When it came to handing out the fabled Footballer of the Year award, many Women’s Super League followers were left surprised by the name selected by members of the Football Writers’ Association.
Alongside Erling Haaland’s inevitable triumph in the men’s category, Chelsea striker Sam Kerr came out on top in the voting for the women’s award.
Kerr has enjoyed another good campaign, scoring twice in the final day victory over Reading, and also the only goal in the FA Cup final, she wouldn’t be the choice of most Chelsea fans. Maybe journalists who primarily cover men’s football simply plumped for the highest-profile player, and the name familiar from last year.
The irony was that picking a deserved winner was essentially the same task as for the men’s vote — simply pick the Norwegian who plays for the perennial title winners.
Chelsea’s best player this season was Guro Reiten, who was in particularly fine form in the final two games of the season. On the penultimate weekend, she opened the scoring against Arsenal and then her free-kick led to the second in a 2-0 win. On the final weekend, she assisted Kerr’s opener and then scored the second herself. Two crucial games, two player of the match awards. No one has played better in the WSL this season than Reiten.
