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Posted on 12th February 2021
We are pleased to announce the shortlists for the FSA Awards in association with BeGambleAware, with voting open now.
In these strange times we find ourselves in we decided that we still wanted to honour the best in the game, but rather than hosting our usual awards ceremony this edition will be held purely online.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah will attempt to become the first player to win the Men’s Player of the Year award twice, but faces stiff competition from the England pair of Jack Grealish and Jamie Vardy, along with Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United, Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and Spurs’ Heung-Min Son.
Our thanks go to leading women’s football magazine SheKicks for compiling our shortlist for Women’s Player of the Year from your nominations, which see previous winner Vivianne Miedema shortlisted again. She’s up against a strong set of contenders, which includes Manchester United’s Leah Galton (pictured above) the Chelsea duo of Beth England and Fran Kirby, and the Manchester City pair of Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly.
To reflect the unusual nature of the past twelve months we’ve made some changes to some of the categories – with fans largely shut out of stadiums there hasn’t been much space for fanzines to do their thing, although that hasn’t stopped many of them still producing printed editions, podcasts and working in the community. We fully expect the fanzine category, and others, to return when we are able to go back to our usual format.
To honour those who’ve gone the extra mile in helping their fellow supporters and communities this year we’ve created a new set of awards called Lockdown Heroes. These are aimed at recognising the fans, players and clubs who’ve made a real difference during the pandemic.
There’s still space, however, for our favourite pundits, podcasts, commentators and writers.
Voting remains open until 9am on Monday 22nd February, so you’ll need to be quick to cast your votes. The winners will be announced throughout the day on Friday 5th March on our social media channels, so be sure to give us a follow on Twitter and Instagram.
The full list of categories and shortlisted nominees can be found below. Those marked with an asterisk will be decided by an FSA panel of judges.
Men’s Player of the Year 2020
Bruno Fernandes, Heung-Min Son, Jack Grealish, Jamie Vardy, Kevin de Bruyne, Mohamed Salah
Women’s Player of the Year 2020
Beth England, Chloe Kelly, Fran Kirby, Lauren Hemp, Leah Galton, Vivianne Miedema
Commentator of the Year
Darren Fletcher, Guy Mowbray, Jon Champion, John Murray, Martin Tyler, Peter Drury
Club Podcast of the Year
Along Come Norwich, Blue Moon, Charlton Live, Ringing the Blues, Steve Bloomer’s Washing, The Squareball
Fan Media of the Year
Arseblog, Fulhamish, LUFC Data, Price of Football, The Anfield Wrap, The Pie at Night
Fans for Diversity Award *
Proud Baggies, Proud Lilywhites, Proud Valiants, The Jack Leslie Campaign, Villa and Proud, Villains Together
Football Media of the Year
5Live’s Monday Night Club, Football365.com, The Athletic, The Guardian, The Non-League Paper, When Saturday Comes
Podcast of the Year
5Live Football Daily, Football Cliches, Guardian Football Weekly, Match of the Day Top 10s, Set Piece Menu, That Peter Crouch Podcast
TV/Radio Pundit of the Year
Alex Scott, Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards, Roy Keane
Writer of the Year
David Conn, Henry Winter, Jonathan Liew, Katie Whyatt, Miguel Delaney, Suzanne Wrack
Lockdown Heroes *
Many of these individuals and groups have done so much to support their local communities – here we’re highlighting just a snapshot of the reasons why they have been shortlisted as Lockdown Heroes.
Premier League
Fans Supporting Foodbanks and the #CharitynotPPV campaign, for sterling work on food poverty; Leeds United Supporters Trust who raised more than £10,000 for charity with their Pie and a Pint campaign in the spring; Spirit of Shankly, for delivering thousands of food parcels to vulnerable people.
Women’s Game
Amy Turner and Angharad James, for raising money through a sponsored bike ride during lockdown; Manchester United Women’s fangroup the Barmy Army, for their fundraising efforts and Zoom socials; Chelsea FC Women for their donation of their WSL prize money to Refuge, supporting women and children experiencing domestic abuse.
Championship
Lou Macari for his foundation’s work helping the homeless in Stoke-on-Trent; Nottingham Forest Supporters Trust for their work on offering help for those with mental health issues; Watford FC for their donation of space at Vicarage Road to the NHS and their Hornets at Home initiative.
Leagues One and Two
The Dons Local Action Group, for mobilising hundreds of volunteers to support the vulnerable and isolated; the Sunderland AFC Branch Liaison Committee for their work on the matchday mental health hub; Tranmere Rovers for their daily phone calls to vulnerable fans and assistance with delivering food parcels in the local community.
Non-League
Clapton Community FC for their Community Fund initiative, fundraising and providing financial assistance to local people; FC United of Manchester for their Food Hub; Gosport Borough for their ‘Feed a Family in Need’ initiative.
The Football Supporters’ Association is pleased to announce the shortlists for the 2021 FSA Awards in association with BeGambleAware – voting is open now, and fans can back their favourites here. 84 candidates will battle it out across 14 categories, recognising everything from the best players of 2021 to the best podcasts and fanzines.
The Football Supporters’ Association is pleased to announce the shortlists for the 2022 FSA Awards in association with BeGambleAware – voting is open now, and fans can back their favourites here.
We are pleased to announce the shortlists for the 2023 Football Supporters’ Association Awards – voting is open now and fans can back their favourites here. 84 candidates will battle it out across 14 categories, recognising everything from the best players of the past year to the best podcasts and fanzines.
Two non-league clubs have taken the remarkable step of calling for a National League extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and a vote of no confidence in the chairman and the board.
