Erling Haaland and Sam Kerr have been crowned as 2023 FWA Footballers of the Year.
Voted for by a 400-strong membership of Football Writers Association, Manchester City’s Haaland was voted as the Men’s Footballer of the Year after scoring 50 goals and producing eight assists in 44 appearances across all competitions.
Kerr meanwhile was crowned the Women’s Footballer of the Year for a second consecutive season, having scored 26 goals this season in all competitions despite Chelsea having missed out on the Women’s League Cup title and exited UEFA Women’s Champions League at the semi-final stage.
FWA meanwhile confirmed that Kerr had beaten Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly to the Women’s Footballer of the Year honour, whilst Kerr’s Chelsea teammate – Lauren James rounded out the top three, with 25 Women’s Super League players receiving at least one vote.
Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard meanwhile finished second and third in the men’s category, whilst 14 other male players had received one vote at minimum.
“honour” to win FWA Footballer of the Year
“To win the Football Writers’ Award in my first season in English football is an honour,” commented Haaland who iterated that he just want to “try every single day to be the best I can be, and to be recognised like this means a lot to me.”
Haaland proceeded to acknowledge the support of his manager – Pep Guardiola plus teammates, as he added: “I have loved my time at City so far – my teammates are incredible, and they provide me with the chances to score goals. I want to thank all of them, because I could not have won this award without them.
“I also owe so much to Pep and the team behind the team here at City. Everybody has been so good to me since I joined and I have never worked with such top professionals.”
The Norwegian though admitted that his focus primarily lies upon chasing a treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, as he concluded: “It’s a real honour to have won this award. I am now focused on ensuring I finish the season as strongly as possible and helping City win trophies.”
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