The final batch of Liberty Next Gen Tracker votes have been tallied as we crown the winner for the 2023-24 Isuzu UTE A-League season!
In both the Isuzu UTE A-League and Liberty A-League this year, we’ve kept tabs on the Next Gen Tracker, ranking the top five players who were 21 or under at the start of the season every month as the “Ones to Watch” in the A-Leagues.
The latest voting schedule factored in the final five rounds of the season, with aleagues.com.au writers casting five votes to their top performer aged 21 or under prior to the start of the season, four to the next best, all the way down to one vote for the fifth-best performer across the final five rounds.
Read on for the final votes of the season polled through April, and the overall tally as the Liberty Next Gen Tracker leaderboard is finalised at the end of a big season for young prospects in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
Get your tickets to this weekend’s Semi-Finals!
Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix
Sydney FC v Central Coast Mariners
Liberty Next Gen Tracker – Top 5 (April)
1 vote: Clayton Taylor (Newcastle Jets)
Goals in back-to-back wins in April ensured Newcastle Jets midfielder Clayton Taylor ended the season on a high.
The 20-year-old has thrived in his first season at the club, joining from Sydney FC along with new head coach Robbie Stanton who knew all about Taylor’s talents from their shared time at the Sky Blues.
Taylor ended the season with seven goals to his name over 25 appearances.
2 votes: Alex Paulsen (Wellington Phoenix)
Alex Paulsen came into the 2023-24 season in competition with new signing Jack Duncan for the vacant role of Wellington Phoenix No.1 following Oli Sail’s departure to Perth Glory.
27 games, 11 saves and 12 clean sheets later, the 21-year-old ended the regular season as one of the standout performers across the competition, playing a major role in guiding the ‘Nix to a second-place finish.
An unfortunate own goal in a 1-1 draw against Newcastle Jets in Round 25 was the only blip on Paulsen’s record this season. He kept two clean sheets in wins over Melbourne Victory and Macarthur FC in April as Wellington pushed the Mariners all the way in the Premiership race.
3 votes: Jacob Farrell (Central Coast Mariners)
Jacob Farrell’s season began with a red card and three defeats – but much like the Mariners as a whole, the young full-back’s early form made way in a blistering turn of momentum.
Farrell only played in one more defeat in the league after Round 4, contributing to 14 wins and four draws in 19 games. Farrell scored the opening goal in Central Coast’s final game of the season, setting Mark Jackson’s side on course to lifting the Premiers Plate after a 2-0 win over Adelaide United.
Farrell played three games for the Mariners in April/May after returning from Olyroos duty, ending the season on a six-game winning streak.
4 votes: Matthew Grimaldi (Western United)
Matthew Grimaldi is the future of Western United.
The attacking midfielder rose through the club’s academy to debut in the Isuzu UTE A-League this season, and ended the campaign with a bang.
The 20-year-old bagged four goals in his last eight appearances – three of which came in April as the youngster inspired Western to two wins and one draw through five games to end the season.
5 votes: Nestory Irankunda (Adelaide United)
One last hurrah for Nestory Irankunda led to the 18-year-old collecting maximum votes in the Liberty Next Gen Tracker polling for April.
The 18-year-old has played his last game in the Isuzu UTE A-League; he played five games in April/May to cap off the season and notched two assists and two goals to take his season tally to eight goals and six assists to bid the league farewell en route to German giants Bayern Munich.
There is one last stop on the farewell tour, however: Irankunda has been selected in the A-Leagues All Stars squad set to take on Newcastle United at Marvel Stadium on May 24.
Get your tickets to the A-League All Stars here
Liberty Next Gen Tracker Top 5 – April
The final standings lead to special recognition of a great A-Leagues rivalry
Their rivalry has been box office from beginning to end – and now, as Nestory Irankunda bids the Isuzu UTE A-League farewell, he does so as the joint-winner of the Liberty Next Gen Tracker with Central Coast Mariners full-back Jacob Farrell.
Farrell and Irankunda have directly lined up on one another many a time throughout their respective Isuzu UTE A-League careers so far, and the matchup has been compelling to watch. Irankunda’s five-vote haul in April took him to 15 for the season – a number matched by Farrell after he collected three votes to add to his previous 12.
Farrell led the count on 12 votes after March but ends the season level with Irankunda in a fitting conclusion to their entertaining battle.
Liberty Next Gen Tracker – final votes
OTHER PLAYERS TO POLL VOTES
- 4 votes: Thomas Waddingham (Brisbane Roar)
- 4 votes: Matthew Grimaldi (Western United)
- 4 votes: Benjamin Mazzeo (Melbourne City)
- 4 votes: Finn Surman (Wellington Phoenix)
- 4 votes: Ben Old (Wellington Phoenix)
- 3 votes: Jaiden Kucharski (Sydney FC)
- 3 votes: Luka Jovanovic (Adelaide United)
- 2 votes: Raphael Borges Rodrigues (Macarthur FC)
- 2 votes: Nicolas Milanovic (Western Sydney)
- 2 votes: Ryan Teague (Melbourne Victory)
- 2 votes: Miguel Di Pizio (Central Coast Mariners)
- 2 votes: Bernardo Oliveira (Macarthur FC)
- 1 vote: Daniel Bennie (Perth Glory)
- 1 vote: Alex Bonetig (Western Sydney)
Get your tickets to this weekend’s Semi-Finals!
Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix
Sydney FC v Central Coast Mariners
