The 28-year-old has been named among four players shortlisted for the August accolade, with supporters invited to vote for the winner.
Drinan’s effort came during Swindon’s 2-1 victory over Cheltenham Town at the Nigel Eady County Ground on Friday 22nd August. Anthony Munda won possession before Drinan drove forward as the Cheltenham defence retreated in the 17th minute.
The forward set himself outside the penalty area and unleashed a rising right-footed strike into the top corner to put the Robins ahead. Ollie Clarke doubled Swindon’s advantage ten minutes into the second half before Ryan Broom pulled a goal back for Cheltenham with five minutes remaining.
The victory was Swindon’s first at home in the league against Cheltenham since 2012. Drinan’s nomination follows an impressive spell for the striker, who was named the EFL League Two Player of the Season for 2025/26 after scoring 22 league goals.
An EFL statistical review published after the Cheltenham fixture showed that Drinan had scored 23 league goals since the start of the previous season. At that point, only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Leyton Orient’s Dom Ballard had scored more league goals across England’s top four divisions during the same period.
Drinan is up against Fleetwood Town’s Ched Evans, Oldham Athletic’s Keenan Appiah-Forson and Bristol Rovers’ Tom James for the August award. Evans was shortlisted for a dipping first-time volley from around 35 yards against Chesterfield, while Appiah-Forson earned his nomination with a looping effort against Colchester United.
James is also in contention after scoring a free-kick from the corner of the penalty area against Crawley Town, with the ball clipping the underside of the crossbar. Voting opens at 10am today (Friday 11th September) and closes at 5pm on Monday 14th September.
Our sports reporter Ian Howard said:
“Aaron Drinan has shown himself to be the spearhead of Swindon’s attack. His pace and direct running into the area leaves defences unsure whether to risk a tackle which could bring him down in the area leading to a penalty. His accuracy in shooting is deadly! When Aaron has the ball in the last third of the field the crowd expect something special to happen and it very often does!”
The public can vote on the EFL website and will be combined with the choices of Sky Sports EFL experts Don Goodman and David Prutton to determine the winner.
The award is due to be announced on Friday 18th September.
