12 players you won't believe won the Premier League Player of the Month award
Anton Ferdinand (West Ham – January 2006)
The less acclaimed Ferdinand brother was indeed a Premier League Player of the Month. In fact, he's won the same number as his older sibling Rio (one), meaning they’re the only brothers to claim the award.
In January 2006, Ferdinand’s dominant performances helped West Ham get two wins from three league games. The centre-back also opened the scoring in a 2-1 win over Fulham towards the end of the month – but it was a season that ended in heartbreak, as Ferdinand saw his decisive shootout penalty saved in the FA Cup final when West Ham were beaten by Liverpool.
Ferdinand left West Ham in 2008, played for various clubs in England and Turkey, and is now playing for Phil Brown’s Southend in League One.
Marcus Bent (Ipswich – January 2002)
It’s not often that a player can pick up an individual award in the season his club are relegated, but step forward Marcus Bent. Despite being part of the Ipswich side that went down at the end of the 2001/02 Premier League season, Bent picked up the PotM award in January 2002.
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He netted five goals in four games as Ipswich enjoyed a fantastic run at the turn of the year which looked like it could keep them up. By the end of the month, Bent’s goals had helped to pull the Tractor Boys out of the relegation zone, but it wasn't sustained and they finished 18th. The journeyman striker is now playing his football at Wick in the Southern Combination Premier League, five years after leaving Indonesian outfit Mitra Kukar.
Alex Manninger (Arsenal – March 1998)
The Arsenal reserve goalkeeper picked up the prize in his first season at the club - richly deserved, too. With David Seaman sidelined through injury, understudy Manninger came in and kept six straight clean sheets – a joint record for the club.
The last of these, before Seaman returned, came in a crucial 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford – a win that proved pivotal as Arsenal won the league by one point over Fergie’s team. Manninger remained at Highbury until 2002 before leaving for Espanyol.
The Austrian rarely established himself as a first-choice goalkeeper throughout his career, but did make a surprise return to English football last year when he trained with Liverpool before signing a short-term contract. However, he didn’t make an appearance for the Anfield club and retired this summer.
Adam Le Fondre (Reading – January 2013)
Le Fondre secured Reading’s first ever PotM award in January 2013 with five goals in four games for the Royals. The English striker didn’t find the net on New Year’s Day against Tottenham, but scored crucial late goals in each of the next three games. His 88th-minute equaliser against West Brom set up a spectacular finish as Reading won 3-2.
The following week, Le Fondre’s double secured all three points as Reading came from behind to beat Newcastle, before he scored another pair at the end of the month to rescue a point against Chelsea (a 2-2 draw, with Le Fondre’s goals coming in the 87th and 94th minutes). The striker finished the season with the most substitute goals in a season (8) – a record that stands today.
He left Reading in 2014 and is now at Bolton, aged 30, after spells with various clubs throughout the Football League.
Kevin Campbell (Everton – April 1999)
Campbell’s fine April for Everton in the 1998/99 season was rewarded with his only Player of the Month title. The striker spent six years at Goodison Park – but he won’t have had a better month than this one. Despite not scoring in the defeats to Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday at the beginning of the month, Campbell bagged two in each of the Toffees’ next three game – including crucial goals in the 2-0 win over Coventry and a 3-1 victory at Newcastle.
Campbell retired from football in 2007 after brief spells at West Brom and Cardiff. He played over 200 games for Arsenal, but his scoring record was unremarkable there and he's best remembered for his time at Everton, where he was the club’s top goalscorer in three consecutive seasons at the turn of the century.
Edu (Arsenal – February 2004)
The Brazilian midfielder, who made 100 appearances for Arsenal, picked up the award during the 2003/04 season when the Gunners went unbeaten in the league – although he did have to share the monthly honour with team-mate Dennis Bergkamp.
Edu bagged a crucial winner as Arsenal came from behind to beat Claudio Ranieri’s Chelsea 2-1 to go seven points clear at the top of the table. At this point, he could have played for England and there was talk that he could go to Euro 2004 with the Three Lions – but Brazil didn’t like the sound of this, so selected him for the Copa America instead.
Perhaps it isn’t particularly unusual that a Brazil and Arsenal midfielder could claim a Premier League Player of the Month award – but when you consider the players who didn’t win it (Patrick Vieira, for example, at any point in his career), Edu does stand out. The player left Arsenal in 2005 and retired in 2010 to become director of football at Corinthians.
Mickey Evans (Southampton – April 1997)
One-cap Republic of Ireland international Evans scored three goals for Southampton as the Saints went unbeaten in April 1997, helping them stay in the Premiership. Evans kick-started his month with a goal at Nottingham Forest, before striking against West Ham and Coventry to help the Saints pick up a crucial 11 points. They eventually avoided relegation by just a point.
Evans only played 22 times for Southampton and scored four goals, but with three coming in one month it was a deserved award for the striker. He became something of a cult hero at The Dell, but only briefly: by October 1997 his stint was over as he joined West Brom, soon after his only international appearance for the Republic of Ireland. He retired from football in 2006 after a long spell at Plymouth and a few games for Torquay.
Mikael Forssell (Birmingham – March 2004)
On loan at Birmingham from Chelsea, Forssell enjoyed the most prolific season of his career in 2003/04 with 17 league goals. This was the fourth-highest total of anyone in the top tier that season and, amusingly, more than any Chelsea player managed in the first season of Roman Abramovich cash.
In March, the Finnish finisher picked up the PotM award after netting six goals in five games, including doubles against Middlesbrough and Leeds. He returned to Birmingham on loan again the following season, but didn’t score in his four appearances. He did make his switch to St Andrew's permanent in 2005, though, netting 13 in 65 games spread across three years. He’s still playing these days aged 36, back in his native Finland.
Peter Odemwingie (West Brom – September 2010, April 2011, February 2012)
Odemwingie didn’t just win the Player of the Month award once, nor twice, but three times. The Nigerian arrived in England at West Brom in 2010, hit the ground running and did enough to nab the award in September 2010.
He became only the sixth player to win the award twice in the same season after plundering five goals in six April 2011 games to help West Brom survive relegation. A third (and probably final) PotM accolade was won by the Nigerian in February 2012, despite playing just two matches.
The fact that he bagged five times – including a hat-trick against rivals Wolves – may have helped. Fast-forward a few years and he was driving to Loftus Road trying (and failing) to force through a deadline day move to QPR.
Tim Krul (Newcastle - November 2013)
Alan Pardew’s Newcastle won all four of their league games in November 2013, including massive wins over Chelsea and Tottenham in which Krul kept clean sheets (and against Spurs, made a phenomenal 14 saves). Newcastle went on to finish 10th that season, after which Krul suffered several injuries and spent time on loan at Ajax and AZ in his home league. The Dutch keeper is now at Premier League newbies Brighton.
Johan Elmander (Bolton – November 2010)
The Swedish striker was rewarded for a fine month in late 2010 – one in which his boss Owen Coyle picked up the manager’s prize. Bolton enjoyed three wins and two draws in November 2010, while Elmander netted three goals for the Trotters – including a double in the 5-1 win at home to Newcastle. Elmander’s goal against Wolves in that November is memorable for his sublime piece of skill to turn away from three defenders and slot into the bottom corner.
Bolton went on to finish 14th despite losing their final five matches.
Elmander had a spell at Galatasaray after leaving Bolton in 2011, before spending the 2013/14 season on loan at Norwich. The forward is now playing back in Sweden.
Connor Wickham (Sunderland – April 2014)
Needless to say, when a Sunderland player has won a Premier League Player of the Month award in recent years it has come at the end of the season after they've pulled off a remarkable escape (see also: Steven Fletcher, April 2012).
April 2014 was no different as Sunderland picked up seven crucial points to retain their Premier League status. After defeats earlier in the month against Tottenham and Everton, Wickham inspired a 2-2 draw at Manchester City with both Sunderland goals.
Three days later the striker scored again as Sunderland famously beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, before his double the following week helped see off Cardiff 4-0.
The Black Cats stayed up, finishing 14th. Wickham's form didn't last and he took in loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds, before joining Crystal Palace in 2015.
