Mullin, Manning, but who else? Welsh football's Team of the Season
- Published
It has been a campaign that has seen record-breaking promotions, late top-six surges and brushes with relegation.
But with club football in Wales at an end for another season, which players made it a term to remember and stood out for their respective clubs?
With the aim of selecting a stand-out starting XI from players who have impressed this most this term from across Wales' sides in the EFL, National League and the Cymru Premier, BBC Radio Wales Sport assembled a panel of experts to try to find a consensus on the most consistent performers.
It saw former Wales internationals Iwan Roberts and Owain Tudur Jones team up with S4C's Sgorio presenter Sioned Dafydd and BBC Wales' Football Correspondent Rob Phillips - with a helping hand from Haverfordwest manager Tony Pennock - argue it out to name a team of the season.
Their decisions have already sparked debate on social media, but this is who they went for and why.
Goalkeeper - Andy Firth (Connah's Quay Nomads)
Andy Firth came through the youth academy at Liverpool
Tony Pennock: "I just think he's been consistent, kept the most clean sheets in the league and whenever we've played them I know how dependable he's been for Neil Gibson. I had him at Hull for a short spell on trial, he went onto Rangers and he was at Liverpool a long, long time and you can see the upbringing he's had which he's benefited from."
Key Stat: The former Liverpool and Rangers 26-year-old kept 22 clean sheets, including a run of five shut-outs in a row.
Right Back - Cameron Norman (Newport County)
Owain Tudur Jones: "Player of the year at Newport, really solid, dependable."
Rob Phillips: "He's a cert, he's been consistently Newport's best player and threat down that right hand side."
Key Stat: Played more minutes than any other County player over the campaign.
Centre Back - Ben Tozer (Wrexham)
Iwan Roberts: "Every successful team needs a good leader and good organiser, and that's what Tozer is. He's got that weapon of a long throw as well."
RP: "He's not only a really good defender, so consistent, but those long throws have been a massive part of Wrexham's armoury."
Key Stat: The club captain featured in every minute of Wrexham's National League title campaign.
Centre Back - Perry Ng (Cardiff City)
Perry Ng joined the Bluebirds from Crewe Alexandra in 2021
IR: "He's had a tremendous season, I have to get in him my team.."
RP: "Every free-kick Cardiff had after that winner against Birmingham, Cardiff fans were screaming for him to take it. He's been very consistent."
Key Stat: The 27-year-old played in every position across Cardiff's defence over the season.
Left Back - Ryan Manning (Swansea City)
RP: "An easy choice, excellent throughout the season. Reliable defensively, but perhaps stood out going forward - and scored some beauties too."
Key Stat: Provided 10 assists, the most of any Swansea player and joint-second highest in the Championship.
Midfield - Matt Grimes (Swansea City)
OTJ: "He can almost be taken for granted what he does and the quality he has, but he is so important to the way Swansea play. Doubters will point to the stats about ball possession and ask how many passes go forward, but it's quite a few if the openings are there. His task is to keep things ticking over and nobody does it better in the Championship. He's a no-brainer."
Key Stat: Averaged 95.8 passes per game, the highest in the division while his passing accuracy of 91.2% was also the highest of any Championship midfielder.
Midfield - Jay Fulton (Swansea City)
IR: "He played a bit-part last season and people didn't think he had much of a future with the Swans, but I love the way he's dug in, showed character, looked to prove people wrong and he's had a fantastic season."
Key Stat: Passed 200 appearances for the Swans during the season and team-mates voted him their players' player of the season.
Midfield - Elliott Lee (Wrexham)
IR: "He scored some very important goals and was nearly in double figures in assists. He was almost ready-made for that position for Wrexham and I bet the likes of Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer, they've absolutely loved having him playing behind them."
Key Stat: Lee's 15 goals from midfield was a career-best for a single season.
Forward - Omar Bogle (Newport County)
Omar Bogle is the only Newport County player to make our selection
RP: "He came through a very tough start to the season where he wasn't flavour of the month with many County fans, but he's carried that fight, proved to be a great target man, and has more skill than people give him credit for. They got legs alongside him and it's one of the reasons they finished the season in a position far better than they were at the start."
Key Stat: The striker's 54 appearances for County in the campaign was a career-best for a single season.
Forward - Joel Piroe (Swansea City)
Sioned Dafydd: "That stunning free-kick against West Brom on the last day felt very apt after the season he had."
RP: "Clinical finisher who spearheaded the campaign for Swansea. An absolute bargain who's bound to attract attention from higher-level clubs in the summer."
Key Stat: Became the first Swansea player to score 20 or more goals in successive seasons since Jason Scotland in 2009.
Forward - Paul Mullin (Wrexham)
IR: "He is ridiculous and the stats speak for themselves. His movement is intelligent, his work to win the penalties against Sheffield United was magnificent. He can lose defenders and take them into areas they don't want to go - and he gets what he deserves because of his work-rate. If you're marking him, you know you're not going to get a moment's peace."
Key Stat: Only club legend Tommy Bamford has scored more goals in a single season for Wrexham than Mullin's 47 this campaign.
MANAGER - Phil Parkinson (Wrexham)
Phil Parkinson was a professional footballer before becoming a manager, representing Bury and Reading
SD: "Wrexham being promoted back to the Football League is going to be a 'where-were-you moment?' in years to come. Welsh football had strange periods this season, especially after the World Cup after a disappointing time in Qatar which left us all feeling a little bit deflated, and then of course Cardiff, Newport, Swans have all had their problems. Wrexham have been the tonic we've needed."
RP: "Manager of the season, not just because they topped the table, but because he's put up with all the background music and has been brilliant."
Key Stat: His side collected 67 from a possible 69 points at home all season, with 74 goals in Wrexham's favour scored at the Racecourse.
You can find out who just missed out on selection and hear the panel justify their decisions on the special edition of Radio Wales Sport via BBC Sounds.
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