2026 Presentation Night: The Wrap
Two Player of the Season races came down to a single vote. One bloke went home with three trophies and our Goal of the Season was watched millions of times around the world.
Here’s how it all played out.
Thirds
Ansel Furtado is the Thirds Player of the Season on 21 votes, but it was far from a procession.
Alex Revill polled three votes in four straight games to draw level with Ansel on 12 at the halfway mark. The pair were then split by a single vote for most of the back half of the season.
Ansel finally broke clear with 3 votes in the 7-1 thumping of Manningham in Round 16. Another 3 votes in the final-round win over Mentone sealed it, and he completes the double with the Golden Boot too.
Laurence Song takes out the Coach’s Award, presented on behalf of Nathan Gorga, who sent his messages through on video.
Fun fact: our host Kunaal Chandra polled 2 votes against Knox City in Round 6 and got to read his own name out on the night.
The Thirds also gave us one of the moments of the season, when Yang scored his first goal for the club in more than 15 years.
Reserves
This race went right down to the last name read out.
James Barr led on 15 heading into the final round, with Ryan Devine two behind. Devine polled 3 votes in the draw with Brighton to hit the front.
Then came the 2 votes: James Barr. Jimmy won it by one, 17 to 16.
To show just how close it was, Devine’s vote the week before came after a stint in goal during our random positions game against Middle Park.
Jimmy also claimed the Golden Boot. His winner against title-chasing Old Melburnians in Round 10, after they’d beaten us 4-1 in Round 1, was one of the highlights of the year.
Byron Kerr takes home the Coach’s Award from Nik Peterson and James.
And yes, this is the side that forfeited a game to watch the Socceroos and ended up on Channel 9.
Seniors
Christopher Kennedy is the Seniors Player of the Season on 16 votes, and he did it the hard way.
The lead changed hands all year. Alex Boni-Finch set the early pace, Sean Nunan took over in Round 10, and Chris hit the front with three straight 3-vote games from Round 13.
Then an injury in Round 15 ruled him out for the rest of the season. That left Nunan two votes behind with three rounds to catch him.
Nunan polled a single vote in the final round to finish one short, and Chris won it from the sidelines.
Martiniano Miranda takes the Golden Boot, and Will Townsend takes home the Coach’s Award from Ethan Perotto.
The Seniors finished 3rd in Metro 2 South-East. Their season included a 6-0 win over Monash and a nine-goal thriller won 5-4 away at Glen Eira.
1st Christopher Kennedy, 16 votes
2nd Sean Nunan, 15
3rd Martiniano Miranda, 12
4th Alex Boni-Finch, 10
5th Will Townsend, 9
=6th Arian Asadpour, 8
=6th Shogo Trevena, 8
8th Omer Ozgul, 7
9th Logan Van de Geest, 6
10th Poungshu Thay, 5
Goal of the Season
Alex Boni-Finch won Goal of the Season with 47% of the vote for his effort against South Yarra in Round 5. He beat fellow nominees Joel Kleber, Martiniano Miranda and Thomas Burchsmith.
The clip has racked up millions of views across social media.
Just for good measure, the very next week he ran the length of the field to score against Albert Park.
Club Person of the Year
James Barr capped a remarkable night by being named Club Person of the Year for his efforts in volunteering in helping with Legends Cup, helping run the social media & stepping up to coach the Ressies when the club needed him to do all in his first season. It was his third trophy of the night, after the Reserves Golden Boot and Player of the Season.
He joins an honour roll that includes Nathan Gorga, Jamie Coulthard, Vivaan Menon, Anna Harper and Nick Johansen.
2026 Award Winners
Thirds
- Player of the Season: Ansel Furtado (21 votes)
- Golden Boot: Ansel Furtado (11 goals)
- Coach’s Award: Laurence Song
Reserves
- Player of the Season: James Barr (17 votes)
- Golden Boot: James Barr (8 goals)
- Coach’s Award: Byron Kerr
Seniors
- Player of the Season: Christopher Kennedy (16 votes)
- Golden Boot: Martiniano Miranda (18 goals)
- Coach’s Award: Will Townsend
Club Awards
- Goal of the Season: Alex Boni-Finch
- Club Person of the Year: James Barr
More News
More News
Our Sponsors
Our club doesn’t function without the support from our valued partners.
