It’s as late in February as you can get, but it’s still 2023 Awards Season and Tottenham Hotspur’s manager just took one home. The 2023 London Football Awards ceremony was held today in England’s capital, and Ange Postecoglou took home the Manager of the Year award.
Think of the London Football Awards as The Best FIFA awards, but just for London clubs. Postecoglou was nominated along with Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, West Ham’s David Moyes, outgoing Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes, and Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens. There are a heck of a lot of football clubs in London up and down the pyramid, so naming Big Ange as the best of them speaks pretty damn well of him if you ask me. I also particularly like the part where Big Ange wins Manager of Year over Mikel Arteta despite only having been at Spurs for half a season. Yes. Yes, that’s good and you can’t take that away from me.
Guglielmo Vicario also won the award for Goalkeeper of the Year, over a field that included Alfonso Areola (West Ham), Bernd Leno (Fulham), Mackenzie Arnold (West Ham Women), and Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace).
The awards are still going on as this article is being written, so I may come back and edit this as more awards are announced — Vicario and Pedro Porro were both nominated for Premier League Player of the Year (award won by Arsenal’s Declan Rice), Tottenham Women’s Martha Thomas is nominated for Women’s Player of the Year (award won by Chelsea’s Lauren James), Grace Clinton is nominated for Women’s Young Player of the Year, Destiny Udogie and Pape Matar Sarr for Men’s Young Player of the Year, and Pedro Porro for Goal of the Season (won by Palace’s Michael Olise).
Hilariously, former Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will win an award for Outstanding Contribution to London Football. Ees a top top lad, Harry. ‘Triffic.