# Women's Football Awards

The Women's Football Awards are awards recognising achievements in women's association football — both on-pitch performance and in promotion and sustainability — predominantly in the United Kingdom. Annual awards, they were first presented in 2023.

## History

The Women's Football Awards was announced in 2022 and was promoted as the first major awards event solely for women's football. Awards are presented in various categories relating to success in the game and in supporting its growth. While celebrating achievements globally, the focus of the awards is domestic women's football in the United Kingdom (and, generally, England). Ahead of the second edition, co-host Eni Aluko described the awards as "Britain and Europe's biggest award event for women's football". According to the Women's Football Awards website, the International Player of the Year award is for the best player on the world stage; they are still nominated by club.
Nominations are made by the public, with winners decided by a combination of public and jury votes.
Per Beth Mead, who supported the awards, they intend to "shine a light on the success in the game and the people, brands and organisations which support its growth". As of 2024, the awards are run in association with TikTok and Metro.

### 2023

The ceremony for the inaugural edition was held at the Nobu Hotel in London on 25 May 2023, hosted by former footballers and pundits Eni Aluko and Jamie Carragher. The major sponsor was Shein, which supported grassroots nominees to attend the ceremony. Entertainment was provided by Heather Small and Fleur East. In 2023, the awards were run in association with Mail Sport and Metro.
* Lifetime Achievement Award: Karen Carney (144 England caps)
* Special Recognition Award: Carol Thomas (England captain at the first Women's Euro)
| Player of the Year Alessia Russo (Manchester United)‡ Millie Bright (Chelsea) Rachel Daly (Aston Villa) Mary Earps (Manchester United) Lauren Hemp (Manchester City) Chloe Kelly (Manchester City) Sam Kerr (Chelsea) Beth Mead (Arsenal) Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw (Manchester City) Leah Williamson (Arsenal) | International Player of the Year Keira Walsh (Barcelona and England)‡ Lucy Bronze (Barcelona and England) Pernille Harder (Chelsea and Denmark) Marie-Antoinette Katoto (Lyon and France) Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal and Netherlands) Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave and United States) Alexia Putellas (Barcelona) Wendie Renard (Lyon and France) Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich and England) Caroline Weir (Real Madrid and Scotland) | Young Football Player of the Year Lauren James (Chelsea)‡ Missy Bo Kearns (Liverpool)‡ Asmita Ale (Tottenham Hotspur) Laura Blindkilde Brown (Aston Villa) Melchie Dumornay (Reims) Mary Fowler (Manchester City) Maya Le Tissier (Manchester United) Jess Park (Everton) Poppy Pattinson (Brighton & Hove Albion) Ebony Salmon (Houston Dash) |
| Football Ally of the Year Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)‡ Declan Rice (West Ham United)‡ João Cancelo (Bayern Munich) David de Gea (Manchester United) Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) Rob Holding (Arsenal) Reece James (Chelsea) Harry Maguire (Manchester United) Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United) | Grassroots Initiative of the Year Manchester Laces — Inclusive To All‡ Agility Life Sciences – GIFT Grants Everton – Grassroots Commitment Inspire Girls Football – IGF College Programme Miss Kick Foundation – Team Up To Level Up Sunderland Athletic Football Club – For Our Girls TGI Fridays – #CelebrateTheGame Tottenham Hotspur – Female Talent Pathway West Ham United – Player Development Pathway Weymouth Women – Grassroots Commitment | Brand of the Year Adidas – Pitch, Please‡ McDonald's – Fun Football Coaching MissKick – The Football Clothing Brand for Her PepsiCo – Women in Football PlayStation – UEFA Women's Football Sky Sports – #WhatIf Starling Bank – Kick on with Starling Three Mobile – We See You Network Visa – Team Talks Vitality – Women's FA Cup |
| Marketing Campaign of the Year Visa – When More of Us Play, All of Us Win‡ American Express/Brighton & Hove Albion – Cheer Booth DAZN – This Is Elite eBay – eBay Dream Transfer EE – Hope United M&C Saatchi – Same City, Same Passion Nike – Never Seen Pepsi Max – Get Match Ready TikTok – Euro2022 – #WomenInSports Volkswagen – #NotWomensFootball | Women's Football Champion of the Year Ian Wright‡ Paul Barber Karen Carney Leah Case and Eve Ralph Tracey Crouch MP Emma Hayes Phil Neville Lisa O'Keefe Hope Powell Susan Whelan | Women's Football Broadcaster or Journalist of the Year Rachel O'Sullivan & Sophie Downey (Girls On The Ball)‡ Kate Abdo Kathryn Batte Faye Carruthers Tom Garry Charlotte Harpur Jacqui Oatley Alex Scott Fara Williams Laura Woods |
| Best Club of the Year Manchester United‡ Arsenal Aston Villa Brighton & Hove Albion Chelsea Everton Glasgow Rangers Leeds United Manchester City Southampton | Off The Pitch Award Fern Whelan‡ Dawn Airey Vic Akers Aileen Campbell Yvonne Harrison Sian Massey-Ellis Sam Matterface Danetta Powell Sofia Thomas Rachel Yankey | Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Award Three Mobile‡ Cinch Enterprise Rent-A-Car Heineken Just Eat Pepsi Premier League Standard Chartered Starling Bank Twitter |
| Outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility Award Arnold Clark‡ Barclays Cinch Clarke Willmott Solicitors Continental EA Sports Euronics Everton Football Club Sports Direct Walkers/Lays | Football Business of the Year FLOWSPORTS‡ Brabners CAA Stellar Evelyn Partners IDA Sports Mills & Reeve Mishcon de Reya Tongue Tied Management Triple S Group Wasserman |
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### 2024

Aluko and Carragher returned as hosts for the ceremony on 30 May 2024, with Shein also returning as sponsor. In this edition, the categories also had a highly commended nominee behind the winner.
As well as the nominated awards, four categories were awarded without having named nominees. The first two were handed out before the nominated categories, and the second two at the end of the ceremony:
* Unsung Hero: Jane Purdon
* Inspirational Role Model: Steph Houghton
* Women's Football Ally: Jermaine Jenas
* Lifetime Achievement Award: Kerry Davis
| Football Player of the Year Bunny Shaw‡ Sam Kerr$^{HC}$ Millie Bright Jess Carter Mary Earps Lauren James Frida Maanum Katie McCabe Nikita Parris Guro Reiten | International Football Player of the Year Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich)‡ Lucy Bronze (Barcelona)$^{HC}$ Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona) Kadidiatou Diani (Lyon) Jenni Hermoso (Tigres) Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg) Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg) Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona) Wendie Renard (Lyon) Fridolina Rolfö (Barcelona) | Young Football Player of the Year Maya Le Tissier (Manchester United)‡ Laura Blindkilde Brown (Aston Villa)$^{HC}$ Aggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea) Grace Clinton (Manchester United) Kyra Cooney-Cross (Arsenal) Mary Fowler (Manchester City) Khiara Keating (Manchester City) Naomi Layzell (Bristol City) Jessica Naz (Tottenham Hotspur) Elisabeth Terland (Brighton & Hove Albion) |
| 2023 World Cup Hero Mary Earps (England)‡ Aitana Bonmatí (Spain)$^{HC}$ Millie Bright (England) Linda Caicedo (Colombia) Olga Carmona (Spain) Steph Catley (Australia) Yui Hasegawa (Japan) Lauren Hemp (England) Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden) Jill Roord (Netherlands) | Best Club of the Year Chelsea‡ Brighton & Hove Albion$^{HC}$ Arsenal Lewes Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Southampton Tottenham Hotspur Wrexham | Manager or Coach of the Year Sarina Wiegman CBE‡ Emma Hayes OBE$^{HC}$ Matt Beard Darren Carter Steven Dale Jonas Eidevall Jo Potter Leanne Ross Marc Skinner Gareth Taylor |
| Broadcaster or Journalist of the Year Alex Scott MBE‡ Kate Abdo$^{HC}$ Rachel Brown-Finnis Reshmin Chowdhury Charlotte Harpur Emma Jones Lianne Sanderson Sirayah Shiraz Lucy Ward Laura Woods | Grassroots Initiative of the Year Disney — UEFA Playmakers‡ McDonald's Fun Football Programme‡ Beyond the Ball — Football For Women Chelsea Foundation — Nothing Stops Us Festival Fulham F.C. — Sister Club Programme MSB Woolton FC Rochdale A.F.C./Keira Walsh — Keira Walsh Rochdale Girls Development Centre Scottish Power — Scottish Youth Challenge Cup Starling Bank — Kick On Weymouth Women | Marketing Campaign of the Year Gillette/Lotte Wubben-Moy — MoveYourSkin‡ Panini — WSL stickers$^{HC}$ Asahi — Super Dry 0.0% Partnership Barclays — Land of Football Google/Megan Rapinoe — #FixedonPixel Johnnie Walker — Johnnie Walker & Hannah Waddingham Pepsi Max — Our Pride Shines Bright Sky Sports — Keep Up Sure — Breaking Limits Visa — Celebrating Squad Goals |
| Best Social Media Campaign The FA — Lionesses‡ Adidas — Play Until They Can't Look Away$^{HC}$ Adobe — Women's FA Cup Bluebella — Strong is Beautiful Burnley Football Club — TikTok partnership Cisco — Helping Women Kick Goals FIFA — Women's World Cup Google/The Athletic — My Game in My Words Heineken — The Social Swap Unilever/TikTok — Women's World Cup | Best Fan Engagement Manchester United‡ Brighton & Hove Albion/American Express$^{HC}$ EAFC24 Expedia/Liverpool Women GirlsOnTheBall Hyundai/Common Goal Just Eat Transport for London Versus/Glamour UK WSL Collective |
| Women's Football Champion Yvonne Harrison‡ Fara Williams MBE$^{HC}$ Vic Akers OBE Dame Sarai Bareman Barbara Charone Natasha Dowie Michele Kang Jacqui Oatley MBE Alex Scott MBE Rachel Yankey OBE | Football Business of the Year EA Sports‡ Wasserman‡ A&V Sports Arete CAA Sports Entain MatchFit TNT Sport Tongue Tied Management Triple S Sport | Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Award Tottenham Hotspur — Girls Elite Programme‡ Standard Chartered/Liverpool FC$^{HC}$ Arnold Clark Arsenal — South Asian Pathway Barclays Community Football Fund eToro/West Ham United Everton — Equality Shirt Her Game Too Hyundai — Goal of the Century Sky Sports/Women in Football |
| Outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility Award Premier League‡ Moore Kingston Smith$^{HC}$ Cadbury Euronics Evelyn Partners McDonald's Mills & Reeve Relo Metrics Sports Direct Xero | Best Breakthrough Business Scottish Power‡ Rept Sports$^{HC}$ Gravity Media Il Makiage Joie Lawrence Stephens Sports Team LiveScore Livida Sport Sedulo Skoda | Football Business Trailblazer Sharon Brittan‡ Anna Deignan$^{HC}$ Zarah Al-Kudcy Paul Barber Karren Brady CBE Catherine Forshaw Georgie Hodge Preeti Shetty Christina Taylor Susan Whelan OBE |
| Off The Pitch Award Katie Gritt (Panini)‡ Ellie Cross (Starling Bank)$^{HC}$ Dawn Airey (Barclay's FA WSL and Championship) Donna-Maria Cullen (Tottenham Hotspur) Nikki Doucet (NewCo) Fran Kirby (Chelsea) Laura McAllister (UEFA) Rida Mohammad (MACE Group) Leigh Nicol (Crystal Palace) Lola Ogunbote (Burnley) | Game Changer Award Victoire Cogevina Reynal‡ Jill Scott MBE$^{HC}$ Nouhaila Benzina Gillian Coulthard MBE Hannah Dingley Debbie Hewitt Rafaela Pimenta Natalie Portman Kelly Simmons OBE Rebecca Welch | Brand of the Year Adidas‡ Barclays$^{HC}$ Coca-Cola eToro Puma Scottish Power Starling Bank Three Mobile Unilever Xero |
    Sources:

## Response

The awards saw 20,000 public votes in their inaugural edition, increasing to 25,000 in the second year.
There was negative reaction to the Football Ally of the Year award, presented in the inaugural edition. Initially, it had been named "Male Football Ally of the Year". Fan responses questioned the need for an award celebrating men, and it was noted that the nominees had done nothing visible for women's football: some had congratulated women's footballers on social media and others had not had any public involvement at all. Harry Kane was one of the recipients, with The Times writing that his contribution of celebrating the Lionesses' UEFA Women's Euro 2022 victory meant "it was like being named Animal Rights Activist of the Year because you once smiled at a dog in the park."
The same award was made more muted the next, but still generated negative responses: it was given to Jermaine Jenas, with fans suggesting he had even less apparent involvement in women's football than the previous year's nominees. In accepting the award, Jenas himself noted that he did not know what he had done to warrant it; The Telegraph's Tom Garry felt the award was misconceived and that men who merely respect women do not "deserve applause merely for not being bad human beings." Garry suggested that if the Women's Football Awards insisted on continuing with it, they should recognise men who have helped grow or promote women's football through their work.