Manchester Town striker Erling Haaland scooped the PFA Avid gamers’ Participant of the Age award on Tuesday nearest his stellar first season with the treble winners. England and Aston Villa superstar Rachel Daly received the ladies’s prize, voted for through fellow avid gamers. Organised through the Skilled Footballers’ Affiliation, the awards salute the most productive female and male avid gamers in English soccer in 2023. Haaland loved a superior debut season for Town, hitting 52 targets in all competitions as Pep Guardiola’s males received the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
The 23-year-old noticed off pageant from team-mates John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne, in addition to from Arsenal pair Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard and previous Tottenham striker Harry Kane, now at Bayern Munich.
“It’s an honour to win this prestigious award. To be recognised by your competitors is a great feeling and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me,” Haaland stated.
“It was an unforgettable season for the team and for me personally. Winning the treble was something I never imagined, so to achieve that with such a special group of players was an amazing feeling.
“We created some implausible recollections closing season, however now we wish to do the similar once more this yr. We’ve began the season neatly and we want to stock going.”
Saka was voted the men’s Young Player of the Year while Chelsea’s Lauren James picked up the women’s award.
Daly and James were key performers for England in their run to the Women’s World Cup final, which ended in defeat against Spain earlier this month.
Villa’s Daly scored 22 goals in the Women’s Super League last season, a remarkable achievement for a player who featured at left-back in the Lionesses’ successful Euros campaign in 2022.
The 31-year-old beat off competition from Sam Kerr, Frida Maanum, Guro Reiten, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and Ona Batlle.
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