Hoefkens voted player of the season

A fantastic 48% of Stoke Vitalfootball readers voted for Carl Hoefkens as their ‘Player of the Season’.

The Belgium international defender has been an ever present member of the starting line-up this season after joining the Potters from Germinal Beerschot in the wake of Johan Boskamp’s arrival in July 2005.

He has settled well into life in the second tier of English football, playing in all but one game so far this season (away against Norwich), scoring three goals in the process and was only substituted twice in that time.

Carl and his wife, Vanessa, who is a well known model and TV presenter in Belgium arrived in the Potteries complete with a Belgium TV crew finishing a documentary on the couple. But Carl has proved to Stoke fans that he lets his football do the talking.

Carl appears to now have taken over the role of chief penalty taker after coolly putting away spot kicks against Millwall and QPR.

Congratulations, Carl!

Paul Gallagher, on a season long loan from Blackburn Rovers, was in second place with 22% of the vote. Paul looks like he will end the season as top scorer and has currently twelve goals to his credit including a great 25 yard thunderbolt against Southampton on Easter Saturday