(Football news) Erling Haaland has been named the Football Writers’ Association Men’s Footballer of the Year for 2022/23 while Chelsea’s Sam Kerr has been recognised as the Women’s Footballer of the Year. Haaland has scored 51 goals in 47 games for City and received 82% of the FWA votes ahead of Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard. Manchester City are competing for a historic treble and the 22 year old has been integral to this goal this season.
His goal against West Ham took his tally to 35 in the league, resulting in a new record for most goals in a Premier League campaign. Pep Guardiola’s side are currently at the top of the Premier League, one point above Arsenal with a game in hand and just four games remaining. They will take on Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Etihad Stadium next week followed by their FA Cup final on June 3rd against neighbors Manchester United. Haaland and Kerr will receive their FWA Footballer of the Year awards in London on May 25th.
In the women’s category, Chelsea striker Sam Kerr was named FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year for a second consecutive year, finishing ahead of teammate Lauren James and Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly. Kerr has scored 10 goals in 18 games in the Women’s Super League this season and got her 50th league goal in England earlier this month. The Australia international has scored a total of 26 goals in 34 appearances across all competitions. Since her arrival, Chelsea Women have won three league titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups.
Speaking about her contribution to the Chelsea women’s team, manager Emma Hayes said “She’s such a key player for us. Losing Pernille [Harder] and Fran [Kirby] for such a large part of the season, we’ve lost something like 66 percent of our goal contributions, so Sam has had to find different ways to be involved. It’s not just about coming up clutch in big moments, it’s all the other stuff. She’s a great team player, she doesn’t always get the recognition for the work she does out of possession. She’s a super talent, someone who I think has adapted brilliantly. She’s become a player we can rely on.”
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