Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

The 2014 Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League Awards Night was held at ITE College East on Sunday evening, as the best of Singapore football were honoured for their efforts.

There was a special tribute given to retiring striker Aleksandar Duric for his contribution to the local football scene, while Qiu Li also received a 100-Goal Special Award at the ceremony.

Hassan Sunny meanwhile became the first goalkeeper in the league’s history to win the Great Eastern Player of the Year award.

The Warriors FC custodian saw off the challenges of fellow nominees Rodrigo Tosi (Brunei DPMM), Kazuki Sakamoto (Albirex Niigata), Goran Ljubojevic (Balestier Khalsa) and Fazrul Nawaz (Home United).

The 30-year-old had a stellar season for the league champions, churning out performances which caught the eye of national selectors, week-in week-out

“To be honest, I thought it was impossible for me to win because I was up against four other strong players for this,” Hassan admitted. “It’s a big award and I [would like to] thank the judges for putting the trust in allowing goalkeepers to be part of this award.

“It’s been definitely a long year for me. Still, it’s not over yet, there’s the Suzuki Cup and it’s nice I had a good year and winning this [the award] is a bonus.”

Hassan was then joined by teammate Nicolas Velez, who bagged the Yeo’s Young Player of the Year award after playing a key role in the Warriors’ title triumph this season.

“I’m very happy to win this award,” the 24-year-old said.

“I want to say thank you to FAS [Football Association of Singapore] and my teammates because they help me to score goals. I want to say thank you to my coach for believing in me and giving me this opportunity [to play for the club].”

Leading Balestier to their first-ever RHB Singapore Cup victory this year was Marko Kraljevic, and he earned himself the Coach of the Year award, beating Alex Weaver of Warriors and DPMM’s Steve Kean.

Kraljevic had only taken over the reins from predecessor Darren Stewart at the beginning of the season and he has done well with the resources he had at hand as the Tigers also attained a top-half finish.

“I feel great. Yes, I’m surprised to win in my first year the Coach of the Year award and I think we worked hard [as a team],” said Kraljevic, who was in his first full season in charge of a senior side.

“It’s not only about me, but also about the team – from the management down to the staff as well.”

2014 S.League Awards Night Honours Roll

Tiger Beer Goal of the Year Award: Fabian Kwok (Geylang International)

Mikasa Story of the Year: “Beating Cancer is his biggest win” by David Lee of The New Paper

Yeos’ Picture of the Year: “Head over Heels” by Jeremy Long of The New Paper

RHB Top Scorer of the Year Award: Rodrigo Tosi (Brunei DPMM)

Diadora Assistant Referee of the Year: Jeffrey Goh

Great Eastern Referee of the Year: Muhd Taqi Aljaafari

Singapore Pools Fair Play Award: Geylang International

Polar Fan Club of the Year: Warriors FC

Yeo’s Young Player of the Year: Nicolas Velez (Warriors FC)

RHB Coach of the Year: Marko Kraljevic (Balestier Khalsa)

Great Eastern Player of the Year: Hassan Sunny (Warriors FC)