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Striker Leo Bertos was last night named Wellington Phoenix's player of the year at the club's annual awards.
Bertos, who returned to Wellington from the Perth Glory to join the Phoenix for their second season in the competition, was a clear winner.
Phoenix coaching staff use a 3-2-1 voting system for each game throughout the season to determine the player of the year award, and Bertos totalled 23 points, eight ahead of defensive midfielder Jon McKain.
Skipper Andrew Durante, defender Ben Sigmund and goalkeeper Glen Moss each earned 13 votes to share third place.
After shaking off an early season injury, 28-year-old Bertos played 16 games for the club in 2008/09 and scored two goals, his pace and ball skills giving the Phoenix valuable extra width in attack.
Sigmund was named members' player of the year following a stellar season anchoring the Phoenix's back four after joining the club from the NZFC club Auckland City.
Star striker Shane Smeltz scooped the remaining awards, the club's Golden Boot winner (12 goals from 20 games) also being named players' player of the year and media player of the year.
The striker added the Phoenix awards to his considerable haul of titles this season -- he won the Johnny Warren Medal as the A-League's best player, the Golden Boot award as the season's top scorer and the goal of the season award for his strike against Melbourne at Westpac Stadium in Wellington in round 13.
Wellington Phoenix award winners:
Player of the year: Leo Bertos
Members' player of the year: Ben Sigmund
Players' player of the year: Shane Smeltz
Media player of the year: Smeltz
Golden Boot: Smeltz (12 goals)