The FA Cup with Budweiser
Fourth Round Proper
Budweiser Player of the Round
Five players have been nominated for the Budweiser Player of the Round award following their performance in The FA Cup Fourth Round Proper.
A five-strong panel will nominate their candidates after each round (from the First Round Proper up to and including the Semi-Final) and you can vote for your favourite right here.
The panel comprises ITV sports presenter Jim Rosenthal, Sun journalist Jim Munro, BBC Radio 5Live Football Correspondent Nigel Adderley and FA Historian David Barber, who has attended 402 FA Cup ties in total. The fifth member of the panel is FA Cup fan Tony Curran. Tony secured his place on the panel after entering an online competition in conjunction with Budweiser. He is an avid Droylsden fan and has been to an FA Cup tie in every round of the competition so far.
The selections for the Fourth Round Proper are as follows:
Jermaine Beckford, Leicester City
Beckford continued his FA Cup purple patch by notching a brace against Swindon to seal the Foxes’ place in Round Five. Beckford bagged a hat-trick against Nottingham Forest in the Third Round replay and a goal in each half set up a trip to Carrow Road (Tony Curran).
Highlights: Leicester City 2-0 Swindon Town
Will Buckley, Brighton & Hove Albion
Buckley created the winning goal against his boyhood heroes Newcastle with a tremendous run from one penalty area to the other. He’ll be hoping to do something similar at Anfield when Gus Poyet’s men travel to Liverpool in the last 16 (Nigel Adderley).
Highlights: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Newcastle United
Jed Steer, Norwich City
The 19-year-old goalkeeper made a dream first team debut for Norwich, making a number of crucial saves to help seal the Canaries place in the last 16. Goals from Grant Holt and Simeon Jackson cancelled out Marc Antoine-Fortune’s goal for the hosts, but Steer had an equally crucial role to play in saving from Jerome Thomas, Shane Long and Joe Mattock; “world class” saves, according to his manager Paul Lambert (Jim Rosenthal).
Highlights: West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Norwich City
Matt Tubbs, Crawley Town (now Bournemouth)
Tubbs’ last act in a Crawley Town shirt was to score the goal that defeated Championship side Hull City and seal the Red Devils’ second successive appearance in the Fifth Round. The prolific front man, who scored 58 goals in 78 appearances for Crawley, joined League One Bournemouth two days later (David Barber).
Highlights: Hull City 0-1 Crawley Town
Robin van Persie, Arsenal
The Arsenal skipper produced yet another game-saving performance, as his two second-half penalties, either side of a Theo Walcott goal, hauled the Gunners back into their Fourth Round tie against Aston Villa. Richard Dunne’s header and a goal from Darren Bent had put Villa 2-0 up at the break, but van Persie was on-hand to help guide Arsenal into Round Five (Jim Munro).
Highlights: Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa
You have until midday on Friday 10 February 2012 to cast your vote.
The player with the most votes will receive a commemorative Budweiser Player of the Round trophy and he will also be invited to The FA Cup Final at Wembley in May as a guest of The FA and Budweiser
