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The Best 25 Players in the Championship

One evening during November four fans of different Championship clubs spent a large part of the evening discussing who they thought had claims to be the best players in the league.

An idea was born.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and in a twist to the usual advent calendar format, a series was launched and has spent December working through a different footballer each day, counting through the top 25 players in the second tier.

Written partly by myself, in conjunction with three excellent writers,
Joe Harrison (Cardiff - View from the Ninian);
John Verrall (Peterborough - Standing on the Glebe);
David Bevan (Leicester - and our esteemed host via The Seventy Two)
we initially took views from fans from all clubs via forums and Twitter to come up with a shortlist, with more than 70 names nominated. 

This list was then reduced via voting on Twitter from followers of @the72football, and here it is.  All 25 players, detailed with links so you can peruse at your pleasure.  Please note none of these are in any sort of order, other than the final one - the star voted as the best player in the Championship, and revealed on Christmas Day.  A wise man could do a lot worse than head to the South Coast with offers of gold, frankincense and myrrh!

Lists of this nature are always contentious, there are many players nominated that had strong claims whilst others may appear to be surprise inclusions.  There was even one player on this list who had fans of his own club commenting that he wasn't worthy!

The series has had remarkable success, with record number of views on The Seventy Two so please read, enjoy and share as you wish.

THE BEST 25 PLAYERS IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP - AS VOTED FOR BY YOU

KEVIN MCNAUGHTON - CARDIFF CITY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/01/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-voted-for-by-you-part-1-of-25/

CRAIG MACKAIL-SMITH - BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/02/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-%e2%80%93-voted-for-by-you-part-2-of-25/

ALBERT ADOMAH - BRISTOL CITY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/03/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-voted-for-by-you-part-3-of-25/

ANDY KING - LEICESTER CITY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/04/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-voted-for-by-you-part-4-of-25/

GARY TAYLOR-FLETCHER - BLACKPOOL:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/05/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-5-of-25/

CHRIS BURKE - BIRMINGHAM CITY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/06/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-6-of-25/

RICKIE LAMBERT - SOUTHAMPTON:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/07/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-7-of-25/

GRANT MCCANN - PETERBOROUGH UNITED:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/08/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-8-of-25/

NICKY MAYNARD - BRISTOL CITY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/09/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-9-of-25/

ROSS MCCORMACK - LEEDS UNITED:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/10/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-10-of-25/

JIMMY KEBE - READING:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/11/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-11-of-25/

KASPER SCHMEICHEL - LEICESTER CITY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/12/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-12-of-25/

GEORGE BOYD - PETERBOROUGH UNITED:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/13/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-13-of-25/

WILFRIED ZAHA - CRYSTAL PALACE:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/14/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-14-of-25/

JAY RODRIGUEZ - BURNLEY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/15/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-15-of-25/

ROBERT SNODGRASS - LEEDS UNITED:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/16/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-16-of-25/

BILLY SHARP - DONCASTER ROVERS:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/17/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-17-of-25/

JAMES CHESTER - HULL CITY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/18/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-18-of-25/

KEVIN NOLAN - WEST HAM UNITED:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/19/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-19-of-25/

MARVIN EMNES - MIDDLESBROUGH:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/20/the-best-25-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-by-you-part-20-of-25/

LEE CAMP - NOTTINGHAM FOREST:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/21/the-best-25-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-by-you-part-21-of-25/

PETER WHITTINGHAM - CARDIFF CITY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/22/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-22-of-25/

JACOB BUTTERFIELD - BARNSLEY:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/23/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-23-of-25/

MARK NOBLE - WEST HAM:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/24/the-25-best-players-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you-part-24-of-25/

ADAM LALLANA - SOUTHAMPTON
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/25/the-best-player-in-the-championship-as-voted-for-by-you/

AND FINALLY....a summary of the series, from the72:
http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2011/12/11/the-best-players-in-the-championship-a-rare-celebration/
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