Steve collects Nick's proud award on his behalf

Steve Davis, the Crewe Alexandra manager was nominated for the North West manager of the year award last night and although he missed out to Manchester City’s title winner Roberto Mancini, he was on hand to collect the League Two player award for our former player Nick Powell.

Powell’s current club Manchester United kindly asked if our manager would collect it on his behalf and conduct a small interview because he had won the award on the back of what we did for us in our promotion winning season. Powell is currently on duty with the England Under-21 squad.

Powell, now 18, won our own Supporter awards and ended his career with us with that stunning strike at Wembley in the play-off final against Cheltenham.

Steve said of Powell achievements: “Nick deserved the award and his rise has been remarkable in a short space of time. He really made his name in six months and that is an example to all young players because if you have confidence in your ability, you can go as far as you want.

“Nick was fantastic for us, he helped us to promotion, scored that outstanding goal at Wembley and then got his move to one of the greatest clubs in the world.  He deserves all the accolades.

“He has gone to Manchester United and been in-and-around the first-team squad, that is a tremendous achievement in itself because he is in competition with the top players in the world. He has made his debut, scored on the debut and played well whenever he has come on for them.

“At 18, he is now in the England Under-21 squad that play tonight, and for him to be in that squad and at his age, just shows how far he has gone. We are very proud because he has come through the Crewe system, and our Academy and we all believe he will be a star of the future.

Steve added: “Not only for his club but also for the country. It is nice to be talking about an 18-year-old English lad with that ability.”