Club 08/05/2019
SPFL Tartan Ball Winner – Kevin Nisbet
Raith Rovers’ Kevin Nisbet is the first recipient of the inaugural SPFL Tartan Ball award for SPFL League 1 for his goal scoring achievements in the 2018/19 season.
The special edition Tartan Ball awards, created in partnership with SPFL Official Match Ball supplier Mitre, were presented to the top scorers in the Ladbrokes Championship, League 1 and League 2 following the conclusion of league fixtures last weekend.
In an astonishing season for goal scorers in the SPFL (which has seen 2006 goals scored so far) the final league tallies saw Kevin notch an incredible 30 goals.
The goal scoring exploits of Kevin (and Blair Henderson of Edinburgh City, who also scored 30 goals) mark only the third time since the SPFL’s inception in 2013 that players across the divisions have reached 30 goals for a league campaign – the players becoming the third and fourth men to reach the milestone after Leigh Griffiths in season 2015/16 and Rory McAllister in 2013/14..
Once the Ladbrokes Premiership league season comes to an end on Sunday May 19th, the destination of the inaugural Tartan Boot Award for the overall top scorer in the SPFL for season 2018/19 will be confirmed.
‘Nizzy’ was presented with the award before kick off last night by Andrew Sinclair of the SPFL, before adding to his goal tally v Forfar with his 34th goal in all competitions.
Kevin Nisbet said: “It’s a great honour to receive the reward as top goal scorer in SPFL League 1. I feel that getting regular game time this season has helped my development all-round as a player at the Rovers.
“I’m learning every day here under The Gaffer and Smudger, and I’d also like to accept this award on behalf of my teammates – I couldn’t have done this without them.”
Neil Doncaster, SPFL chief executive, said: “This season has seen incredible achievements in goal scoring leading to an exciting and memorable year across all four Ladbrokes SPFL divisions. These awards have been introduced to recognise and celebrate these exceptional individual performances.
“Congratulations to Kevin for winning the very first Tartan Ball award. I would also like to express my thanks to our Official Match Ball Supplier Mitre for their collaboration in devising the awards, in a season which has seen us extend our successful partnership until the end of season 2022/23.”