Our final Player of the Month award for the 2019/20 Sky Bet Championship season has been won by Jack Walton.
In association with Club Partner, Palmer Construction, we give Reds fans the opportunity to pick their favourite player each month.
And it was Reds' goalkeeper Jack Walton (also nominated in June) picking up the July prize, after putting in a number of outstanding performances and making a string of vital saves as Barnsley pulled off the great escape!
It is perhaps one of the closest contests we have ever had, with Walton securing 41% of the votes, narrowly ahead of Callum Styles on 39%.
“I’m ecstatic,” he exclaimed upon hearing the news of his award. “It’s just the icing on the cake for what was a wonderful end to the season and I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me.
“Callum was excellent. It’s a similar situation to me, where we didn’t get much game time before lockdown, but he got thrown in and showed how good a player he is. He played left-wing back, which is probably a bit out of position for himself, he’d say, but he slotted in and scored such a crucial goal at Brentford to top it off.”
Still only 22-years-old, the future is incredibly bright for Walton, who has shown his credentials when called upon.
His saves at Kenilworth Road and Griffin Park are just two of the many moments in the last nine games that helped Barnsley overturn a seven-point deficit when football returned.
“The one at Luton, at the time we were a bit disheartened that we didn’t win the game, but, looking back, that save in the 89th minute saved a point which ended up being really important at the end of the season,” continued the Reds’ stopper.
“But my best save was the one at Brentford that I knocked onto the post – it’s one of those where, as a goalkeeper, you never give up and, luckily, I saved it. It was an important save just before half-time to keep us in the lead.
“I’ve been happy with my performances but the team has been excellent as well; we’ve had five clean sheets in nine, which, for any team in the Championship – never mind someone who is down near the bottom – is a great return.”
Everyone at Oakwell would like to congratulate Jack on this wonderful achievement.
