The end of season awards show at West Ham United – following a fairly miserable Premier League campaign – is likely to be a pretty sobering affair.
Candidates worthy of following in the footsteps of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Paolo di Canio and Declan Rice, meanwhile, are pretty few and far between.
Jarrod Bowen is likely to be a frontrunner to claim the Hammer of the Year gong for the second year running. Aaron Wan-Bissaka should be in contention too, following a solid if not-spectacular debut season in the claret and blue.
Bowen and Wan-Bissaka have, in truth, been the best of a rather bad lot.
The same can probably be said of Callum Marshall at Huddersfield Town, The Terriers chasing their tails down in tenth place in League One. Yet, the struggles of his underperforming teammates should not distract from what has been a season full of promise and fierce self-improvement for the West Ham United-owned winger.
The now award-winning winger.
Huddersfield Town fans want West Ham United’s Callum Marshall to stay
That Huddersfield began the campaign as promotion favourites and ended it in mid-table mediocrity ensured that Marshall – their second-highest goalscorer with nine goals – was pretty much a shoe-in when it came to handing out the seasonal awards.
Playing regular first-team football for the first time on the back of that forgettable stint with West Brom, eight-time Northern Ireland international Marshall appears to have been a pretty unanimous choice based on the reactions from a disillusioned fanbase who saw the West Ham loanee become a bright spark in a dark sky.
Marshall perhaps lacks the raw technical ability of a George Earthy.
The Bristol City loanee will be in Graham Potter’s pre-season plans at West Ham once he returns from Ashton Gate. Only time will tell if Marshall will find himself in a similar position.
But the heart-on-the-sleeve determination Marshall brought to South Yorkshire certainly means that, if Saturday’s clash with Leyton Orient is destined to be his farewell appearance, he will be remembered very fondly.
Not that every Town supporter has given up hope of seeing Marshall in the blue and white stripes again later down the line.
“Hard work gets you a long way in front of these fans,” one supporter said when news of Marshall’s Player of the Year victory emerged. “Nothing technically mind blowing from Marshall but always went out and worked hard. Thats all Town fans want to see!
“One of the only bright lights in a dark season,” a fan agrees. “Callum Marshall can be proud of his time at Huddersfield Town. He gave everything. Personally, I would like to see him back next season.”
“Congratulations to Callum Marshall on Town’s POTY,” another sums up pretty solemnly. “But a 19 [now 20] year old winning it, whose only first-team experience was a few games for West Brom before joining us, sums up our season.”
Marshall wanted to impress Graham Potter in League One loan spell
The feeling amongst many is that large portions of the Huddersfield squad could stand to learn a lot from their fresh-faced teammate.
Callum Marshall was hoping to catch Graham Potter’s eye ahead of the summer, too. Though, perhaps the more appropriate next step may be another loan. Maybe to a lower-ranking Championship club or a League One side with promotion ambitions.
“Congratulations Callum, always gave 100 per cent,” another supporter writes on X. “The others should be embarrassed that a loan player gave more effort!”
“Good prospect, great attitude. A bit more development and building up and I think he’ll be a decent player.”
“Well deserved. Worked his socks off every game unlike the majority of the squad.”
“He was my Player of Year. Never stops running. Would like him on a permanent basis as, with a decent team, he would score lots.”
“Good lad Callum. Now sign him up for another year!”
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