Import A-League stars Bruno Fornaroli and Diego Castro and Socceroo sensation Aaron Mooy have been nominated for Professional Footballers Australia’s prestigious Footballer of the Year award.
The trio are among 10 players in contention for the honour, all of whom either made their name in the A-League or played in the competition in the latter stages of their career.
Fornaroli was the 2015-16 A-League golden boot, Castro won the Johnny Warren Medal and Mooy finished the season with an incredible 20 assists and 11 goals.
Last year’s winner Mat Ryan is in the mix again, as are Socceroo teammates Tim Cahill, Tom Rogic, Mark Milligan and Mat Leckie, plus retired Melbourne Victory defender Matthieu Delpierre and Brisbane Roar striker Jamie Maclaren, the highest-scoring Australian player in the A-League during the 2015-16 campaign.
Ryan also won last season’s Harry Kewell Medal for Australia’s best under-23 professional, which will go to either Maclaren, Jason Geria, Stefan Mauk, Alex Gersbach, Dimi Petratos or Jimmy Jeggo this season.
Meanwhile, Matildas stars Emily van Egmond, Lydia Williams, Alanna Kennedy, Elise Kellond-Knight and Caitlin Ford have been nominated for the PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year award as recognition for their roles in Australia’s Olympic campaign.
“The nominees list highlights the quality of players we continue to produce, their capacity to play at the highest levels of the sport and the increasingly important role played by our premier domestic competitions in developing our top footballers,” said PFA president Alex Wilkinson.
“The recognition of your peers is the highest honour you can receive as a player and one that is cherished by all.
“Some of the greats of our game are among the previous winners and I have little doubt that these nominees will continue to have a major impact on the sport.”
The winners, as voted by the PFA’s member base, will be announced at the union’s awards dinner on December 6 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne.
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