Lucy Bronze has been voted UEFA Women’s Player of the Year 2018/19. The announcement was made at today’s 2019/20 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco.
The Olympique Lyonnais and England defender, who helped her club win last season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League title and was a semi-finalist with her country in this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, claimed a total of 88 points in a special poll featuring journalists and coaches. Her Lyon club-mate, forward Ada Hegerberg, came second with 56 points, while another Lyon player, French international midfielder Amandine Henry, was third with 44 points.
The jury was composed of the coaches of the 12 highest-ranked teams in the latest UEFA women’s national team rankings (which also comprised the nine European sides that took part in the recent Women’s World Cup in France), together with the coaches of the eight clubs which participated in the quarter-finals of the 2018/19 UEFA Women’s Champions League. Also on the panel were 20 journalists specialising in women’s football, who were selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group. The final result was based on the total number of points from the votes cast by the coaches and journalists.
In a video-recorded message, 27-year-old Bronze said: “I’m very honoured to be receiving this award, especially because I was up against two great team-mates from Olympique Lyonnais. I also want to say a huge thanks to the England team for the great summer that we enjoyed. I don’t think that I would have won this award if it wasn’t for them.
“The same thanks also go to my club for such an amazing season. I think any of my club-mates could be up here receiving this award for such a fantastic team. I want to thank both teams for pushing me to be a better player, and for making me the player that I am today.”
Courtesy of UEFA
