Mark Harrod Player of the Year winner is Danny Whitaker (Macclesfield Town)
Danny Whitaker says it was “a fairytale” to help steer Macclesfield Town back into the Football League – a fitting scenario for the man dubbed Non-League's Peter Pan.
The 37-year-old was named the NGA Player of the Year for a sensational season in the heart of the Macc midfield as John Askey's men clinched the National League title against all the odds.
Whitaker promised Askey – the man he played with in his first Silkmen spell – that the club would win promotion when he returned to the club he started his career at in 2013.
And he duly delivered with a series of talismanic displays which yielded nine goals from 45 appearances as Macc clinched the title in front of the TV cameras at Eastleigh on the penultimate week.
With one of the league's lowest budgets at his disposal, Askey's achievement in delivering the title should not be underestimated but Whitaker believes it came through a combination of hard work and fate!
“It's been a very special season,” Whitaker said. “Just winning the league is special at the best of times but to do it with my local club is just something incredible.
“The gaffer has put the team together to not just survive in the league but to push for promotion, which we've achieved.
“It was a sad day when we dropped out of the Football League [in 2011-12]. I wasn't playing for the club at the time but it still hurt.
Warhorse
“When I came back, getting back was the aim and every season, I was just praying that I could play a part in helping the club do that.
“People say it's never a good idea to come back but I knew it was the right decision. I'm a local lad and a fans' favourite, and I got on well with the gaffer, so what we did this season just topped it off.”
The good news for Askey is that the old warhorse isn't ready to hang up his boots just yet as he embarks on what will surely be his last hurrah in the Football League to add to his previous spells at Port Vale, Oldham Athletic and Chesterfield.
Whitaker just pipped his central midfield partner Danny Whitehead to the NGA following the pair's two-pronged assault from the Macc engine room, but the master will have to do without his young apprentice next season as Whitehead has opted to join ambitious Salford City.
It's left the humble Wilmslow lad to take all the accolades – and he still can't believe it's happened!
“For someone of my age, I shouldn't be [winning awards] to be honest,” he added.
“This season has been one of those seasons I won't forget – it's fairytale stuff.”
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