- Oscar Schwartau named Norwich City’s Young Player of the Season.
- Beat Ruairi McConville, Kellen Fisher, and Jovon Makama to the award.
- Why the Danish forward was the clear winner for the Canaries.
Norwich City announced their End of Season awards on the pitch before their 1-1 draw with Swansea City at Carrow Road last weekend.
Kenny McLean won the Barry Butler for the second time in three seasons, with Pelle Mattsson finishing second and Kellen Fisher making the top three for the second season running.
Before the skipper picked up his award, though, the club announced that Oscar Schwartau is this year’s winner of the Etty Smith Young Player of the Season award.
The contenders
Since Ben Knapper came through the door, Norwich have gone back to their roots of having an emphasis on developing and bringing through young talent after they lost their way slightly under David Wagner.
Because of that, there were plenty of contenders for the Young Player of the Season award, which was won by Kellen Fisher, Jonathan Rowe, and Liam Gibbs in the previous three years.
Six players aged 22 or younger played over 1,000 minutes for Norwich in the Championship this season, and 13 such players made at least one appearance in the league.
In the 2023/24 season, Rowe was the only player under the age of 23 who played more than 300 league minutes, which shows how much the squad has changed since then.
The six U23 players who played more than 1,000 league minutes this season were Schwartau, Jovon Makama, Ruairi McConville, Jacob Wright, Kellen Fisher, and Ben Chrisene.
Fisher won the award last season and was in the top three for the Player of the Season, so it feels almost unfair to put him in contention again.
That still left five very good young players, including Schwartau, who have all contributed to Norwich’s season in different ways.
Oscar Schwartau’s case
It is easy to forget just how young the Danish star is because he has been at the club for almost two years now, since he joined from Brondby in the summer of 2024.
He does not turn 20 until the middle of next month and has already racked up 80 appearances for the club in all competitions.
Schwartau’s already made more appearances for Norwich before turning 20 than Robert Snodgrass, David Fox, Dion Dublin, and Andrew Surman did in their entire Carrow Road careers, just to name a few.
The Dane currently has the most minutes (2,073) of every U20 player in the Premier League, Championship, and League One, which illustrates just how special he is for his age.
No teenager in the Championship has scored more goals (four) or created more ‘big chances’ (nine) than Schwartau.
| Rank | U20 players | Club | Big Chances Created | Age |
| 1 | Oscar Schwartau | Norwich | 9 | 19 |
| 2 | Divine Mukasa | Leicester | 7 | 18 |
| 3 | Sindre Walle Egeli | Ipswich | 3 | 19 |
| 4 | Ryan One | Sheffield United | 2 | 19 |
| 5 | Harry Amass | Sheffield Wednesday/Norwich | 2 | 19 |
Manchester City loanee Divine Mukasa and Schwartau are the only two teenagers in the Championship who have created more than three ‘big chances’ this season.
Norwich’s Danish star is producing exceptional offensive numbers for his age, standing out as the most impactful teenage forward in the entire division.
The fact that he has been available to play in 34 of the club’s 45 Championship games also speaks to his durability, which stands out against his peers, who have suffered from consistent injury issues.
Worthy winner
Some supporters wanted McConville to win the award, and you can understand why after his excellent defensive displays, but Schwartau is set to end the season with ten more appearances than him.
The Denmark U21 international also started five more league games than Makama and played six more matches overall.
Wright and Chrisene only started 12 and 15 matches respectively, due to selection and injury issues, and did not quite do enough to be genuine contenders.
Schwartau, therefore, was the clear and worthy winner of the award both because of what he contributed on the pitch and the age at which he did it.
It is now exciting to think about what he could achieve next season after a full pre-season under Clement and two years of Championship experience under his belt…
