Brisbane Roar’s German sensation Thomas Broich continued a trend of foreign players taking out the A-League’s top individual prize as he claimed the Johnny Warren Medal in Sydney on Tuesday night.
Broich became the third straight import to claim the league’s player of the year award, following Costa Rican Carlos Hernandez (2009-10) and Argentine Marcos Flores (2010-11).
Broich capped a stellar season for the Roar, receiving 390 votes from his playing peers to top the voting ahead of teammate Besart Berisha (252 votes) and Melbourne Victory’s Archie Thompson (243 votes).
The 31-year-old Broich is widely considered one the best imports in the league’s history and is key to Roar’s hopes of a second straight championship having already reached the grand final.
“I’m honestly totally surprised. I was injured for a lot of the season and it’s not easy to come back from injury,” said Broich, who suffered heel and shoulder injuries and only made 17 appearances.
“To get this award is totally unexpected … I’m very grateful.”
Premiers’ Plate winners Central Coast were also well represented with Graham Arnold named coach of the year and teenage shot stopper Mat Ryan named young player of the year for the second season as well as goalkeeper of the year.
Berisha collected the golden boot award for an impressive 19-goal haul for the Roar while Hernandez collected the goal of the season award for his stunning strike against the Roar in round 19.
The Roar received the fair play award for the second season running for accruing the least number of yellow and red cards while their midfielder Nick Fitzgerald was named youth league player of the year.
Matildas midfielder Sally Shipard took out the top women’s gong, rewarded for her impressive form at the heart of midfield in Canberra United’s unbeaten championship season with the Julie Dolan medal.
The 24-year-old topped the voting ahead of Melbourne Victory’s Jodie Taylor and Brisbane Roar’s Tameka Butt.
Canberra’s Lydia Williams was named W-League goalkeeper of the year while Melbourne Victory youngster Ashley Brown won the young player of the year award.
United dominated the women’s prizes with Michelle Heyman claiming the golden boot with 12 goals and Czech coach Jitka Klimkova winning the women’s coach of the year.
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