As the Premier League announced its Player of the Month nominees for November, SPORTbible thought to take a look back at some of the more unlikely winners of the acclaimed award.
The list of nominees for the November Player of the Month award has been announced, with Jérémy Doku, Anthony Gordon, Harry Maguire, Thomas Kaminski, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Tavernier all making the cut.
As fans vote on their rightful recipient of this month’s prize, we thought we would take a look at some of the more surprising Players of the Month.
Anton Ferdinand - January 2006 (West Ham)
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The less acclaimed Ferdinand brother, Anton won the Player of the Month award back in January 2006, meaning he's picked up the same number as his older sibling Rio.
That month Ferdinand’s dominant performances saw West Ham accumulate two wins from three league games, with the centre-back even opening the scoring in a 2-1 win over Fulham.
Marcus Bent - January 2002 (Ipswich)
Bent picked up his gong in January 2002, a season that saw Ipswich ultimately relegated. In January however, he netted five goals in four games as part of a fantastic run that saw the Tractor Boys win seven games in eight matches.
However, they only won one game after February 2 and finished 18th.
Alex Manninger - March 1998 (Arsenal)
With David Seaman sidelined through injury, understudy Manninger came in and kept six straight clean sheets for a joint club record.
The last of these came in a crucial 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford – a victory that proved pivotal as Arsenal won the league by one point.
Adam Le Fondre - January 2013 (Reading)
Le Fondre picked up the Player of the Month award in January 2013 with five goals in four games for the Royals.
That included an 88th-minute equaliser against West Brom, which set up a spectacular finish as Reading won 3-2.
The following week, Le Fondre’s brace secured all three points against Newcastle, and then he scored another pair at the end of the month to rescue a point against Chelsea.
Kevin Campbell - April 1999 (Everton)
Despite not scoring in the Everton’s defeats to Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday at the beginning of the month, Campbell scored braces in each of the Toffees’ next three games.
That return included crucial goals in a 2-0 win over Coventry and a 3-1 victory at Newcastle.
Mickey Evans - April 1997 (Southampton)
Evans scored three goals for Southampton as the Saints went unbeaten in April 1997, helping them retain their top-flight status.
The one-cap Republic of Ireland international scored a goal at Nottingham Forest, before netting against West Ham and Coventry to help Southampton pick up 11 crucial points. They eventually avoided the drop by just a point.
Mikael Forssell - March 2004 (Birmingham)
On loan at Birmingham from Chelsea, Forssell enjoyed the most prolific season of his career in 2003/04 with 17 league goals, more than any Chelsea forward that campaign.
In March he netted six goals in five games, including doubles against Middlesbrough and Leeds.
Connor Wickham - April 2014 (Sunderland)
Sunderland picked up seven crucial points in April 2014 to retain their Premier League status, as Wickham inspired a 2-2 draw at Manchester City with both Sunderland goals.
Three days later the former England youth international scored again as Sunderland beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, before his double the following week helped dispatch Cardiff 4-0.
Topics: Football, Premier League, Arsenal, Chelsea
Chris Byfield