Exeter City starlet Ollie Watkins has followed in the footsteps of Gareth Bale and Dele Alli to win the EFL Young Player of the Year award for the 2016-17 season.
Watkins, 21, who has scored 14 times in all competitions for the Grecians this season - and was heavily linking with several Championship clubs in the January 2017 transfer window - beat off Oxford United's Ryan Ledson and Reading's John Swift.
As well as his success being a testament to both Watkins' ability and temperament, it also underlines the hard work that Exeter City put into producing young players and the quality of coaching that they receive, as both Ledson and Swift have featured for England at age group level and former Everton youngster Ledson was part of the England Under-17 side that won the European Championship in 2014. Swift also started his career with Chelsea, but left Stamford Bridge to join the Royals in search of first team football.
In addition to this individual award, Watkins was also named in the Skybet League Two team of the season for 2016-17, as well as included Plymouth Argyle duo Sonny Bradley and Graham Carey, which is voted for by the local journalists who cover each of the 24 clubs in the division.
However, this is not to be confused with the PFA team of the year, which is decided by the votes of the player's fellow professionals and has yet to be announced.
Should Watkins be named in the PFA XI he will be the first Grecians' player to feature since fellow youth product Matt Grimes, a player that Watkins could also emulate in sealing a move to the Championship side in the future.
