Football England's League Championship Team - Season 2007-08

Wayne Hennessey (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Sean St Ledger (Preston North End)
Joe Ledley (Cardiff City)
Peter Halmosi (Plymouth Argyle)
Stern John (Southampton).

Manager: Phil Brown (Hull City)

Boaz Myhill (Hull City)
Hull are probably lucky that the top clubs will only look abroad for talent these days otherwise this big, strapping, hugely competent keeper would surely already be somewhere else.
Could he be the next Ryan Giggs? You might not think so but he’s an England Youth international who’s now been capped by Wales. Disturbing.

Carl Hoeffkens (West Bromwich Albion)
Without doubt the best footballing right back in the division, except for Graham Alexander perhaps, who copes defensively but goes a long way towards making West Bromwich Albion the best footballing team in the section, by a mile. Welcome to our team.

Elliot Ward (Coventry City)
The fact that Elliot plays for a struggling team tends to hide the fact that he’s basically magnificent. Tall, strong, athletic, quick, good tackler, good in the air, good with the ball at his feet, quality penalty taker. Welcome to our team.

Leon Cort (Stoke City)
The Championship is full of big strong stopper centre halves but Leon is one of our favourites and he gets our vote this year after helping Stoke claim an unlikely place in the Premier League. Show this man a ball to head and he’ll head it, show him something to tackle and he’ll tackle it. That’s good enough for us.

Tony Capaldi (Cardiff City)
To be honest we thought the division was really struggling for left backs but Capaldi is decent on the ball and diligent in defence so we thought he was more deserving than anyone else. Played his part fully in his clubs’ journey to Wembley in the FA Cup.

Liam Lawrence (Stoke City)
In a team based on height and strength Lawrence, pretty big himself, added a touch of quality. Difficult to knock off a ball his crossing and distribution was a constant source of danger from the right hand side.

Akos Buzsaky (Queens Park Rangers)
Moved from Plymouth to QPR early in the season and his class lit up Loftus Road. Strong in possession but with a beautifully delicate touch Buzsaky is a quality provider and more than capable of the spectacular. One of the Championship’s real entertainers.

Zoltan Gera (West Bromwich Albion)
West Brom were the outstanding footballing side in the Championship by a country mile and Gera was their playmaker in chief. Drifts in from the left hand side to good effect to service his forwards and is always looking to get into the box himself.

Brian Howard (Barnsley)
Barnsley struggled for most of the season but Howard was still able to put in consistently good performances. Combines genuine quality with an appetite for hard work and was pivotal in the clubs’ climb away from the relegation zone.
Was also instrumental in Barnsley’s march to the FA Cup semi finals, giving the club one of its’ finest moments with his last minute winner at Anfield in the 5th round.

Frazier Campbell (Hull City)
It’s a while since Manchester United have produced a youngster capable of forcing his way into their first team but Campbell might just be about to change that. Spent the season on loan from Old Trafford and was pivotal in Hull’s promotion.
Razor sharp in and around the box the youngster showed good appreciation of others and looks a genuine class act.

James Beattie (Sheffield United)
The Blades endured a fairly miserable season for the most part but Beattie certainly produced the goods after his move from Everton. Strong in the air and up for the physical challenge offered by the Championship he did what he is primarily paid for by putting the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis.

Manager: Phil Brown (Hull City)
Two unfancied teams ended up contesting the play off final and Hull City’s one goal victory gains their manager this award over Bristol City’s Gary Johnson.
Brown’s priorities were obvious as he built up a strapping, obdurate back four in front of his excellent goalkeeper but Hull also played some pleasing football during the campaign and the manager certainly scored a massive hit in sneaking Frazier Campbell away from Manchester United on loan.
Having led his side to promotion, however, he has now landed himself with the mother of all challenges.