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For the first time since 2014, Reading’s official Player of the Season award will not be going to a goalkeeper, as it has been announced that Liam Moore has received the most votes from fans to pick up the accolade.
The centre-back, who lost out to Ali Al-Habsi in 2016/17, collected the honour before kick-off at today’s game against Ipswich Town. Modou Barrow and Liam Kelly also made the top three, leaving Jon Dadi Bodvarsson perhaps a little hard done by.
Moore may not have been as imposing this year as he was in his debut campaign in RG2 (unsurprisingly, considering the drop in Reading’s league position), but he has still proved to be a key figure in the backline. Never afraid to put his body on the line or make a last-ditch tackle, it has never been in doubt that the former Leicester man will do anything he can out on the pitch to help the Royals win.
But whilst those victories may not have come all too frequently this season, Moore’s passion and determination has always been clear to see, and that’s perhaps what has endeared him to the fanbase - in every single game he looks like he really cares.
The 25-year-old also equalled a TTE record in recent weeks, when he picked up five Man of the Match awards in a row (coincidentally, or not, Paul Clement’s first five games in charge), a feat that only Liam Kelly has achieved in the past four years since we started our player ratings.
Speaking of our player ratings, we’ll be running our own Player of the Season poll after the campaign has ended, whilst our Rookie of the Year award will also return, so look out for those in the coming weeks.