Festival of Women’s Football Awards: Player of the Year
The inaugural Festival of Women’s Football Awards is just around the corner — and we’re helping the event organisers determine who should triumph in the various categories.
Our Head of Partnerships and Business Development Charlie Sizer is one of a panel of judges at this year’s edition, with Twenty3 also providing insight through WyScout’s WSL and Women’s Championship data.
Winners will be named in four ‘on the pitch player’ categories; Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Overseas Player of the Year.
So who are the candidates for the most-coveted Player of the Year award, and who should be in contention to take home the top prize?
We put the nominees under the spotlight to find out…
Defenders
Arguably no WSL defender has been more active than Tottenham Hotspur’s Ashleigh Neville this season.
She tops the charts for overall and successful defensive actions in 2025, with 317 and 248, respectively.
A host of her competitors for the award follow closely behind when it comes to those metrics, though, including Alexia Potter (Crystal Palace) and Leicester City star Catherine Bott.
Talking of Leicester, they have two other defenders in the running — Ruby Mace and Sophie Howard — with the latter making more interceptions (124) than any other top-flight player.
Elsewhere, Manchester United’s Maya Le Tissier is in pole position when it comes to ball recoveries completed (242), while Amber Tysiak (West Ham United) isn’t too far behind on that front.
A couple of high-performing candidates from the Championship complete this year’s shortlist, with Neve Herron (Birmingham City) and Riva Casley (Portsmouth) also making the cut.
Midfielders
The competition is no less fierce when it comes to midfielders, with some of the country’s top pass masters vying for recognition.
Few players look after the ball better than Manchester City’s Yui Hasegawa, who has completed an eye-watering 90.2% of her passes this term.
She completes a high volume of passes, too (966), as does Jordan Nobbs of Aston Villa (791).
Vicky Losada (Brighton) has also consistently impressed, while Lauren Hemp’s contributions are a little more direct. No player can match the Manchester City winger’s record of 28 crosses completed in 2024/25.
Sofia Jakobsson (London City Lionesses) comes close in the Championship, however, after racking up 19 completed crosses from 13 matches.
Attackers
Forwards always tend to draw the plaudits, so it’s no surprise that six first-class finishers have made it into the Player of the Year shortlist.
Arsenal’s Alessia Russo always performs on that front and has 11 WSL goals across 1,588 minutes of action, from a league-leading xG of 11.25.
Meanwhile, Isobel Goodwin (London City Lionesses) is doing a similar job in the Championship, having netted more than all of her divisional rivals this term (11). Shania Hayles (Newcastle United) is currently just one behind in the scoring charts with 10.
But creating goals can be as important as scoring them, of course.
Mary Fowler at Manchester City does both with aplomb, registering an even split of six goals and six assists during her league campaign to date.
West Ham’s Viviane Asseyi falls into that bracket too (six goals, five assists), as does Katie Kitching (Sunderland), who has a total of ten Championship goal contributions (five goals, five assists).
Aggie Beever-Jones (Chelsea) is the final candidate — she ranks inside the WSL’s top ten for everything from goals scored (eight) to shots attempted (36), dribbles completed (34) and touches in the opposition box (64).
We’ll find out who wins the 2025 Player of the Year at the Festival of Women’s Football Awards on Wednesday 23rd April!
You can find out more details by visiting their website here.
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