Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe has been named the 2016 Player of the Year at the North East Football Writers Awards.

Teammate Jordan Pickford was named the Young Player of the Year.

The annual event, which took place at Ramside Hall on Sunday evening in Durham, reflected on the stand-out contribution of Defoe to Sunderland's quest to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Lee Cattermole was the last Black Cats player to win the award in 2014, with Simon Mignolet and Darren Bent have both scooped the accolade since the turn of the decade.