Birmingham stars Jay Stansfield & Tomoki Iwata miss out on League One PFA Players’ Player of the Year award to former non-league ace as Tom Brady’s Blues take seven spots in Team of the Year

Kone was named the 2024-25 League One PFA Players’ Player of the Year at the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday night after his stunning performances for Wycombe last season. He finished the campaign as the Wanderers' top scorer with 18 goals and also received his first international call-up for the Ivory Coast Under-23s.

Kone, who previously played non-league football for Athletic Newham, was the only Wycombe player nominated and beat two Birmingham stars to claim the award. Stansfield and Iwata were key figures as City won the title, while top-scorer Charlie Kelman, who banged in 21 goals at Leyton Orient while on loan from QPR, was also nominated. Davis Keillor-Dunn and Kwame Poku were recognised for their performances for Barnsley and Peterborough United respectively.

Seven of Birmingham's title winners were included in the PFA League One Team of the Year, though there were no representatives from runners-up Wrexham. Stansfield and Iwata are joined by team-mates Ryan Allsop, Ethan Laird, Christoph Klarer, Alex Cochrane and Paik Seung-ho, while Charlton defender Lloyd Jones also makes the cut.

The shortlist of players was compiled by members of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) in January, with the XI then being picked from a shortlist by stars throughout League One. Previous winners of the main award include Alfie May and Conor Chaplin.

There are plenty more prizes to be announced on Tuesday evening. Morgan Rogers and Olivia Smith have already been honoured with the PFA Young Player of the Year awards in the men's and women's games, while the Players' Player of the Year gong is also set to be handed out. Mohamed Salah and Declan Rice are among the men's nominees, while Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo were shortlisted for the WSL award.