When people go to look at the history of Swindon Town in the future 2011 isn’t a year that you’d spend lots of time reading about.

The most exciting moment of the year was something that happened off the pitch, which was the appointment of Paolo Di Canio in May.

Today I thought I’d review the year by giving out a few "awards", obviously with the first half of the year being one of the worst periods in our long history, all of the positives come from this season.

Player of the Year.

3. Aden Flint After being signed by Danny Wilson last January from Alfreton Town for a reported 150K he was sent back to the non-league club to help them achieve promotion.

But after starting the season at centre back and gaining the man of the match award against Crewe on the opening day he hasn’t looked back since and has been a rock at the back and he also looks like a massive talent for the future.

2. Paul Caddis Even though Paul was part of the embarrassment of last season he was always going to be a key player this season.

After starting the season as vice-captain Paul was made full time captain after Oliver Risser got injured and lost his place in the team.

His partnership with Matt Ritchie down the right hand side has been essential to a lot of this seasons goals and he only missed out on the top spot to his fellow Scottish Town player.

1. Simon Ferry During the 09/10 season when Town made the playoff final Simon’s partnership with Jonathan Douglas was the heart of the team and was a big reason for the clubs success, but unfortunately the following season his appearances became a rarity.

I don’t know why he only made 20 first team starts last season but the team suffered without him, but its been the opposite this season with him starting most of the first team games.

With Simon now starting more games his level of performance has improved and I now think he’s even a better player than he was during the 09/10 season.

Most improved Player.

3. Billy Bodin Back in August when Town beat Crewe 3-0 Billy started up front but he didn’t make that much of an impression, and after a couple more games he moved onto Torquay on loan.

Even though he’s not been playing for us he’s played a big part in Torquay’s recent revival.

Lets hope he returns to Town in January and can make an impact with Swindon.

2. Callum Kennedy After being at the club since 2007 he hasn’t ever had a chance to make the left back spot his own, but with Michael Rose leaving in the summer Callum was given his chance and he did play well.

After losing his place to Liam Ridehaigh in October he now has another chance to reclaim it with the Huddersfield player returning up north, lets hope he takes full advantage.

1. Raffaele De Vita I know that most people won’t agree with me on this but when De Vita joined Town I didn’t think he looked good enough for this coming season, his finishing was poor and his positional play and passing was all over the place.

But after a couple of good months he’s become a solid player and now plays a big part in our first team, lets hope that continues for the rest of the season.

Best Paolo Signing (so far).

3. Alan McCormack When Jonathan Douglas and David Prutton left in the summer one of Paolo Di Canio’s first jobs was the re-build the midfield, after bringing in Jonathan Smith Town needed some experience and Alan McCormack fitted the bill perfectly.

Even though he was signed as a midfielder McCormack has been mainly used as a centre back alongside Aden Flint, and that partnership has grown over the season and he’s played a big part in the clubs run of clean sheets and unbeaten run.

2. Jonathan Smith As I’ve already mentioned re-building the midfield was a big job for the new manager and a lot of people were surprised when an unknown non-league player joined the club during the summer.

But since his arrival Smith has impressed with lots of different aspects of his game, a brilliant long shot, a good tackler and top passer of the ball.

He’s fully replaced Jonathan Douglas in midfield and his partnership with Simon Ferry has been one of the main highlights of this season.

1. Wes Foderingham With David Lucas moving back up north to join Rochdale Town signed young Italian keeper Mattia Lanzano but despite being given the number one shirt it was Phil Smith who started the season as the clubs number one.

But after some mistakes and a few injuries a new keeper was a must for the first team and Paolo moved quickly to sign Wes Foderingham from Crystal Palace on loan.

Since arriving at the club Wes has been in outstanding form and didn’t concede a goal in his first six games, and with reports this week that his loan move could be made permanent we could see Wes as our number one for years to come.

Worst Result/Performance of the Year.

After going 18 games without a win and being relegated there are plenty of games that could win this award.

Bristol Rovers 1-3, Southampton 1-4, Plymouth 0-1 are just some of the results and performances that makes any Town fan shudder.

But this award has a joint winner; Notts County at home in April is when it got very real for a lot of fans.

When Paul Hart was appointed at the club for me it was a real downer, I did agree with Danny Wilson leaving but Paul Hart?

It was the Notts County game where he lost any support he might have had left when he clashed with home fans near the full time whistle.

The County Ground as a whole was fed up of his negative tactics and bizarre team selections and a lot of people let him know what they thought of him, awful day.

And the other winner is obviously the home defeat to O****d.

After waiting along time for this game it was such a disappointing day, but with the reverse fixture coming up in March revenge will be on all Town fans minds.

Best Result/Performance of the Year.

Obviously there wasn’t any contenders from the first 5 months of the year but this season there have been already some memorable performances and results.

Crawley 3-0, Rotherham 3-2, Gillingham 2-0 are some of the best games from the season but for me it was an F.A game where we shinned in all areas.

After being ‘unbeaten’ in the league Huddersfield arrived at the County Ground for the F.A Cup 1st Round, and Town put on a brilliant display to ease to victory 4-1.

After going a goal down Flint, de Vita, Kerrouche and Ferry all replied for Town and it was an excellent all round performance from the team to beat a club who was on such a high in League One.

With 2011 now coming to an end thoughts now turn to the future and what it looks like for Swindon Town.

Personally I think a top three finish in League Two is what’s expected by Paolo Di Canio’s team.

Maybe that’s a big ask but I believe that the team we’ve got is good enough to achieve that feat if we can add another forward and winger to the first team.

Also you never know by the end of January Luke Rooney might be part of the Swindon Town squad!

By this time next year ideally we’ll be pushing for the League One playoffs and most importantly Paolo Di Canio will still be in charge of the football club.

Happy New Year to you all lets all hope for a brilliant 2012 for Swindon Town.

Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter @danjohnson6

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Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here