Former Sunderland player wins EFL young player of the year award

Former Sunderland player Bali Mumba picked up two accolades at the EFL awards after a brilliant season at Plymouth.

Plymouth full back Bali Mumba won the League One young player of the award and was also included in the League One team of the year.

Mumba is currently on-loan at Plymouth from Norwich City and has played 38 times for the Pilgrims, registering 10 assists and scoring a further six.

Mumba was born in South Shields before coming through Sunderland’s youth ranks where he made over 50 appearances. He then made 10 appearances for the first team between 2017 and 2019 prior to being loaned out to South Shields.

Mumba was sold to Norwich in 2020 for a nominal £350,000 and has since played nine times for Norwich’s first team as well as 13 times for Peterborough whilst on-loan at the Posh.

Mumba however wasn’t the only former Academy of Light graduate to be named in the League One team of the season with Derby County’s Conor Hourihane also being named in the side.

Hourihane spent three years in Sunderland’s academy from 2007 – 2010 but never made an appearance for the black cats.

In the Championship, Coventry goalkeeper Ben Wilson was named in the team of the season, although no current Sunderland players made it. Wilson was born in Stanley, Durham and spent seven years in Sunderland’s academy.

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