The NAB Young Footballer of the Year award recognises the future stars of Australian football, while at the same time providing funding to support the game at grassroots level.
The NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award will be awarded to the finest U/21 player talent throughout the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 competition. One nominee will be announced per month an all nominees will qualify to be named the NAB Footballer of the Year at the conclusiuon of the season.
While the overall winner will receive a personal investment portfolio, to acknowledge the vital role football clubs play in the development of today's youjng stars, NAB will also provide a $3,000 equipment pack to the junior club nominated by each of the monthly nominees.
Each monthly nominee is chosen by an expert judging panel. This season;s winner was Brisbane's Tommy Oar.
Oar Wins 2009/10 NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award
Brisbane Roar excitement machine Tommy Oar capped off a stellar season by winning the 2009/10 NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award.
Tommy, 18, was presented with the honour and inaugural trophy by NAB at the Hyundai A-League Awards ceremony in Sydney last night.
In addition to the bragging rights of being labelled the best young Australian talent under the age of 21, Oar was presented with a $10,000 personal investment portfolio courtesy of National Australia Bank.
Recruited to the Roar from Palm Beach Soccer Club on the Gold Coast, Oar triumphed over five outstanding rivals, each nominated monthly throughout the Hyundai A-League season. They included Kofi Danning (Sydney FC), Leigh Broxham (Melbourne Victory), Rostyn Griffiths (Nth Qld Fury), Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle Jets) and Mathew Leckie (Adelaide United).
“I’m absolutely rapt to win this prestigious NAB award in its inaugural year,” said Tommy Oar.
“This is totally unexpected, my aim at the start of the season was to break into the starting XI, work hard and go out on the field and express myself and I’m delighted to get recognition for that.”
Voted by a panel of experts, including Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen, Qantas Socceroos Coach Pim Verbeek and Assistant Coach Graham Arnold, the judges met monthly throughout season (and at years end) to adjudicate on the best performed U21 players in the competition.
Of the six nominees Tommy Oar was a unanimous choice with the judging panel.
Joseph Healy, NAB Group Executive, Business Banking said NAB is delighted to be building upon its FFA partnership with the NAB Young Footballer of the Year while at the same time offering assistance to the game at a grassroots level.
“We congratulate Tommy on this outstanding achievement and look forward to watching his development in the years to come,” said Mr Healy.
“NAB is pleased to be assisting with the identification of the next generation of Australian Football stars. We are proud to support this initiative and the young players in the competition as they strive to reach their potential.”
At just 18 years of age and still eligible for Under 20 duties with the Young Socceroos, Tommy Oar was an instrumental cog in the Brisbane Roar forward set-up, possessing a lethal left foot, fantastic vision and brilliant ball control.
Consistency of performance was a highlight with Oar playing in 17 fixtures for the Roar. Socceroos Head Coach Pim Verbeek was so impressed with Oar’s A-League season that in December he won selection in the Socceroos Squad for the Asian Cup Qualifier against Kuwait.
Fittingly, an award such as the NAB Young Footballer of the Year, which is designed to unearth the future stars of the game has done just that in its inaugural year.
As part of its commitment to grassroots football and to acknowledge the vital role junior football clubs play in the development of today’s young stars, NAB has also presented the junior clubs of each NAB Young Footballer of the Year nominee with a $3000 equipment pack during the season.
Junior clubs as follows:
Palm Beach Soccer Club (Qld) – Tommy Oar
Bulleen Lions Junior Football Club (Vic) – Mathew Leckie
Canberra FC (ACT) – Kofi Danning
Knox City Soccer Club (Vic) – Leigh Broxham
Kingsley Football Club (WA) – Rostyn Griffiths
Broadmeadow Magic FC (NSW) – Ben Kantarovski
The monthly nominees are listed below
August nominee - Kofi Danning
Sydney FC excitement machine Kofi Danning is the first nominee for the award after an outstanding opening month of the season, which included a memorable goal against North Queensland Fury in the opening round. This caps off a great month, which saw FIFA allow the Ghanian-born striker to represent Australia from now on and he was a member of the Qantas Young Socceroos squad that contested the FIFA World Youth Cup in Egypt. Click here for more information
September nominee - Leigh Broxham
Melbourne Victory youngster Leigh Broxham is the second nominee for the award after helping his team turn around its disappointing start to the season. Already with last season's premiership-championship double under his belt, Broxham will be looking to help Victory continue its recent resurgence that has seen the club climb to within striking distance of the summit. Click here for more information
October nominee - Tommy Oar
Brisbane Roar young gun Tommy Oar is the third nominee for the award. It may not have been a happy time from Rounds 9-12 for the Roar, when the nomination applied to, but there has at least been some positive to come from the winning drought and the change of coach with Oar playing the past three games and impressing during the period, playing every minute of the most recent two. Click here for more information
November nominee - Rostyn Griffiths
North Queensland Fury's Rostyn Griffiths is the fourth nominee for the award. In an up-and-down month that featured victories over Gold Coast United on the road and Adelaide United at home and defeats to Newcastle and Central Coast, Griffiths was one of Fury's most consistent performers and netted a goal in the heavy loss to the Mariners. Click here for more information
December nominee - Ben Kantarovski
Ben Kantarovski of Newcastle Jets was voted as the most outstanding U/21 player for the month of December. Determined by a panel of experts the NAB Young Footballer of the Year - December nominee, Ben Kantarovski, was judged on his performance over rounds 17-21 of the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 competition. Click here for more information
January nominee - Matthew Leckie
Young Adelaide United FC midfielder Mathew Leckie is the January nominee for Football Federation Australia’s (FFA) 2009/10 NAB Young Footballer of the Year Award. Leckie was voted by a panel of experts as the most outstanding U/21 player for the month of January (Rounds 22-26), the 19 year old becoming the sixth, and final, nominee for the award. Click here for more information