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He may have hung up his boots in favour of a spot alongside Gary Neville on Sky, but Jamie Carragher the footballer got one last hurrah when he was named Player of the Year at the Northwest Football Awards. A sentimental choice for the top flight's top player in the region, the award was voted on by fans who chose Carragher over fellow finalists Leighton Baines, Michael Carrick, and Pablo Zabaleta.
"It's fantastic to be recognised as the Player of the Year for my final season at Liverpool," Carragher said in a brief statement as he picked up the event's top trophy at Tuesday night's awards ceremony. "I started at the Academy as a young local lad, so I feel proud to be in a position where I can look back on what has been a brilliant career for me, at a club I love."
That Carragher won not only speaks to sentiment, but also to a distinct Liverpool bias in the player categories after Martin Skrtel beat out the competition as Liverpool's nominee for the 2011-12 award. Meanwhile, academy youngster Jerome Sinclair was named Rising Star of the Year, and ex-Liverpool midfielder Jay Spearing was named the Championship's top player for the season he spent on loan at the Reebok.
The Liverpool bias seen in the player categories, though, wasn't enough to stop Alex Ferguson from nabbing manager of the year honours for his final season in charge at Manchester United, and Liverpool's marketing department will have been crushed to learn they were beaten out by Everton.