Gus Hamer's Sheffield United play-off battle cry after beating Burnley and Leeds men to Championship award

2024/25 Championship Player of the Season Gustavo Hamer is keen to right the wrongs of his own play-off final heartbreak by getting Sheffield United back to ‘where we belong’.

Hamer was crowned the Championship’s best player at Sunday’s EFL awards night in London, having starred for a United side on course for 90 points with nine goals, seven assists and countless talismanic performances. The 27-year-old pipped Leeds United winger Daniel James and Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford to the award.

But a miserable month of April all-round for United has seen them fall behind Leeds and Burnley in the top-two race with a third-place finish and play-off football confirmed. That prospect sent shivers through a lot of Blades, given their terrible record in the post-season promotion scrap, and Hamer has also felt the heartbreak of Wembley defeat, having lost to Luton Town in the 2023 play-off final with Coventry City.

But Chris Wilder pointed towards Newcastle United’s recent ending of a 56-year trophy drought last week and United will go into this year’s play-offs as favourites. And they will also go into it with the official best player in the Championship.

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"It feels unbelievable to win this,” Hamer said after claiming Championship Player of the Season. “I don't think you can be more proud as a player and an individual from a personal perspective. I think I will go home, and my little boy will be really proud of me too, and that's what you do it for at the end of the day.

"This season has been tough for us as a unit, as we didn't get automatic promotion, which is what we really wanted. We're ready to go again into the Play-Offs, though. Trust between players and managers is very important in Football and in life. I think the trust Chris Wilder gives me to play the way I want to play is great.

"I've been lucky enough to be in the Play-Offs before, so you know how it feels. This time I want to win and lift that trophy and get where we belong."

Chris Wilder misses out on Manager of the Season

The other major award saw United boss Wilder nominated for Manager of the Season but, thanks in part to a late-season collapse, he missed out on the accolade to Burnley’s Scott Parker. The pair were on a shortlist alongside Leeds boss Daniel Farke and Sunderland's’ Regis Le Bris, all in charge of the current top four.

Wilder looks set to guide United to an incredible 90-point tally, even including a two-point deduction, with one point at home to Blackburn Rovers needed on Saturday in order to reach the milestone. The Blades boss has done brilliantly to keep his side in the promotion race and until this month, looked set to guide them towards automatic promotion before four defeats in five ended that hope.

United talisman Hamer was unsurprisingly named in the Championship Team of the Season, with only one other Blade named. The attacking midfielder was joined in the XI by left-back Harrison Burrows, who has enjoyed an excellent debut campaign at Bramall Lane with five goals and three assists to his name.

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