Salomon Rondon has paid tribute to his teammates and the Toon Army after becoming the first Newcastle striker since Alan Shearer to land the club’s official Player of the Season award.
Quite incredibly, the last TEN end of season awards have gone to either a goalkeeper or defender, but the Venezuelan has bucked that trend following his superb season – seeing him bag 11 goals and 8 assists up top.
Here’s what the big man’s had to say after being crowned our official Player of the Year for the 2018/19 campaign:
“I feel really honoured to have been named @NUFC‘s Player of the Year. A real privilege!
“I owe the award to my teammates and you Magpies who’ve battled all the way with us. Thank you for the amazing support at St. James’ Park!!
“Howay the Lads!!”
A classy response, with the 29-year-old paying tribute to both his teammates and the ‘amazing’ Newcastle fans, thanking both for ‘battling’ alongside him all season.
As you can see below, Rondon is the FIRST forward to win the award since Alan Shearer way back in 2002/03, with it also worth noting that the last 10 winners have been either defenders or goalkeepers:
2002/03 Alan Shearer
2003/04 Olivier Bernard
2004/05 Shay Given
2005/06 Shay Given
2006/07 Nicky ****
2007/08 Habib Beye
2008/09 Sébastien Bassong
2009/10 José Enrique
2010/11 Fabricio Coloccini
2011/12 Tim Krul
2012/13 Davide Santon
2013/14 Mike Williamson
2014/15 Daryl Janmaat
2015/16 Rob Elliot
2016/17 Ciaran Clark
2017/18 Jamaal Lascelles
2018/19 Salomón Rondón
