AFC Fylde striking sensation Danny Rowe admits his season ‘couldn’t have gone any better’ after winning acclaim on a club and personal level.

Rowe was named the National League North Player of the Year after a record breaking 50-goal season and was also the runaway winner at the club’s recent awards ceremony.

Rowe’s goals fired the Coasters to promotion to the top tier of non-league football for the first time in their history but he was quick to praise those around him.

Rowe said: “I’m buzzing to be given all of these awards. The season couldn’t have gone better really, both from a personal perspective and for the team. It’s been a great season all round. Going into the season, the aim was to win the league which we’ve done.

“Overall, it didn’t really defy expectations because it’s what I expected us to do. In my opinion we were the best team in the league so we should have won the league. Should we have won it before this year? We probably should have done in fairness. The year Barrow went up, I believe we were the best team that season and we should have gone up then. However, it’s great to go up now.

“I won the Golden Boot which comes down to a personal achievement but I’m surrounded by players that have set up so many goals. The likes of Sam (Finley) and James (Hardy) have been giving me assists all season. James got injured and if he hadn’t have got injured, I’d have probably scored more goals than I did.

“Dan Bradley has come in and he’s been similar to James in the way that he has helped me. Other players have obviously helped me as well. It’s been an all-round team performance this season.

Looking back on his highlights of the season, Rowe added: “Salford at home was my favourite goal but probably my favourite moment of the season, apart from us winning at Boston to win the league, was Halifax away when I scored the winner.

“I was heavily marked in the game, as I was probably through the whole back end of the season, because I’d scored so many goals by Christmas.

“In a game as a forward, you know a defender will switch off at some point and when they do, you’ve got to be there to score. Against Halifax, that was the case. I was being marked by two or three players throughout the game and I knew, at some point in the game, I would get a chance.

“There are lots of trips to look forward to next season. I wouldn’t say that there is one game in particular. You just look at the bigger clubs, the bigger grounds. You’ve got Tranmere, Wrexham, big games with great atmospheres and good places to play. People have to step up when you go into a new league and people have to prove themselves to do it at a new level.”