Manchester City women’s striker Bunny Shaw and Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes were the guests of honour at our annual awards dinner in London on Tuesday May 19.
MANCHESTER was a city united by the success of two of their brightest talents as City striker Bunny Shaw and United midfielder Bruno Fernandes collected their Footballer of the Year awards at the Landmark London on Tuesday.
United manager Michael Carrick handed the oldest individual trophy to his captain, saying: “It’s a prestigious night and a prestigious award, so to be in a position to hand this trophy over to Bruno makes me really proud.
“I was at the club when he joined and to see him walk through the door, and grow and evolve to lead the club, is a real joy.
“He’s there every single day and because he looks after himself, he does everything right and mentally he’s there and takes the responsibility of looking after the young players and leading by example. He gets a lot of headlines for the assist record and the performances this season but I think it’s mostly off the pitch that I appreciate. He’s a special footballer and we’re lucky to have him in this league and we’re certainly lucky to have him at the football club. So it’s a huge honour, I’m really proud on behalf of Manchester United to hand this award over, he fully deserves it.”
Fernandes then spoke to Joel Beya of the FWA about his pride in the award and the help of his United team-mates. “Thankyou to everyone who voted for me. It’s very special and a big privilege.
“Individual awards only come when the team shines, when the team plays well, so I think most of the credit goes to my team because they make me better every day, they push me to become a better version of myself every day in training, the dressing room is very strong, the quality is very high and I try to be at my best level every time.”
Bunny Shaw received her trophy from Charlotte O’Neill, managing director of Manchester City women, who said: “Since coming to the club in 2021, Bunny has established herself as one of the most prolific goalscorers in women’s football.
“She has brought not only her incredible footballing ability to the club, but also leadership, drive and her authentic self.”
Bunny said: “I just want to be the best version of myself. For me the biggest thing has always been about consistency, how often can you do it in big moments? It is about working hard and the chemistry with your team mates. I always say that the quality that I have around me makes me look good.”
To round off the evening, Jim White of the Telegraph and FWA National Committee, presented our three Student Football Writer of the Year award-winners with their prizes. Jake Pearce took home the Hugh McIlvanney trophy from Hugh’s widow Caroline, Izzy Martin collected the Vikki Orvice award (with Women in Football) from Vikki’s husband Ian Ridley, and Billy Taylor won the Unheard Voices award, in conjunction with Kick It Out, who were represented by their Chair Sanjay Bhandari.
Caroline North, Jake Pearce, Billy Taylor, Izzy Martin and Sanjay Bhandari.
Finally, our new title sponsors Lyle and Scott provided a photo booth at the after-party, as well as gift bags for guests and presentation cases of Lyle and Scotch whisky for VIP guests.
Paul Hetherington worked tirelessly as master of ceremonies in the absence of FWA Chair John Cross, who was reporting at Bournemouth vs Manchester City, Steve Bates liaised with the clubs who were well represented at executive level, Joel Beya and Ayisha Gulati conducted interviews with our Footballers of the Year, and Gerry Cox oversaw media arrangements via Hayters, another new sponsor for the FWA.
A big thank-you to our other sponsors Sky Sports, Join in Live, Football Manager and Rocket sports, Lewis Worrall and his team at the Landmark and, of course, our guests for making it another memorable evening.
Related Items:Ayisha Gulati, Billy Taylor, Bruno Fernandes, Bunny Shaw, Footballer of the Year, Gerry Cox, Izzy Martin, Jake Pearce, Joel Beya, Michael Carrick, Paul Hetherington, Steve Bates, Student Football Writer of the Year Award, Women's Footballer of the year
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