Surprise as Serero gets top PSL prize

Thulani Serero concluded an exceptional season by winning all major honours at the annual Premier Soccer League awards dinner, the Ajax Cape Town youngster banking an unprecedented R600000 on the night.

Serero, who will soon leave Cape Town for Ajax’s parent club in Amsterdam, was the toast of a glittering evening at Gold Reef City last night as he was called on to the stage no fewer than four times, including for the coveted Footballer-of-the-Year award worth R250000.

Serero clinching it, is likely to trigger fresh debate as to whether proper criteria are in place for it, as supposedly the winner must have performed remarkably in all competitions under the auspices of the PSL.

While Serero was brilliant as he led Ajax’s aborted title charge, the Urban Warriors hardly performed in cup competitions, failing to reach even a single semifinal.

By contrast, Orlando Pirates won two cup trophies and lost out in the other in the final, with their main contender for the Footballer-of-the-Season award, Andile Jali, featuring prominently. However, he fell short as Serero, 21, emerged the winner.

The Soweto-born attacker who joined Ajax as a teenager, was also named Absa Premiership Player and Players’ Player-of-the-Year, fending off the challenge of Jali and the Kaizer Chiefs duo of Knowledge Musona and Jimmy Tau. For both, Serero banked a cool R300000.

The Ajax Amsterdam-bound star then claimed the Young Player-of-the-Season honours, which seemed inconsequential as it came with a R50000 cheque to take his overall winnings to the R600000-mark. Since their inception, no player has managed to crack the half-a-million rand mark in a single evening, with Teko Modise the only one to come close two seasons ago.

Pirates coach Ruud Krol, who had predicted his players would dominate the stage last night after annexing a third trophy at the weekend, must have been disappointed to see his men fall off in the main categories, with the Dutchman’s R75000 cheque for coach of the year being Bucs’ biggest catch.

He beat off the challenge of Ajax’s Foppe de Haan and Clinton Larsen, the Bloemfontein Celtic rookie coach who led the club to an historic fifth position on the log.

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

PSL Footballer-of-the-Year: Thulani Serero (Ajax) – R150000; Absa Premiership Player-of-the-Season: Serero – R150000; Players’ Player-of-the-Season: Serero – R150000; Red Hot Young Player: Serero – R50000; Coach-of-the-Season: Ruud Krol (Pirates) – R75 000; Goal-of-the season: Tlou Segolela (Pirates) – R50000; Goalkeeper-of-the-Season: Patrick Tignyemb (Celtic) – R50000; Top Goal Scorer: Knowledge Musona (Chiefs) – R25000: Telkom Knockout Player-of-the-Tournament: Musona – R200000: MTN8 Player-of-the- Tournament: Siyabonga Nomvethe (Swallows) – R150000: Nedbank Cup Player-of-the-Tournament: Andile Jali (Pirates) – R100000; Nedbank Cup Young Player-of-the-Tournament: Segolela – R25000; Chairman’s Award: Lucky Lekgwathi (Pirates) – R100000; Referee of the Season: Daniel Bennett – R50000; Ass Referee of the Season: Zakhele Siwela – R40000