Woodgate claims North East award

Woodgate attended the ceremony with manager Gareth Southgate

Middlesbrough defender Jonathan Woodgate was named Prince's Trust North East Player of the Year at an awards ceremony in Newcastle on Tuesday.

Woodgate, 27, won the award ahead of fellow North East stars including Julio Arca, Nicky Butt and Obafemi Martins.

"It means a lot to me to win this," he told the club website. "It was great to come back home and play for my hometown team. Hopefully there's more to come."

The ex-Real Madrid man, on loan at Boro last season, signed for £7m in April.

Feature: North East Football Awards

Newcastle midfielder James Milner picked up the North East Young Player of the Year award, while Sunderland's Nyron Nosworthy won the Coca-Cola League Player of the Year for his part in the Black Cat's promotion-winning season.

Eifion Williams claimed the Goal of the Season award for his wonder strike for Hartlepool away to Darlington last season. The Welsh striker has since been released by Pool and joined Wrexham in June.

Save of the Season went to Sunderland keeper Darren Ward for his acrobatic save from Southampton defender Pele at the Stadium of Light in November.

"I can't remember too much about the save to be honest," Ward said. "It was a free header and I thought it had gone in until I pushed it against the bar and Danny Collins cleared it."