footballer of the year 2019
TK. Sparky had success at Chelsea before two-year spells at Southampton, Everton and Blackburn, but his high-point came earlier as the perfect foil for Eric Cantona in Manchester United's first two title wins. His early success at Sheffield Wednesday was effectively ended when he pushed over referee Paul Alcock, receiving an 11-game ban, but he shone at West Ham and his volley against Wimbledon will go down as one of the great Premier League goals. LO. Often an unbridled joy to watch: he has been Arsenal’s key player for over five years now. “Of course this wouldn’t have been possible without my teammates and the team behind the team, so a huge thanks to them as well.”. LO. TK. A complete midfielder who would have mixed it with Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira in their prime. The Manchester City and England forward topped the poll of the 400-strong FWA membership as a clear winner, with 62 percent of the votes. Brash, brave but above all technically brilliant: he possessed an uncanny ability to read play and be in exactly the right place to sniff out danger. Adept at playing his role without the need to fly into challenges or impose his physicality, Makelele simply pinched possession and kept the ball moving with sheer ease. His move from Arsenal, where he made a name for himself, to Manchester United will always remain a point of contention but it certainly paid off. One of the most ruthless goalscorers the Premier League has ever seen. Ignore the acrimonious exit. The greatest player in our list to never win a Premier League title. Possibly the most under-utilised and underrated English footballer in modern times. Jack McCaffrey 10/1. FWA chairman Carrie Brown paid tribute to Sterling's role off the field (AFP/Getty), Nikita Parris claimed the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year award, Parris was also praised for her international form at the SheBelieves Cup, {{#verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}} {{^verifyErrors}} {{message}} {{/verifyErrors}}, Sterling beats Liverpool’s Van Dijk to FWA Footballer of the Year, Van Dijk beats Sterling to win PFA Player of the Year award, Find Getaway Deals up to 15% off with this Booking.com discount, Debenhams discount code for 15% off selected luxury beauty products, Exclusive Ideal World promo code: 20% saving on fitness, Receive a £2 AliExpress promo code with the official App, Argos promo: 20% off selected LEGO toys this Easter. A mercurial talent who never truly settled in the league due to injuries, but for a short spell was arguably the best on display. Irresistible at his absolute best and one of the very few players capable of not only deciding games on his own, but doing so without the help of team-mates. When he was on his game he was one of the most naturally-gifted players in the league. Paul Mannion 16/1. A complete centre forward, who worked tirelessly, assisted his team-mates and was utterly ruthless in front of goal. Never won a league title with Liverpool, but did win two FA Cups, three League Cups and a Champions League. Struggled in his first few games for Tottenham before finding his rhythm, eventually moving to Manchester United for a club-record fee. The flying Dutchman could turn passive possession into danger in a flash with his exceptional control when running at speed. "We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre back who was 29. Rarely troubled by injury or suspension, Speed made 535 Premier League appearances during his career – putting him at fifth in the all-time list. JR. Van Nistelrooy broke 20 goals in four of his five Premier League seasons, winning a Golden Boot and a PFA Player of the Year Award en route. The 2019 African Footballer of the Year is known for his high intensity and concentration style of play on the pitch. Intelligent on the ball and a fantastic distributor, Carvalho complemented the traditional, hard-nosed approach adopted by Terry. A title winner with Blackburn, sandwiched between two spells at Chelsea, the latter of which saw him pick up plenty more silverware. Twice a Premier League champion and a four-time FA Cup winner even his late-career ponytail can be forgiven. His most prolific season came in winning the 2009-10 title under Carlo Ancelotti, scoring 29 league goals, before leaving and then returning in 2014, a decade after he first arrived, to win his fourth and final Premier League medal. He made an instant impression at Old Trafford, eventually scoring 84 goals in 196 Premier League matches – over half of those coming in his final two seasons when he was utterly unstoppable playing alongside Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez. Initially struggled at Arsenal. Footballer of the Year Awards from Season 1947-48 to 2019-20 Table detailing the … Eventually left for Barcelona in a £25m deal, making him the most expensive player in Dutch football history. Rarely injured, the Spaniard has proven to be a genuine bargain since his £7m move from Marseille. After six years at Old Trafford, Ince moved to Inter Milan before later spells at Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Wolves. He received the prize prior to his team's 2019 Supercup victory over Bayern Munich. LB. Only Thierry Henry has more in the famed red and white. LO. Arguably the most misunderstood player in Premier League history, and among the more underrated. A five-time champion only two players in history have scored more. A converted defensive midfielder who formed a crucial partnership with Patrick Vieira. The Manchester City and England forward topped the poll of the 400-strong FWA membership as a clear winner, with 62 per cent of the votes. JDM. BB. Blessed with every conceivable asset you could want from a No 9, born in a different era Shearer would’ve easily been a £100m player. But he was about so much more than just the goals. Still only 25, Kane is already the fifteenth highest scorer in the history of the Premier League, level with Nicolas Anelka and only one behind fellow Tottenham favourite Robbie Keane. "At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit,” he wrote. A first-team regular for eight seasons now – no mean feat in a side which is constantly and ruthlessly evolving. March 28, 2019 Footballer of the Year Preparations are underway for our Footballer of the Year and Women's Footballer of the Year awards dinner, which will be … A pioneer thanks to his time at Chelsea, where he charmed a generation of fans with his fancy tricks and delightful free-kick goals. Always reliable and diligent when defending, his versatility has also seen him establish himself as one of the great defenders of the last decade in the Premier League. Watch: No stranger to accolades, Reus picks up the December Player of the Month award. Before he was an unexpectedly high-achieving interim manager, he was one of the best strikers in the business. SL. His tragic suicide shocked the sport, marking a turning point in the conversation around mental health in football. McManaman was one of Liverpool's best players throughout the nineties, before becoming the most decorated Englishman to have played abroad. Formed a formidable partnership with Frank Leboeuf and captained the side. “I look forward to presenting him with the Sir Stanley Matthews Trophy on 9 May.”. Emerged from the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo to become a crucial part of the Alex Ferguson’s side and can look back proudly on his five Premier League titles. The man who helped transform Manchester United from a promising side into the greatest team English football has ever seen. Watch: ALL 17 of Marco Reus Bundesliga goals in 2018/19! Raheem Sterling named FWA Footballer of the Year. Won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups, scoring in two finals. It’s hard to dispute. We all knew he was going to be special from the moment he stunned David Seaman from distance as a 16-year-old, ending Arsenal’s 30-match unbeaten run. A move to Manchester United followed, where he won five Premier League titles, eclipsed Sir Bobby Charlton to become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer, and formed one of the most fearsome strike forces ever seen alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez. The eleventh-highest goalscorer in the history of the Premier League with 146 goals, and the competition's 19th-highest appearance maker. A world-class player. The 23-year was the top scorer in … LB. A three-time title-winner and instrumental in two the Belgian led from the front as the beating heart of some of the best teams we’ve seen. Le Saux oozed quality on the ball when getting forward from left-back and quietly added 37 caps for England. A midfield maestro capable of playing the game at his pace; speeding up and slowing down while painting a picture amid the frantic action in Premier League games. Raheem Sterling has been named the 2019 footballer of the year by the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) on April 30, 2019. LO. TK. The Nigerian had magic in his boots and became a cult hero in Lancashire, forming a brilliant partnership with French World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff. When asked what defender he most disliked playing against, Thierry Henry once replied: "Ledley King was the best defender I've played against and the only one that didn't have to foul me to get the ball.” LB. JDM. Stephen Cluxton 6/4. The current African footballer of the year for 2019 is Sadio Mane of Senegal. Outrageous talent and skill some may argue was never fulfilled. A former Manchester United captain who won an astonishing five league titles during his nine years at Old Trafford. “More than 70 years ago Charles Buchan, one of the founding fathers of the Footballer Writers’ Association, suggested there be an award presented to the player who by ‘precept and example’ is considered the Footballer of the Year. SL. Fabregas broke into Arsenal's first team as a teenager and quickly starred in midfield with his technical quality, eventually taking up the club captaincy. The Spaniard exploded on to the English football scene at Liverpool and never looked back becoming one of the most feared No 9s in the history of the league. A gifted goalscorer and Premier League title-winner at Blackburn, Sutton was your quintessential out and out No 9. He is widely considered the greatest Englishman never to have represented his country. JR. The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015. His numbers are simply extraordinary. His peak was his hugely fruitful relationship with Thierry Henry during the Invincibles season. Beckham won six titles, made four PFA Teams of the Year and scored several iconic goals, and his record of 15 Premier League goals scored from direct free-kicks still stands. BB. Nikos Dabizas probably disagrees. SL. An all-round, out and out striker Wright scored every type of goal, famously breaking Cliff Bastin’s Gunners record despite spending his first seven years at Crystal Palace. “It’s a special award and just nice that the work and effort you’ve put in has been recognised,” Reus said of his accolade. SL. An all-time great. Never as big a hit on the international stage as he might’ve been but his domestic achievements more than justify his place here. A total player. Even so, he is undoubtedly one of the league's greatest finishers. LO. MC. LB. The statistic depicts the number of world footballer of the year / Ballon d'Or awards won by nationality from 1991 to 2019. A No 10 with a gifted football brain, Beardsley was a star of the early years of the Premier League even if his best came before 1992 in fan-favourite spells with both Newcastle and Liverpool. LO. One of Fergie's Fledglings, Scholes developed into one of the finest midfielders in the world, renowned for his crisp passing, intelligent movement and eye for goal. Once a player who looked slow and sometimes used as a centre back, Yaya Toure's game was almost entirely reinvented when he moved to Manchester. Not many players have the skill, or the gall, to become first-team regulars at Chelsea, Arsenal AND Tottenham. Another player who adapted his game as he grew older, proving his class across multiple roles. Parris’ City teammate and England captain Steph Houghton finished third, while there was also votes for Arsenal trio Beth Mead, Danielle van der Donk and Leah Williamson, Chelsea’s Magdalena Ericsson, Erin Cuthbert, Karen Carney and Fran Kirby, City’s Georgia Stanway, Lucy Bronze of Lyon and Barcelona’s Toni Duggan. Arsenal and the Netherlands forward Vivianne Miedema has been named the Football Writers Association's Footballer of the Year for 2019-20. Only spent three years in north London but helped Arsenal to win the double in 1997/98. BB. The Crystal Palace star had an incredible season with his Club after emerging the top scorer at the end of the 2020/21 season. While known for pounding the ball with tremendous force, his intelligent movement and ability to perfectly deliver the ball for a team-mate made him a great striker. A true legend, he is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time. What a year 2019 has been for St Colmcille’s Grange and it was topped off on Saturday evening when they received two All-Star awards in Diarmuid Rafferty (Midfields) and Miceal McKenna (wing half forward), with the latter also being named Intermediate Footballer of the Year for his crucial role in leading Grange to their first Intermediate Championship title in 26 years. His partnership with captain John Terry in central defence was hailed as a major factor behind Chelsea's two early titles under Jose Mourinho. A modern great. The 27 year old Liverpool attacking midfielder enjoyed a phenomenal year finishing the 2018/2019 as joint top goal scorer of the English Premier League with 22 goals. “Raheem Sterling is a player of style and a man of substance,” Brown said. Played for numerous clubs but enjoyed the most success at Spurs, scoring just shy of 100 league goals. That really makes me proud. MC. “A player long admired for his tactical intelligence, link-up play and quick feet has now added a devastating finish to his game,” continued Brown. 120 goals in just 236 league appearances in his first stint at Liverpool, before more troubled spells Leeds, Manchester City and Blackburn. TK. Friday 24 July 2020 17:11, UK Jordan Henderson has been crowned Football Writers' Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year for the 2019/20 season. The UFOTY is Northern Ireland's longest standing player award, having been organised by the Castlereagh Glentoran Supporters Club since its inception in 1951. A Premier League title winner in 2012/13, the Spaniard has been included in the PFA Team of the Year on five separate occasions and was named United's Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons between 2013-2016, the first player in the award's history to win on three successive occasions. His bending strike against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge stands out as one of his finest moments.