Twelve remarkable months: How Aaron Drinan went from injured and out-of-contract to the best player in League Two

In January, the Swindon Town striker was rewarded for his fine form with a new contract at the County Ground, the culmination of a journey of despair, determination, and the destruction of League Two defences.

Today, he is at the heart of the lower-league conversation, routinely named in transfer gossip, his goalscoring exploits well detailed across social media. And now, the League Two player of the season.

For this softly spoken Irishman, it has been a remarkable rise. And, not that long ago, scarcely conceivable.

During the visit of Port Vale on February 8, 2025, Drinan made a sudden movement, shifting his body weight from one side to the other, and felt a twang in his knee.

It was out of contact and innocuous, but as the pain got steadily worse, he knew that something was wrong. Later that month, he was diagnosed with an partial tear of his posterior cruciate ligament.

The injury needed at least two-and-a-half months of recovery time, just as he’d forced his way back into regular selection contention with his contract running down to a June expiry.

In the aftermath, Drinan spent six weeks in a leg brace, able to do very little other than sit around the house and try not to feel sorry for himself.

Supported by a tight family unit – not for the first time in a career which has endured several injury interruptions – he managed to hold himself together. By his own admission, it was not a simple task.

For footballers, being idle is an entirely alien experience. And on top of being unable to train, Drinan was also unable to get around the golf course – his favourite extra-curricular pursuit.

He spent much of last spring working by himself, in an effort to prove his fitness.

Back home in Ireland, he took on Ian Holloway’s famous shuttle runs alone in a Cork field, wedging his mobile phone inside a trainer as a makeshift tripod to capture it all on video.

Holloway wanted evidence of his progress, even if deep down the Swindon manager had already convinced himself of Drinan’s value to the squad he was trying to build.

Holloway had given Drinan an indication a contract of some sort would be available for him, but nothing was confirmed until June.

And even when he returned for pre-season training, it was in preparation to play a supporting role.

Harry Smith had been the figurehead the previous year, with his work in both penalty areas critical to Swindon’s turnaround in fortunes. Smith was to lead the line again, with Drinan one of several deputies in the channels.

And then, Smith caught his leg underneath Barnet goalkeeper Cieran Slicker, rupturing his ACL.

Swindon would go in hunt of a replacement number nine but, for a short period in August, Drinan would have to become the focal point – a part he had rarely if ever been asked to perform across his career.

Prior to 2025/26, Drinan never averaged more than 0.55 goal contributions per game. Right now, he is averaging 0.86 in League Two.

Prior to 2025/26, Drinan’s best goal return in a single season was 16. He beat that before Christmas.

Now, he is closing in on the magical 30. Two more would see him become the first Town striker since Simon Cox to do it in one term. If he goes beserk and hits nine in th remaining matches (up to five if Swindon get to the playoff final), he will have doubled his EFL career tally in a single season.

For a 27-year-old with 200-plus career appearances to his name, that would be an insane acceleration. And it would almost certainly come hand-in-hand with promotion were he to do it.

Drinan is not quite getting that far ahead of himself right now, although the number 30 is certainly dancing around his head. Before the new season, he has conceded that getting to double figures was his primary target.

He has, in the eyes of most Swindon fans, become a completely different player.

Once seen as the workhorse – remember him being pushed to wing-back last term and again in pre-season – now he is the thoroughbred.

Once a spare part, now he is fundamentally critical to the structural integrity of this Town team.

While Ollie Palmer has added physicality to the frontline, it is undeniable that Swindon have been more effective when Drinan has led the line.

This is underlined statistically. With Drinan on the pitch, Town have a goal difference of plus 17 in the league this season; with Palmer, that drops to plus eight – against an overall goal difference of plus 16.

When Swindon have been at their most fluid and eye-catching, it has been with Drinan running the channels in front of an advancing midfield, with the ball on the floor.

Two of the most memorable goals of the season, at Crewe Alexandra and at home to Shrewsbury, were team moves at pace through the middle of the pitch, finished by Drinan early, catching the goalkeepers off guard.

It is this sort of movement, and an advanced understanding of the game, which both Holloway and Drinan say have been the biggest developments in his evolution as a centre-forward over the past nine months.

He has found more space, more quickly, more often… and reaped the rewards.

But he has also been bold, taking on half-chances and turning them into moments of glory: 22 league goals against an xG of below 17 goes to show a confident, clinical striker at the top of his game.

No wonder other clubs have started sniffing.

Salford City made two approaches in the January transfer window: one for £250,000, one for £400,000, with the promise of substantially increasing his wages.

Whether you view those bids as genuine efforts to bolster a squad or attempts to undermine Swindon’s season, the cash was real. And after turning it down, Town had to act to show Drinan how much they value him.

That – and all the work that came before - led to his new contract, the elevation to a player other teams identify as a major threat, and now recognition from the EFL with such a substantial and prestigious award.

It is a formidable story of overcoming adversity, and one which Drinan and all to do with Swindon Town will hope is not done yet.