GOALKEEPER

JAKE KEAN (Hartlepool)

He might have spent less than four months at Victoria Park, but Blackburn loanee Jake Kean still did enough during his time in the North-East to force his way into the Team of the Season.

The 20-year-old made 25 appearances for Pools, keeping ten clean sheets in the process, and displayed an ability and temperament that betrayed his tender years.

He is currently Rovers' third-choice stop-stopper, but seasoned observers are already predicting he will become a full England international in the future.

His time with Hartlepool has surely aided his development, and he edges out Steve Harper, who has been typically reliable with Newcastle, and Jason Steele, who broke into Middlesbrough's first team in the early weeks of the campaign.

RIGHT-BACK

NEDUM ONUOHA (SUNDERLAND)

Steve Bruce's signings have had something of a mixed record this season, but there is no doubting the impact Nedum Onuoha has made since leaving Manchester City.

The loanee has started all bar eight of the Black Cats' league games, and his power and poise was a major factor in the nine clean sheets they recorded before the turn of the year.

He is due to return to the City of Manchester Stadium this summer, but Bruce is expected to do all he can to turn his temporary switch into a permanent transfer.

His main rival for the Team of the Season was Newcastle's Danny Simpson, who has acquitted himself superbly on his return to the Premier League.

CENTRE-HALF

FABRICIO COLOCCINI (NEWCASTLE)

When Newcastle were relegated two seasons ago, Fabricio Coloccini's poor form was a major factor in the club's demise.

The Argentinian rehabilitated himself in the Championship last season, but doubts were expressed about his ability to cope at a higher level. Nine months later, and those doubts have been dispelled.

Coloccini has been Newcastle's stand-out defender all season, with his competitive spirit combining with an assurance on the ball to produce an accomplished all-round game.

It might have taken a while, but the 29-year-old finally looks like the £10m player Newcastle thought they had bought back in 2008.

CENTRE-HALF

DAN BURN (Darlington)

He might only have made 11 senior starts, but teenage defender Dan Burn has already done enough to establish himself as one of the most exciting prospects in North-East football.

The Blyth-born youngster made four appearances last season, and enjoyed an occasional run-out in Darlington's FA Trophy matches in the first half of the current campaign.

He made his first league start in January's 3-1 win over Barrow and has not looked back since, displaying incredible composure for one so young.

He will complete a £325,000 move to Fulham this summer, becoming Darlington's record departure in the process, and, fitness permitting, will be hoping to sign off in style in next month's FA Trophy final.

LEFT-BACK

Phil Bardsley (SUNDERLAND)

Last summer, Steve Bruce would have sold Phil Bardsley had an acceptable offer been received at the Stadium of Light. Today, the versatile defender is surely the first name on the Sunderland manager's team sheet.

Despite having spent almost all of his career on the right flank, Bardsley has made the left-back slot his own.

His commitment is unquestionable, his positioning is generally superb, and he has even discovered an eye for goal, scoring three goals since the turn of the year.

He has, however, faced stiff competition for the left-back slot, with Newcastle's Jose Enrique and Middlesbrough's Joe Bennett also having enjoyed excellent campaigns.

RIGHT MIDFIELD

Joey Barton (NEWCASTLE)

While his past continues to haunt him in terms of international call-ups and the recognition of his peers, there is no doubting the extent of Joey Barton's achievements on the pitch this season.

The Newcastle midfielder has been an influential presence all year, providing an incisive attacking threat from the right-hand side.

The quality of his set-piece delivery has also been a key component of the Magpies' attacking play, with his free-kicks and corners setting up a number of goals.

Take away one errant moment against Blackburn Rovers, and he has also kept his notoriously volatile temperament in check. If they achieve nothing else this summer, Newcastle could do with tying him down to a new deal.

HOLDING MIDFIELDER

CHEIK TIOTE (NEWCASTLE)

While Newcastle's spending was severely limited last summer, former boss Chris Hughton was allowed to splash out £3.5m on the previously unheralded Cheik Tiote.

At the end of the Ivory Coast international's first season in English football, the transfer already looks like one of the best deals in the club's recent history.

Tiote has been a revelation this season, protecting the Newcastle back four with a string of thunderous tackles and perfectly-timed interceptions, and propelling his side forward with a series of crisp passing moves. That's before we even mention his never-to-be-forgotten equaliser against Arsenal.

His importance was recently underlined by the offer of a new six-and-a-half year deal, and while a number of England's leading clubs are already eyeing him enviously, Pardew will do all he can to hold on to him.

ATTACKING MIDFIELDER

Antony Sweeney (HARTLEPOOL)

There were a number of candidates for the two attacking midfield roles in the Team of the Season, but Hartlepool's Antony Sweeney has earned one with a string of influential displays.

He has scored 14 goals from midfield this term, an excellent tally given Hartlepool's position in the middle of League One.

Strong and powerful in possession, and adept at timing his runs into the box, the 27-year-old is currently playing as well as he has ever has.

The highlight of his season was surely his hat-trick in December's FA Cup win over Yeovil, but he has been a consistent goalscorer throughout the campaign.

ATTACING MIDFIELDER

Kevin Nolan (NEWCASTLE)

When Kevin Nolan scored 17 Championship goals last season, critics claimed he was a flat-track bully, helping himself to easy pickings at a lower level.

Some of those criticisms were addressed on the second day of the season, when he scored two against Aston Villa, and since then, the former Bolton midfielder has emerged as the linchpin of the Newcastle team.

Nolan is the joint sixth leading goalscorer in the whole of the Premier League, and only Chelsea's Florent Malouda has enjoyed more success from midfield.

As Newcastle's captain, he exerts a huge influence in the dressing room, and his place in Magpies' folklore was assured when he became only the third Newcastle player to score a hat-trick against Sunderland last October.

LEFT MIDFIELDER

Julio Arca (MIDDLESBROUGH)

It has been a difficult season at the Riverside, but things have picked up in the second half of the campaign and it is notable that the revival has coincided with Julio Arca's personal renaissance.

The Argentinian flitted in and out of the side under Gordon Strachan, who no doubt questioned the cultured ball-player's work ethic.

However, Tony Mowbray has made him a much more integral part of the side, and Arca has responded with a number of typically assured displays that have helped propel Boro to mid-table security in the Championship table.

The midfielder merits his place in the Team of the Season, although his cause has been helped by an absence of viable alternatives. Jonas Gutierrez has flattered to deceive, Sunderland and Darlington do not really have a natural left-sider and Hartlepool's Andy Monkhouse has been steady but unspectacular.

CENTRE-FORWARD

Andy Carroll (NEWCASTLE)

Andy Carroll only spent half of the season in the North-East, but that was still more than enough time for him to establish himself as the region's leading centre-forward.

He scored 11 goals in 18 Premier League starts before completing a £35m move to Liverpool, and emerged as the brightest attacking prospect in the whole of English football.

The highlight of his time at Newcastle was his hat-trick against Aston Villa on the second day of the season, but his personal high points would also have included his England debut against France and his first international goal against Ghana.

His only real rival for the Team of the Season was Darren Bent, and it is a major regret that both players left the North-East in January.

SUBSTITUTES:

Jason Steele (Middlesbrough), Joe Bennett (Middlesbrough), Titus Bramble (Sunderland), Jordan Henderson (Sunderland), Marc Bridge-Wilkinson (Darlington), Darren Bent (Sunderland), Liam Hatch (Darlington).

MANAGER

TONY MOWBRAY (MIDDLESBROUGH)

After inheriting an almighty mess from Gordon Strachan, success for Tony Mowbray would merely have been keeping Middlesbrough in the Championship.

Instead, he has achieved much more, securing survival with three games to play and laying the foundations for a push towards the Premier League next season.

His willingness to embrace youth is a major asset, and with the likes of Jason Steele, Cameron Park, Richie Smallwood and Ben Gibson coming through, Boro's future looks to be in safe hands even if more cost-cutting takes place this summer.

Crucially, for a club in transition, Mowbray also understands what Middlesbrough means to its supporters and the wider Teesside region. As a result, it already feels as though the club has got much of its heart back.