Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has been named FWA footballer of the year. The midfielder was the outright winner of the award ahead of Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne.
Henderson made history when he skippered the Reds to a first Premier League title in 30 years. Liverpool have one remaining game left which is away to Newcastle on Sunday and they are 18 point clear at the top of the Premier League standings. The Sunderland born 30 year old also spearheaded the #playerstogether initiative which saw players link up with NHS Charities to raise money for The NHS.
In a statement Henderson said, “I’d like to say how appreciative I am of the support of those who voted for me and the Football Writers’ Association in general”. He continued, “You only have to look at the past winners of it, a number of whom I’ve been blessed to play with here at Liverpool, like Stevie (Steven Gerrard), Luis (Suarez) and Mo (Mohamed Salah) to know how prestigious it is”.
Henderson who has played over 50 times for England, said “But as grateful as I am I don’t feel like I can accept this on my own. I don’t feel like anything I’ve achieved this season or in fact during my whole career has been done on my own”. He thanked all the players in the squad and said “He accepts the award on behalf of the whole squad”. “I accept it on behalf of this whole squad, because without them I’m not in a position to be receiving this honour. These lads have made me a better player – a better leader and a better person, Henderson said.
Chair of the FWA, Carrie Browne said,” Leadership is intangible and often unquantifiable unless it is inarguable. Jordan Henderson is both the ultimate professional and now a bona fide Liverpool legend”. The voting criteria for the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year is one who leads by precept and example and in this country’s darkest moment, Jordan, unprompted, personally rallied club captains to establish #PlayersTogether
