Sam Kerr has cemented her standing as one of the greatest women’s footballers of all time, sharing an image with Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland as they collected the England’s Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year trophies.
The Australian Matildas and Chelsea star became the first woman to collect the prestigious trophy in two consecutive seasons just days before she aims to shoot Chelsea to a fourth consecutive Women’s Super League title in England.
Haaland was the runaway winner of the men’s award and Kerr shared an image of them both on her social media, but there was just one problem – a stack of Aussies know who Kerr is but not the Manchester City goal-scoring machine.
‘What makes me smile is that so many people (like me) do know who Sam Kerr is, but have no idea who the dude is,’ one fan commented.
‘Awww a kid at his high school formal got to meet Sam, good on him,’ joked another.
‘Who is that person meeting Sam Kerr? Legit question. I have no idea who that is,’ added another Matildas fan.
Kerr also shared the news that she will be returning to her hometown of Perth later this year to play with the Matildas.
Kerr shared this selfie with Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland but many Aussie fans did not know who he was
Kerr claimed the prize for being the best footballer in the Women’s Super League for the second year running
Haaland was the easy choice for the men’s award with the Manchester City star reportedly sharing a mutual respect and friendship with Kerr
While Western Australia missed out on FIFA Women’s World Cup matches, the Matildas have announced they will be playing three qualifying matches for the Paris Olympics in Perth from October this year.
The Matildas will play Iran, Chinese Tapai and the Phillipines in Kerr’s hometown, with the Chelsea star sharing the news with the caption: ‘Perth, we got games’ and a misty-eyed emoji.
Before then, Kerr has unfinished business in the UK as she aims to shoot Chelsea to a fourth consecutive Women’s Super League title in England, thus completing another FA Cup-WSL double.
Kerr explained how hard she felt it was to stay at the top.
‘I think to some people it might look easy, but every year it gets harder and harder to win the league,’ said Kerr, whose team need to beat bottom-placed Reading on the final day on Saturday to seal the title again, although a draw will probably suffice,’ she said.
‘Anyone that’s involved in football knows how hard it is to come back year after year and to stay at the top. So we’re doing everything to win on Saturday.’
It’s such a rare feat to win the FWA Footballer of the Year trophy in successive years that no woman has previously achieved it in the award’s short history while, among the men, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only two to have done so in three quarters of a century.
The Matildas announce the Olympic qualifiers for Paris that will be held in Sam Kerr’s hometown of Perth
Kerr will finish up the season with Chelsea before heading back to Australia for the World Cup and Olympics qualifiers
Kerr and teammates Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson are just one result away from an historic FA Cup-WSL double
Kerr has had another triumphant season, not topping the WSL goalscoring charts for once but still netting 28 goals in all competitions, including some huge ones, not least the winner in Chelsea’s 1-0 FA Cup final triumph over Manchester United earlier in the month.
Of another breakthrough year for her and the women’s game in England, where she’s become a star, Kerr said: ‘It’s amazing. It’s something that I’m very proud of.
‘Off the back of the Euros, women’s football has grown a lot. Walking down the street, the crowds are bigger, everything’s just increased over the last year.’
Not only Kerr but also men’s Footballer of the Year Erling Haaland picked up their prizes at a central London hotel at a gala dinner to mark the 75th anniversary of the award that was first won by Sir Stanley Matthews in 1948.
Manchester City’s Haaland, who’s scored 52 goals in 51 games ahead of Sunday’s Premier League finale at Brentford, is, like Kerr, still looking for more silverware, with the English champions in line for a treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
‘I feel good, it’s a special moment,’ he told the FWA. ‘I expected to do good things but, to do this, I didn’t expect.’
He has broken the record for the most Premier League goals in a season with 36 as Manchester City wrapped up a third straight title with three games to spare, having trailed Arsenal by eight points at one stage.
