Voting underway for fans' favourite!

The five stars, representing South Shields, Basford United, Altrincham, Grantham Town and Scarborough Athletic respectively, were unveiled at 7pm on Thursday night on the EVO-STIK League's social media channels as the polls opened for supporters to choose a successor to 2017 winner, Whitby Town's Dale Hopson, and two runners-up.

The deadline for fans, players and officials to vote is a minute to midnight on Easter Monday (April 2) before Hopson's successor for the coveted accolade is honoured at the seventh running of the Northern Premier League's Player of the Year Awards on Sunday 15 April.

EVO-STIK League social media officer James Heyes reckons the rise in standards among the contestants this season has given the award's shortlisting committee of fans, officials and press officers from every club, as well a number of selected media outlets, a real headache since they started whittling down the field for April's final.

Ten players of the players who missed out were highly commended for their performances and Heyes said: “The standards of the players selected this season truly shows the capability of our league. As well as every club having representation in the shortlisting for the first time, as many as 25 players could have made it into the final five. This really wasn’t an easy choice and the players themselves haven’t made it any easier either!”

Taking place at the Brooklands Holiday Inn near Barnsley, the accolades for the EVO-STIK League's historic 50th anniversary 2017-18 campaign will be handed out by Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder. As well as the favourites with the fans, Wilder will also honour a 'Player of the Year' and 'Young Player of Year' in each of the NPL's three divisions and the players chosen in three 'Teams of the Year' by the competition's management teams in an online poll.

Still unique in the top levels of Non-League Football with the spotlight on the competition's star players after the winners are chosen by their managers and fans, the event will also see the next generation of stars coming through the Northern Premier League Football Academy recognised on stage for the third year running by ex-Oxford United boss Wilder.

As guest of honour at the awards, 50-year-old Blades boss Wilder will be following in the footsteps of World Cup referee Webb in 2012, Manchester City and Everton legend Joe Royle, former Wales boss Brian Flynn, Mansfield Town manager Steve Evans, England C manager Paul Fairclough and former Welsh international Dean Saunders last season.

Originally the brainchild of former Manchester City keeper and NPL stalwart Alan Ogley, the ceremony is also set to be broadcast live on Facebook for the second year running as the NPL's marks its milestone season.

As part of the ongoing celebrations, fans have also been nominating the competition's top bosses of the last five decades since February. Like the top 100 players who they also voted for this season, they'll be honoured in Barnsley before being included in the new book charting the competition's proud history.

Entitled '50 Glorious Seasons - A History of the Northern Premier League 1968-2018’ and currently being written by the EVO-STIK League's official historian Dominic McKenzie, the book is due out at the end of the season.

To vote for your top managers of the last 50 years and the five finalists for the 2018 fans' accolade, click here: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NPLSHOWFINAL. The usual rules of one vote per fan, player or official apply. Anyone voting multiple times will see all their ballots removed.

Images courtesy of @evostikleague/Twitter

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