It's that time of the year again - the season is over, the players are enjoying a rest and looking forward to 2012 but it's time for us to look back at 2011 and hand out some awards! So, without further ado, let's get on with it!

Match of the Season
Once again there were plenty of thrilling encounters involving Gamba this season. We've hand-picked the five that we felt were the best of the best for you to vote on.

The nominations are...

5-1 vs Melbourne Victory (at Banpaku)
The team opened the season in emphatic style, tearing apart a clueless Melbourne Victory side and storming to a 3-0 lead within little over 10 minutes. The visitors managed to muster a consolation goal from the penalty spot to give themselves hope of a miracle comeback but a pair of second half strikes completed the rout and ensured that Gamba began their Champions League campaign in style.

4-2 vs Kashiwa Reysol (at Kashiwa Soccer Stadium)
Reysol may have finished the season as champions but they failed to take a single point from Gamba in their two encounters. This match, the first meeting of the season, saw six goals including a screamer from left back Takumi Shimohira. The hosts took the lead but Yasuhito Endo, Shoki Hirai and Lee Keun-Ho combined to give Gamba a 3-1 lead. A second Reysol goal cut the lead but the aforementioned Shimohira strike secured all three points for Gamba.

5-3 vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima (at Banpaku)
The summer was a goal frenzy as far as Gamba are concerned. Just four days after that Reysol match the team went one better by putting five past Sanfrecce Hiroshima. The Purple Archers were in scoring form too, contributing three goals to this eight goal thriller. Five different Gamba players got on the scoresheet with the pick of the goals coming from Yasuhito Endo.

6-3 vs Kawasaki Frontale (at Banpaku)
Just when we thought we'd seen everything, Kawasaki Frontale rolled into Osaka to play their part in Gamba's highest scoring encounter of the season. The home side stormed to a 2-0 lead within half an hour but had thrown it away by half time to head into the break 3-2 down. A second half Frontale red card gave Gamba the numerical advantage and a deflected Tomokazu Myojin strike plus Rafinha's first Gamba hat-trick sealed the three points.

5-0 vs Montedio Yamagata (at Yamagata Park Stadium)
Gamba's biggest margin of victory came towards the end of the season against a hapless Montedio Yamagata. The Mountain Kings could not stop Gamba's attack from tearing through their back line and succumbed to a five goal demolition, once again with the goals scored by five different players.

Honourable mentions go to the 2-1 Osaka Derby triumph and the 4-1 victory courtesy of a late burst of goals against Kashima Antlers.

Young Player of the Season
A new award for this season is the Young Player award. All players who made at least five appearance and were under 23 at the start of 2011 are eligible. We want you to pick the young player that you think had the best season.

The nominations are...

Afonso (8 appearances)
Hiroki Fujiharu (14 appearances, 1 goal)
Shota Kawanishi (11 appearances, 5 goals)
Kim Jung-Ya (8 appearances)
Takumi Shimohira (27 appearances, 1 goal)
Tatsuya Uchida (8 appearances)
Takashi Usami (21 appearances, 5 goals)

Player of the Season
This season saw a change to the decision of the Player of the Season award. You have been voting all year, selecting a player from each match to collect the Man of the Match award. The player with the most awards over the course of the season will be announced with the results of the other awards.




Voting will close at midnight (JST) on December 31st 2011 and the winners will then be announced. Place your votes now!