Kabongo Tshimanga wins Chesterfield's Player of the Year after prolific season

Kabongo Tshimanga has won Chesterfield’s Player of the Year award.
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The striker was also named the Players’ Player of the Year after he scored an incredible 24 goals in 27 league games before suffering serious injury in February which has now ruled him out for the season.

Luke Croll (Social Contribution Award) and Curtis Weston (Community Trust Player of the Year) were also given accolades.

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Saidou Khan’s wonder strike against Woking away won the Goal of the Season.

Kabongo Tshimanga has won Chesterfield's Player of the Year award.Kabongo Tshimanga has won Chesterfield's Player of the Year award.
Kabongo Tshimanga has won Chesterfield's Player of the Year award.

Laken Torres won the Academy Player of the Year award

The Outstanding Achievement award went to legendary former manager John Duncan.

The big two awards went to Tshimanga, who bagged 25 goals in 30 appearances in all competitions after joining on a three-year deal from Boreham Wood last summer for a fee believed to be around 250,000,

His remarkable scoring rate, which was the best in the National League this season in terms of minutes played, puts him up there with some of the most prolific strikers in the club’s history.

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It didn’t take long for Spireites fans to take to him as they proudly sang ‘Wake me up before you go-go, who needs Messi when you’ve got Kabongo’ from the terraces.

He opened his Blues account on his debut away at Aldershot Town and he never looked back.

The Congo-born man scored six goals in three games in September and bagged in seven consecutive matches, finding the net nine times in total, between October and November.

His goals tally includes two hat-tricks against Barnet and Weymouth respectively.

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The striker’s longest run without a goal was just three appearances.

He had been linked with a move away in the January transfer window but he stayed put.

Unfortunately Tshimanga suffered a fractured leg and a dislocated ankle against Weymouth in February and Town have struggled for goals and slipped down the table since, although they do still have a chance of promotion through the play-offs.

The Spireites had hoped he might be able to return for the final part of the season or for the play-offs but manager Paul Cook ruled that out last week.

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Many Chesterfield fans will be wondering where they would have finished in the league had he been fit for the full season.

Several clubs, including the likes of Norwich City and Middlesbrough, are reportedly monitoring him but it is thought it would take a bid of around £1million to persuade Chesterfield to sell him.

Despite his injury Tshimanga only narrowly missed out on topping the National League scoring charts, with the award going to Wrexham’s Paul Mullin who scored 26 goals in 38 appearances.

FULL AWARDS LIST:

Player of the Year – Kabongo Tshimanga

Players’ Player of the Year – Kabongo Tshimanga

Academy Player of the Year – Laken Torres

Social Contribution – Luke Croll

Community Trust Player of the Year – Curtis Weston

Goal of the Season – Saidou Khan (vs Woking away)

Outstanding Achievement – John Duncan