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Socceroos midfielder Matt McKay capped his remarkable rise after being named Australia’s male footballer of the year on Tuesday night.
McKay, 28, took out the top honour at the Australian Football Awards in Sydney after a whirlwind 12 months that saw him lead Brisbane Roar to the A-League title and star for the Socceroos at the Asian Cup.
McKay made it a double by also taking out the Professional Footballer’s Australia (PFA) footballer of the year award, voted on by his peers.
He received 329 votes to finish ahead of Brett Holman (194), Tim Cahill (185) and 2010/11 A-League Johnny Warren Medallist, Adelaide’s Marcos Flores (109).’
“I’m still pinching myself,” McKay said.
“This time last year I got my first call-up to a full-strength Socceroos, I was excited just to meet Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill and Mark Schwarzer and now they are my mates.
“It’s a huge honour for me and I want to be part of the Socceroos for a long time.”
McKay was last month rewarded for his fine form by sealing a switch to Scottish giants Rangers and remains a regular starter for the Socceroos under Holger Osieck after his breakthrough performances in Qatar in January.
Holman capped a fine season of his own by being voted the Football Media Association’s player of the year.
The AZ Alkmaar midfielder has completed a remarkable transformation to go from an often-maligned fringe player to become one of the Socceroos’ most reliable stars.
Brisbane Roar’s Elise Kellond-Knight was named both the female footballer of the year and PFA female footballer of the year.
Central Coast goalkeeper Mat Ryan was named the under 20s footballer of the year and Caitlin Foord the under 20s female player.
German-based striker Robbie Kruse took out the PFA award for best young player, polling ahead of Tommy Oar (165) and Kosta Barbarouses (162).
Tuesday’s was the third annual Australian Football Awards.
The Socceroos face Malaysia in Canberra on Friday ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Oman in Sydney.
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