegnon has now played 115 games for his boyhood club, including 30 in the Premier League. There may be a more experienced 18-year-old in world football but I am not aware of one.

This season hasn’t seen Sessegnon take the Premier League by storm if we’re honest, but he hasn’t let himself down either, in a Fulham side which has been really underwhelming all season long. If Sessegnon wants to leave Fulham this summer, he’ll have a long line of suitors, but they’d best have deep pockets.

6. Anthony Knockaert – Brighton

Anthony Knockaert of Brighton and Hove Albion arrives at the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and AFC Bournemouth at American Express Community…

Newcastle United and Brighton both exceeded 90 points during the 2016-17 Championship season en-route to automatic promotion, and it was Brighton’s Anthony Knockaert who saw off the likes of Dwight Gayle and Chris Wood to be named as the division’s Player of the Year. Knockaert had impressed in the Championship with Leicester prior to joining Brighton in 2016, but he reached new heights on the south coast, bagging 15 goals and 8 assists in 45 games. Knockaert is still with Brighton, who are facing a tough battle with Cardiff to stay in the Premier League this season.

5. Andre Gray – Watford

Guaranteed goals at Championship level, Burnley pulled off a masterstroke signing Andre Gray for £6 million from Brentford, as Hull City dawdled and doubted about the fee. Gray proceeded to bag 23 goals in 41 games as Burnley won the title, followed by 9 the following season in the Premier League before an £18.5 million move to Watford. So it was £6 million well-spent by Sean Dyche. Since signing for Watford, Gray has scored 12 goals in 62 games, which doesn’t sound all that impressive, but he’s been a pretty regular fixture in a side that is 7th in the Premier League and into the final of the FA Cup.

4. Patrick Bamford – Leeds United

Leeds United’s Patrick Bamford battles with Brentford’s Mads Bech Sorensen during the Sky Bet Championship match between Brentford and Leeds United at Griffin Park on April 22, 2019 in…

The first player in this seven who won the Championship Player of the Year award despite the player himself not tasting promotion during the season in question, Patrick Bamford’s Middlesbrough side reached the play-off final back in 2014-15, but came unstuck up against Norwich City. Bamford may well get the chance to make that right at Leeds United this season, with the play-offs now looking like Leeds’ most likely route back to the Premier League following a couple of defeats seeing Sheffield United leapfrog them in the league table. He has scored 9 goals in 21 games in the Championship since joining Leeds from Middlesbrough for a potential £10 million.

3. Danny Ings – Southampton

The second striker in this seven who won the Championship Player of the Year award whilst playing for Burnley, there has been a bit of a conveyor belt of talent in the centre-forward position at Turf Moor over the last decade. Danny Ings was a major part of that, scoring 26 goals in all competitions during the season in question. He bagged 11 in 35 the following season, which prompted Liverpool into taking a chance on the Englishman whose contract had expired, and therefore his fee had to be settled by a tribunal. Ings played very little football at Anfield, but he’s scored a creditable 8 in 19 since signing for Southampton in January.

2. Matej Vydra – Burnley

Declan Rice of England vies for possession with Matej Vydra of Czech Republic during the 2020 UEFA European Championships group A qualifying match between England and Czech Republic at…

From a couple of centre-forwards who won the Championship Player of the Year award with Burnley, to a former Championship Player of the Year who has since signed for the Clarets, the 2013 recipient of the award was Czech international Matej Vydra. Only 20 at the time, Vydra has blown hot and cold in the six years that have followed. Last season was his best since the 2012-13 campaign, as he bagged 22 goals for Derby, prompting a reported £11 million move to Burnley in the summer. Vydra has since managed 1 goal in just 11 league appearances, largely playing second fiddle to Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood up front.

1. Rickie Lambert – Retired

Those of you who follow the HITC Sevens Twitter page probably saw my tweet about Rickie Lambert a few days ago. For those of you who didn’t, it gave a pretty concise breakdown of Rickie Lambert’s meteoric rise and calamitous fall all in the space of six years. The Championship Player of the Year award in 2012 was just the start for Lambert, who was among the Premier League’s top scorers and played for England at a World Cup by 2014. It was also in 2014 that Lambert joined Liverpool though, and that’s when it all began to come crashing down. He barely featured, before having a miserable stint at West Brom. A move to Cardiff followed, where his contract was terminated following injury and Lambert retired unable to find a potential suitor.