Former Hearts of Oak skipper Thomas Abbey has been awarded the Best player for the 2016/17 season by the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG).

Abbey, 24, beat former Berekum Chelsea Striker Stephen Sarfo and Kotoko’s Amos Frimpong to the honour.

The midfielder hit 13 goals in 27 league matches during the season and was the top scorer for the Phobians

Despite his goals and stellar performance, the Phobians failed to win either the Ghana Premier league title or the MTN FA Cup last year.

Abbey was announced as the winner of the SWAG Best Player, during a ceremony held in Accra on Friday.

He was shortlisted among the other two for the awards, which is voted by only members of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana.

Abbey, together with Frimpong and Sarfo were part coach Maxwell Konadu's team that won the 2017 WAFU tournament, where he was shifted to the left back role.

He undoubtedly was Hearts of Oak’s best player, having won four man-of-the-match awards with 15 goals in all competitions.

He joined Egyptian side Ismaily SC after 6 seasons with the Phobians.

Abbey also featured in ghanaguardian.com's team of the year, and he is up against former Aduana Stars and current kotoko defender Daniel Darkwa and Stephen SARFO for the maiden Ghana Football Awards.

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