Surprise POTS
There was mild amazement around the ballroom when it was announced that Canadian goalkeeper
Dexter Stacey had become the club's Player of the Season in his first full season at Grilled, despite being at the bottom of the popularity stakes. Stacey himself glanced about when his name was called, clearly not having prepared an acceptance speech. He managed to mutter a general thanks to his teammates before exiting stage left.
Punters likewise were taken in, with Stacey reportedly quoted at 50-1 or worse to take the award, but as one of the judges privately revealed, it is given for performance and not personality. "Dexter's saves helped us through a tough few months, and he has played more minutes than anyone else."
Stacey's case was helped by the early frontrunners, Domenik Bögengang and Marc Pujolràs, leaving the club in mid-season, while local favourites Mohd Safri and Chow were simply not very good.
Tian Yonghang, who bagged eleven goals in twelve starts, did get the Young Player of the Season gong in his last year of eligibility.
The highlight of the day was however
Quah Han Kok's Lifetime Achievement award, the first ever given by the club, who are also planning to make him one of the first inductees into a future Hall of Fame. Quah was doused with champange after his emotional parting words, which took up half an hour - but no one was counting the minutes. His teammates past and present then came forward to pay their respects, a process that continued late into the evening.
That was supposedly not the end of the very fulfilling night, as a hotel guest was said to have spotted Stacey clobbering somebody in the carpark after the ceremony with his trophy, after having too much to drink.
