Dominic Solanke named England Men's Youth Player of the Year

The people have spoken!  And by people I mean "members of the England Supporters Club," and by spoken I mean voted on the FA's website.  In any case, the votes have now been tallied and all player bar a few have been voted off the popularity contest island.  The ones remaining include Wayne Rooney (Men's Player of the Year), Toni Duggan (Women's Player of the Year), and Saido Berahino (U21s Player of the Year).  In addition, England Development Team coaches chose their players of the year as well, and they went with Leah Williamson (Women's Youth Player of the Year) and Dominic Solanke (Men's Youth Player of the Year).  Hey, we know that guy!

U17s striker Dominic Solanke was chosen by the coaches as the England Men's Youth Player of the Year for his performances that helped John Peacock's side become European Champions.

The Chelsea youngster was joint-top scorer at the UEFA Finals in May - and was named UEFA's Star of 2014 - and he also enjoyed a successful year at club level netting the winner as the Blues lifted The FA Youth Cup.

He made his debut for Jose Mourinho's first-team during their Champions League victory over Maribor, too.

-source: The FA

Solanke's the second consecutive Chelsea player to win this recognition, following last year's winner Nathaniel Chalobah.

And indeed, 2014 was a banner year for the 17-year-old striker who also scored more goals than any other player at U18 age-level or above at Chelsea last season.  He's having another strong season, with his brace against Manchester City in the U21 Premier League on Thursday giving him 17 goals in 17 games so far in 2014/15.

Congrats, Dom!

Congratulations to @VauxhallEngland Men's Youth Player of the Year @ChelseaFC's @DomSolanke http://t.co/gB3B2b6uIF pic.twitter.com/4yiNVKw0Cn

— England (@england) January 8, 2015