Sam Kerr, Erling Haaland win Football Writers Association player of the year awards

Australia’s Sam Kerr has become the first woman to win back-to-back Football Writers Association player of the year awards. 

The Chelsea and Matildas star striker polled twice as many votes as Women’s Super League top scorer Rachel Daly of Aston Villa.

Kerr’s Chelsea teammate Lauren James was third.

The 29-year-old Australian has excelled again for the West London side, scoring 26 goals in 34 club appearances this season, 10 of those in the Women’s Super League (WSL).

Kerr also scored five goals in Europe as Chelsea reached the semifinals of the Champions League, and will feature against Manchester United in the FA Cup final this weekend at a sold-out Wembley Stadium.

Chelsea also reached the Conti Cup final, with Kerr scoring the opener in the decider at Selhurst Park only to lose 3-1 to Arsenal.  

Chelsea are in contention for the WSL title, trailing Manchester United by a single point having played a game less.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland claimed the men’s award, having scored 51 goals in his first season in the Premier League.

The Norwegian superstar polled a whopping 82 per cent of the votes from the 800 members of the association, the biggest winning margin since the advent of the Premier League in 1992/93.

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka finished second in the voting, with his teammate Martin Odegaard third, followed by Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City fourth and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford fifth.

The Football Writers Association first named a player of the year in 1948, meaning this is the 75th anniversary of that first award.

Sir Stanley Matthews was the first player to be named player of the year.

The women’s player of the year award was inaugurated in 2018.

The inaugural winner was Fran Kirby of Chelsea, who won the award for a second time in 2021.

Nikita Parris and Viivenne Miedema are the other previous winners of the award.

ABC

Loading