EFL

THE EFL will stage their annual season awards ceremony on Thursday night – and this year it will be a virtual event.But today I am going to pick out my winners for what has been yet another thrilling campaign across all three divisions – and below is my EFL team of the season
Justin Allen’s EFL team of the season
Bolton defender Ricardo Santos (left) is SunSport’s League Two player of the year and in the team of the seasonCredit: Getty
LEAGUE TWO
Player of the season – Ricardo Santos (Bolton)
THEY call him The Wall up in this part of Lancashire, the centre-half has proved to be an inspired signing from boss Ian Evatt.
Snapped up from Barnet in the summer, he has not missed a minute of league action this season with Wanderers only needing one more win to guarantee League One football next season.
Manager of the season – Michael Duff (Cheltenham)
WHAT an incredible job the Burnley legend has done with the Robins. Has the eighth lowest budget in the division yet only needs a maximum of one point from the last three games to take the club into League One. 
A fantastic FA Cup run that saw Cheltenham go within nine minutes of beating Man City was one of the highlights of a superb season.
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Jonson Clarke-Harris scored his 29th league goal of the season for Peterborough at Charlton on SaturdayCredit: Getty
LEAGUE ONE
Player of the season – Jonson Clarke-Harris (Peterborough)
HAS had an incredible first season with Posh after stepping into the enormous shoes left by Ivan Toney.
Since his £1.2million switch from Bristol Rovers, the striker has plundered 29 league goals to shoot Darren Ferguson’s men into the Championship.
Manager of the season – Grant McCann (Hull)
THE Northern Irishman stayed dignified in the face of stinging criticism from fans last season following the Tigers relegation. But he has secured their return to the Championship at the first time of asking.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Player of the season – Ivan Toney (Brentford)
HAS been the stand-out star in English football’s second tier.
When the Bees sold 25-goal striker Ollie Watkins to Aston Villa in the summer, no-one would have imagined that Toney would do even better.
Ivan Toney, here scoring against Preston, has been the EFL’s standout player this seasonCredit: Getty
His 29 league goals – with three games left to play – since his £5million move from Peterborough is the main reason Thomas Frank’s side are in with a shout again of promotion to the Premier League.
It will be hard for the Bees to keep hold of this player if they fail to win promotion with several top-flight clubs sniffing around.
His all-round game has improved and he gives Brentford a big physical presence up top.
Will be the key man in the play-offs next month.
Manager of the season – Valerien Ismael (Barnsley)
THE Frenchman has worked absolute wonders in South Yorkshire.
Barnsley were most people’s favourites to be relegated yet they go into next month’s play-offs with a serious fighting chance of a fairytale promotion to the Premier League.
His teams are hard-working, press high, are intense and well-drilled. Even Chelsea could count themselves fortunate to sneak past them in the FA Cup.
The signing of striker Daryl Dike on loan from Orlando in the winter transfer window proved inspiring and gave his team momentum  in the second half of the season.
Daryl Dike has been a brilliant signing by Barnsley and has scored some superb goals – including this overhead kick against HuddersfieldCredit: Getty

EFL YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON
Daryl Dike (Barnsley)
ALTHOUGH he has only been on these shores since the start of February, so superb has been the American’s impact that he is the standout rookie in the league.
Aged just 20, this powerful athlete has been a game-changer for Barnsley in their surprise promotion bid.
Dike already has netted nine goals in just 12 starts and a whole host of Premier League clubs are interested in signing him this summer.
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However, if the Tykes win promotion, keeping Dike will be a priority for the club’s board who say they have a water-tight agreement with Orlando to sign him permanently if they wish this summer.
A mention must also go to 20-year-old Spurs midfielder Oliver Skipp, who is on loan with Norwich.
His mature performances in the centre of midfield defies his 20 years of age.
Some are even saying he can be a future England captain. A real gem.
Jamal Lowe rolls his foot over the ball before scoring his stunner against CardiffCredit: Getty
EFL GOAL OF THE SEASON
JAMAL LOWE (SWANSEA v Cardiff)
NOT a bad match to endear yourself to the fans by scoring a worldy.
Picking up the ball from Andre Ayew around halfway, the Swans striker rode past two tackles before planting a lovely shot past keeper Alex Smithies.
His two goals earned a 2-0 win over Swansea’s bitter foes.
DIRECTORS OF THE SEASON
BEST – DELIA SMITH & MICHAEL WYNN-JONES (Norwich City)
THE Canaries’ majority shareholders deserve a lot of credit for keeping faith with Daniel Farke after relegation from the Premier League when so many clubs would have fired him. 
With good recruitment, helped by Stuart Webber, the German has rewarded them with an instant return to the top-flight.
If the club can be as clever in the transfer market this summer again, they will have a fighting chance of staying in the Premier League.
Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones have overseen another Norwich promotionCredit: Rex
Gary Neville has sacked two managers this season as a director of Salford CityCredit: Alamy
WORST – GARY NEVILLE (Salford)
SORRY but Neville might be a good pundit but his judgement as a part-owner of the League Two club this season has been shocking.
First he sacked experienced Graham Alexander, who got them promoted into the EFL as well as finishing a credible 11th in their first season. 
Fans were scratching their heads as Neville wielded the axe with the club unbeaten and fifth in League Two after just five games.

The Manchester United legend then sent Richie Wellens packing 10 days after winning the EFL Trophy at Wembley.
Incredibly, the club – despite all the constant managerial upheaval – still have a play-off chance which only masks Neville’s shortcomings. If thy get promoted it will be in spite of Neville, not because of him.
So good luck to new boss Gary Bowyer.
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SUTTON chairman Bruce Elliott has branded the EFL “dinosaurs” when it comes to their attitude towards 3G pitches.The National League club will lose around £500,000 next season from ripping up their state-of-the-art pitch at Gander Green Lane to install a grass one if they win promotion to League Two.
Sutton United chairman Bruce Elliott on the 3G pitch at Gander Green Lane
More than £200,000 will continue to go missing every year from the Surrey outfit due to the loss of revenue from the community use of the stadium – a huge amount for a club their size – and take on new costs of finding another training venue.
Harrogate reluctantly had to get rid of theirs last summer when they were promoted and shelled out a similar amount while also waving goodbye to their crucial income stream.
This is because artificial surfaces have been banned from the EFL since 1995. But in fairness to the league’s board, it is the clubs that have decided not to allow synthetic pitches to return.
In 2014, in an EFL-wide ballot, 34 clubs voted for 3G pitches, 34 against with four abstentions so the regulations were not changed – but in 2018 a majority of teams were against.
But it does seems bonkers – especially at a time of financial hardship – that clubs, particularly in League Two and One, cannot have 3G pitches.
The surfaces have come on a long way since the ghastly plastic pitches at Oldham’s Boundary Park and Luton’s Kenilworth Road.
Elliott told me: “Financially it’ll be tough. We’ve already had to take out a loan, like lots of National League clubs, to get us through to the end of this season – and if we get promoted we’re going to lose somewhere around £500,000 to change our pitch.
The beautiful 3G pitch at Sutton United’s Gander Green Lane is a money-spinner
“Installing our 3G pitch five years ago was a game-changer.
“Our academy, ladies, boys, girls, disability teams, walking football all use it – and it’s hired out constantly.
“Our first-team also trains on it – so not only do we lose around £200,000 income from those using it, we are also going to have to find the extra cost of training somewhere else as well as another home with hopefully a 3G pitch for all our other teams to use.
“You would’ve thought League One and Two clubs especially would welcome the extra revenue it generates.
“There needs to be pressure put on the EFL to seriously look at this. Talk about heads in the sands – they’re being dinosaurs on this subject.”
And the reason Elliott believes the EFL are behind the times is because Fifa and Uefa no longer have such a ban in their competitions – including the World Cup and Euros.
The FA has also poured millions of pounds into 3G pitches at grassroots level.
I understand that at least 16 League Two clubs either own or have use of a 3G pitch for training.
Elliott said: “It makes the whole thing an even bigger nonsense.
There needs to be pressure put on the EFL to seriously look at this. Talk about heads in the sands – they’re being dinosaurs on this subject.Bruce Elliott, Sutton chairman
“There is a misconception that 3G pitches cause more injuries – but that is not what we’ve experienced.
“If clubs were so worried, why do they let their players train on them then?
“I’ve watched international and European matches played on them and it just winds me up further.”
In 2017 Sutton entertained Premier League giants Arsenal in the FA Cup – and Elliott said: “Arsene Wenger didn’t batter an eyelid and never once complained, which speaks volumes.”
Elliott has an ally in Harrogate chairman Irving Weaver after his club had to get rid of theirs in the summer.
And the Sulpherites chief makes a good point – saying: “We’ve never had to worry about calling off a Boxing Day game, with bumper crowds, because of a frozen or waterlogged pitch.
Harrogate has to rip up their 3G pitch when they were promoted to League Two
“The 3G pitches are fantastic and the fact we had one saw us play a passing game that helped us get promoted.
“And the other thing you have to consider is that when we hired the pitch out it brought lots of people to the stadium and therefore introducing a new audience to the club. In turn, many started coming to watch our games.
“We had 280 kids – eight to 16 – using it from our player development centre. They paid subs, families would come and then attend first-team matches
“Although we’ve been around for 107 years, most of those were in the lower levels of non-league so don’t have an established fan-base – we’re having to grow it now. Losing the facility has taken away one of our opportunities to grow club loyalty.
“It was hard enough not being able to introduce new fans by playing our play-off final at Wembley behind closed doors.”
It is not all bad news however – as League Two clubs receive around £900,000 in TV revenue and solidarity payments each season. That is in contrast to the paltry £70,000 basic award payments each club gets in the National League. Although it must be pointed out that wage bills will also increase significantly.
Sutton United’s Gander Green Lane 3G pitch earns the club around £200,000 a season
But Elliott and Weaver are both in agreement that they would rather be in the EFL than not.
Elliott said: “We’ve been a non-league club for 123 years – and to become a Football League side will be a proud moment. We’ll certainly do what is required by the EFL if we do win promotion.”
Weaver added: “The positives and prestige of being in the EFL outweigh the negatives. It was an incredible achievement for us to get into the Football League.
“We’ve won two promotions in three years so you have to take the joy with the pain.”
Three years ago, a PFA survey of 1,748 players in the EFL found that the vast majority were against fully synthetic pitches.

But the Harrogate chairman is convinced that attitudes will soon change. First because clubs in the lower leagues will realise they are wasting a great chance to make significant revenue and also most young players now are being brought up on 3G pitches.
He said: “At the moment, there are a lot of professional footballers who don’t want to play matches on 3G but in 10 years as kids that are brought up on them now come through you’ll see an attitude shift.
“I’d certainly put one in again if given the chance.”
An EFL spokesman told me: “The use of artificial pitches is not currently on the agenda.
“Ultimately, clubs determine the regulations so the requirement to play on grass is the will of the membership.” More