Cheltenham Town are the biggest benefactors of ParkLifeSport’s Twitter poll to find Gloucestershire’s top eleven football players over the past season – after nine Robins were named in the team.
The 4-4-2 team, voted for by fans on Twitter yesterday, celebrates all that was good in Gloucestershire football during the 2017/18 campaign.
Here, you can find the results of who makes it into Gloucestershire’s top eleven:
Scott Flinders – GK
Ever present during his first season at Cheltenham Town, Scott Flinders only missed five of the 46 league games in League 2.
The 31-year old has kept nine clean sheets in that time, securing valuable points for the Robins with four of those shutouts coming in either 0-0 draws or 1-0 wins.
Flinders joined Gary Johnson’s men over the summer having spent the majority of his career in the lower leagues of English football.
The shot-stopper made over 250 appearances with now National League club Hartlepool United, whilst making 50 appearances at York City.
He has also turned out for Barnsley, Crystal Palace and Macclesfield Town – alongside various loan spells across the divisions.
Taylor Moore – RB
Another player brought in by Gary Johnson ahead of the last campaign, the vastly experienced manager used his contacts with son Lee Johnson to bring Taylor Moore to the club on a season-long loan.
And Championship outfit Bristol City must have been happy with the progress made by the 20-year old in Gloucestershire, with the full-back making 39 appearances in league and cup.
No goals were yielded by Moore but he was involved in all of Cheltenham’s clean sheets in League Two, as-well as having a pretty good disciplinary record – four yellow cards and one dismissal from the 39 matches.
Before joining the Robins on loan, Moore started his career over in France with Lens. He progressed through their academy before making the first-team, alerting the attention of several English clubs with his dynamic displays.
Bristol City eventually secured his services for a fee believed to be £1.5 million, making seven appearances with the Championship outfit.
He also spent the last campaign on loan at Bury but is yet to score his first professional goal.
Will Boyle – CB
Another player brought in rather recently at Cheltenham Town, Will Boyle has been with the club since January 2017 having joined from Premier League side Huddersfield Town.
He has made 63 appearances with the Robins to date, and makes it into the Gloucestershire eleven following seven goals from defence.
Two of those came in crucial wins over Luton Town and Grimsby Town last season, alongside further strikes coming against Morecambe, Crawley, Port vale alongside further goals against Luton and Grimsby this campaign.
Boyle started his career with Huddersfield, before turning out for teams including Kidderminster Harriers, York City, Macclesfield Town and York City.
Kieran Parselle – CB
One of the shining lights in the Gloucester City team this season, Kieran Parselle has slotted in well with his club having joined in the summer.
He was ever-present in the National League South as the Tigers finished mid-table in 14th, whilst also finding the net with a wonder goal at Weston Super-Mare.
Before his arrival with the Tigers, Parselle gained vital Football League experience with Newport County AFC.
He is a product of their academy system and went on to make his debut for them on 11th August 2015 in the League Cup at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Parselle made a further six appearances in League 2 before a loan spell at Salisbury, being snapped up by Gloucester City after his release by Newport at the end of the last campaign.
Ilias Chatzitheodoridis – LB
Joining the Robins with 18 matches to go following a loan arrival in January, the Greek full-back was ever-present among those games.
Chatzitheodoridis failed to score during his spell at Whaddon Road, but was renowned for his good disciplinary record – only two yellow cards during that spell.
Those performances should alert parent club Brentford ahead of the new campaign, the first professional club of his career.
That spell follows a brief time in Arsenal’s Greek academy, a team he won a scholarship with before his release in June 2016.
Kevin Dawson – RM
Another player to have arrived at Whaddon Road in the summer, Kevin Dawson swapped allegiances in the division when rejecting a new contract from Yeovil Town.
He has featured 37 times for the club this season and has found the net on six occasions.
Dawson scored twice in the 4-3 defeat to Exeter City, before adding further strikes at Barnet, Port Vale and at home to Colchester United and Maidstone in the Emirates FA Cup.
His spells with Yeovil and Cheltenham are his first in English football, following stints with Sporting Fingal and Shelbourne in his native Ireland.
Carl Winchester – CM
Winchester has been a mainstay in the Cheltenham Town team since his free transfer to the club on 12th January 2017.
The midfielder celebrated his 50th appearance for the club on Boxing Day and he’s scored six goals for the Gloucestershire outfit to date.
The first of those came during the 2016/17 campaign, and it was a goal of real value to his side as it was the solitary goal in a victory over Leyton Orient which propelled the Robins away from the danger zone.
He scored his first home goal in the 3-2 defeat to Grimsby Town in October, while also netting in away games at Wycombe Wanderers, Notts County, Exeter City and Barnet.
Cheltenham are the third team that Winchester has appeared for, having progressed through the ranks at his hometown club Limerick alongside a seven-year spell at Oldham Athletic.
Harry Pell – CM
Pell’s performances in the 2017/18 campaign have recently seen him move to Colchester United for an undisclosed fee.
Looking specifically at the most recent season, Pell made 42 appearances and scored six goals.
The first of those came against Grimsby Town, whilst also scoring against Newport County AFC, Mansfield Town, Morecambe and twice against Crawley Town – alerting the attentions of Colchester in the process.
That switch to the Weston Homes Community Stadium follows a three-year stint at Whaddon Road, a spell that saw him win the National League at the end of the 2015/16 campaign.
That is the only trophy won by Pell over his eight-year career that started with Charlton Athletic – alongside spells with clubs including AFC Wimbledon, Hereford United and Bristol Rovers.
Jerell Sellars – LM
Yet another player to be brought in by Gary Johnson this summer, Jerell Sellars scored his first professional goal earlier in the campaign away at Colchester United.
He added another strike in the convincing 3-0 victory over Morecambe – with Cheltenham Town the first real club where he has been afforded time to settle.
Sellars spent a short loan spell with Wycombe Wanderers in 2015/16, although first-team opportunities with his parent club Aston villa were hard to come by.
His release prompted him to try his luck in League 2 – and it’s certainly been a good spell so far.
Mo Eisa – ST
Battling it out with Stevenage’s Danny Newton all season for ‘Breakthrough player of the year,’ Eisa has set the world alight in his first season in League 2.
Dubbed the next ‘Ian Wright,’ Eisa is certainly living up to those expectations having accumulated a goal ratio of one in two games – he has 25 goals from 50 first-team appearances.
The 22-year-old has drawn comparisons to Wright – who scored over 200 goals during his career – due to them both being scouted whilst at Greenwich Borough, who Eisa scored 57 goals for over the past two seasons.
Interestingly, the scout that recommended Eisa to Cheltenham this summer is also the same scout that recommended Wright to Crystal Palace back in 1985. So, who was the scout? John Griffin, who interestingly happens to be Cheltenham manager Gary Johnson’s uncle.
Christian Doidge – ST
Where would Forest Green Rovers be without the goals of Christian Doidge?
The Welshman – like Eisa – also scored 25 goals for his club over the campaign as they staved off relegation back to the National League by just a solitary point.
He was also the glue that held the side together last season, scoring 27 goals from 43 appearances – including one in the play-off final victory against Tranmere Rovers – to send Forest Green into the Football League for the first time in their history.
Before ending up in Nailsworth, Doidge had been on a stop-start career. He was top scorer for Dagenham & Redbridge in 2016, but couldn’t prevent them from getting relegated.
He has also been linked to Cardiff City in recent transfer windows, but Doidge has put his international career on hold it seems to concentrate on forging a future for himself at Forest Green.