By Mark Sugar
May 10 2004

Steve Sidwell has been crowned 1871Royals Player of the Season after picking up 43% of the votes.In 2nd place was Greame Murty with 22% with the out of contract John Salako in 3rd place with 12%.

Reading midfielder Steve Sidwell has been crowned 1871Royals Player of the Season after a fantastic campaign with the Royals. He picked up 43% of the votes

The England U21's midfielder signed from Premiership Champions Arsenal last season for a fee believed to be around the £400,000 mark. He scored his 1st goal in Reading colours in the remarkable 5-2 win over Burnley.

He soon became a regular in Alan Pardew's successful 4-5-1 formation and his performances was recognised by England U21 Manager David Platt who called him up for the friendly Vs Serbia & Montenegro. He won the Man of the Match award after a fantastic debut.

This season started off well for Sidwell who scored in the opening 3 games Vs Ipswich Town, Boston United and Nottingham Forest. Sidwell appears to get better every game with his tackling being 1st class and his goal scoring record. He finished this season with 9 goals, with the last being an injury time winner Vs West Bromwich Albion.

Sidwell has been linked with moves away from the Madejski Stadium this season with Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic, Celtic and Rangers all interested.

In 2nd place was Greame Murty with 22%, while in 3rd place was John Salako with 12%. Below is the results.

Royals Player	Percentage Of Votes
Steve Sidwell	43%
Greame Murty	22%
John Salako	12%
Dave Kitson	5%
Marcus Hahnemann	4%
Ricky Newman	4%
James Harper	3%
Nicky Forster	3%
Shaun Goater	3%
Ivar Ingimarrson	1%

Thanks to everyone that voted. Got something to say? Post your views on the 1871Royals message board.