Magnificent Maswanhise Makes More Monthly Magic

A rare double secured for Maswanhise, with Motherwell claiming an even more unique "3 in a row"

Motherwell have received almost universal acclaim this season for their form, results, and style of play under new manager Jens Berthel Askou. The Dane was appointed in the summer after German manager Michael Wimmer returned back to his native country after a three month spell in Lanarkshire. Askou was chosen as his successor, following the end of his short term spell as assistant manager at FC Copenhagen in Denmark.

Askou has been a revelation at the Steelmen, due to the style of play implemented and the success of their recruitment in the summer. However a major part of the success at Fir Park this season has been due to the form of a player that joined the club under Stuart Kettlewell in the previous summer, Tawanda Maswanhise.

After leaving Motherwell temporarily in December to represent Zimbabwe at AFCON, the 23-year-old returned to the club in January, and continued exactly where he left off - banging the goals in. He scored five times in four Premiership matches and got another in the Scottish Cup, as Motherwell remained undefeated throughout 2026.

Maswanhise said: “I missed games due to representing my country, and I was eager to hit the ground running when I got back. We managed to have another unbeaten run and win four of our five matches.
My teammates work so hard to get me chances in front of goal. It’s my job to keep finding the back of the net, and I’ll keep working hard to do so.”

Maswanhise is the Premiership’s top scorer with 13 goals from 22 games, one clear of Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren and two ahead of injured Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland.

It’s the Well forward’s second monthly award of the season, which is a rare achievement for any player - never mind a Motherwell player! It was also the third consecutive month in which a Motherwell player picked up the award, which is an ever rare achievement, as I’ll now show.

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PLAYERS TO WIN 2+ AWARDS IN A SEASON

The SPL merged with the SFL to form the SPFL ahead of the 2013/14 season. The below stats analyse the top flight monthly awards under both the SPFL and the SPL, stretching back to the year 2000.

Celtic have won more player of the month awards than any club in Scotland, by far, and so it’s no surprise to see their players frequently appearing on this list. There have only been TWO other instances of a non-Old Firm player winning 2+ awards in a season in the entirety of the SPFL era.

For Motherwell, Maswanhise is the first player to win 2+ awards in a season since Michael Higdon in the SPL in 2012/13. Higdon scored a mammoth 26 league goals as Motherwell finished second, 16 points Champions Celtic on 79 points. Maswanhise has a long way to match that total, having hit 13 so far in his 22 league appearances.

There are several seasons where NO players won the award more than once in a single season, and a couple of occasions where it’s happened more than once in the same season.

The full list of all 21 “double winners” since the year 2000: