Shoretire up for PL2 Player of the Season award

The 17-year-old is named among an eight-man shortlist for the annual accolade as recognition for his stand-out performances in the competition for Neil Wood’s Under-23s side this season.

Shola, who was also recently named our Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year, topped the team’s scoring charts, netting 10 times as well as providing five assists across his 21 appearances.

That included netting a hat-trick in a 6-4 win over Blackburn Rovers at Leigh Sports Village, back in February, when he would go on to win the division’s Player of the Month award as well as signing his first professional contract with the club.

The Academy prospect also made his first-team debut in that month, coming on as a substitute in the 3-1 win against his hometown club Newcastle United before becoming our youngest-ever player to play in Europe four days later when we faced Real Sociedad in the Europa League.

Having been rewarded with his first call-up to the England Under-18s squad in March, Shoretire’s involvement with the Reds’ first team has more recently seen him come on as a late substitute in the weekend’s win over Wolves while he is also part of the travelling squad for tonight’s Europa League final in Gdansk.

The winner of the award, which will be picked by Premier League’s Football Development Panel, who also selected the shortlist, will be announced in due course.

PREMIER LEAGUE 2 PLAYER OF THE SEASON SHORTLIST

Louie Barry (Aston Villa)
Charlie Cresswell (Leeds)
Liam Delap (Man City)
Sam Greenwood (Leeds)
Connor McBride (Blackburn)
Cole Palmer (Man City)
Aaron Ramsey (Aston Villa)
Shola Shoretire (United)