Getting voted by one’s peers as the best in your field is something to be really proud of.
Becoming recognised for the hours of hard work, training and commitment put into maintaining a consistent level of great form, makes it all worthwhile. Yes, so too do the sweet pay cheques, but to be raised on a pedestal and celebrated by those who know what it’s like to be a professional footballer must be a thrilling honour.
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End-of-season championing can sometimes be a little tedious and grating but the PFA awards ceremony is a veritable joy to drink in most of the time, and one of its most fascinating categories is the Young Player of the Year because it draws all of the Premier League’s most promising and exciting starlets together, aged 23 and under.
Most of the time, the winners are more than worthy of their accolade and often go on to enjoy hugely fulfilling careers, spurned on by the confidence of taking home such a prestigious trophy. A select few, however, have really failed to build on their early success and it has been a disappointment to behold.
Let’s take a look at five previous winners who have flopped following their trophy-snatching heroics.
Craig Bellamy
Mention Craig Bellamy to most football fans and it’s likely images of the former Wales international intimidating ex-team-mate John Arne Riise will spring to mind.
Throughout his time in the professional game, Bellamy earned himself a reputation as somewhat of a contentious chap, to put it lightly. Often grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons, it might come as a shock to some that the now-retired star actually took home this particular award.
He was a maverick, a bit of a madman and a loose cannon. He was a player many loved to hate. He lit the game up with his lively attitude, but sometimes his frenzied behaviour got in the way of his really excellent football skill.
On his day, he was a tremendously nifty technician who could ghost past defenders with the drop of his shoulder and a burst of killer pace, especially when he was a fresh-faced dribbler.
He won a lot less silverware than he was probably expected to when he was voted the PFA’s choice youngster in 2001/02, but that probably had something to do with the fact he was often battling personal demons and real anger issues. Still, he never quite hit the heights he could have and that will remain a disappointment to so many.
Ashley Young
Still on the books with Manchester United, Ashley Young is now 30 years of age and far from his best days, but there was once a time when he was the toast of England as one of the country’s most auspicious footballers.
The Red Devils fans have come around to Young’s ability in recent times, as he’s shown his versatility, but it’s fair to say that he hasn’t quite lived up to his billing throughout his career to date.
Despite winning the Premier League and the FA Community Shield during his time at the club, he was tipped for much bigger things. Derided for his silly penchant for diving at Old Trafford, he also often struggled with the crushing expectancy that comes with playing for such a super-club.
During his time with Aston Villa, where he enjoyed his best days by far and won the PFA award, he was a terrific delight to behold and really resembled a world-class star in the making. Under Martin O’ Neill he dazzled fantastically but ever since taking the step up to a bigger club he has been unable to transfer that magic efficiently which has been a real shame.
Jermaine Jenas
At its simplest, to flop means to fail. No matter how that failure comes about, if it happens, it happens.
Sometimes it can be used in a derogatory manner to tear players down, but at its core, it’s simply a label that there has been a distinct lack of success present. No matter how his admirers might want to believe differently, Jermaine Jenas’ career since his PFA triumph has slotted neatly into that category.
There can be little denying his potential. He was a good footballer as a box-to-box midfielder for a time, but he simply couldn’t make it last. He had the ability to become a consistent professional – and he did produce memorable moments on more than one occasion.
However, he simply didn’t do it often enough and his career dramatically imploded far earlier than many would have expected.
Having joined Newcastle United from Nottingham Forest, he was widely regarded as a future great, but he simply lost his rhythm and aside from his Championship play-off win, could only manage one piece of silverware, the League Cup. In the blink of an eye he went from excellent to underwhelming and he never fully recovered from it.
Injuries definitely hampered his career and to see him retire at just 32 was really unfortunate, but the harsh nature of professional football means that if stars aren’t fit on a regular basis, they can get left behind.
Harry Kewell
In 2000, Harry Kewell joined the likes of Andrew Cole, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham in taking home this award. It signaled the beginning of a promising few seasons for the ex-Australia international, but it didn’t last.
As part of the Leeds United side that reached the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League towards the beginning of the noughties, he lit up not only the English top flight but also the continent’s elite competition. He was a veritable prodigy during his stay with the Peacocks and served up some quality football, but his early career showing was very much his optimum level.
A career blighted by recurring injury and confounded by disenchanting displays meant that his early-career promise was largely overshadowed by his slump after departing Leeds.
Despite winning a few titles at Liverpool, Kewell is often recalled as one of the biggest flops in the Premier League because he never quite lived up to his billing as a prospective great and spent plenty of time warming the bench.
Scott Parker
Scott Parker was 23 years old when he secured the PFA gong. Playing for Charlton Athletic for the first half of the season, before transferring to Chelsea, the no-nonsense midfielder saw his rather traditional methods rewarded by his equals and although he also won the Football Writers’ award in 2011 when with West Ham United, his overall career has been one of disappointment for so many.
No one could say Parker didn’t give his all on the field of play. He made a career out of charging around the field with intensity, but many often derided his lack of technical ability and in truth that identity ended up following him around throughout his career – and he couldn’t outrun it.
His 18 appearances for the England national team really tells its own story about just how he paled in comparison to many of his more exciting and creative countrymen. Yes, he was dependable at what he did, but the fact he failed to scale the supernatural heights often expected by young starlets encapsulates so much about how he flopped.
Arguably his spell at Chelsea, the biggest club on his resume, was a major disappointment because he only won the Football League Cup there before getting shut out of the team by better players such as Arjen Robben.
