Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson named FWA Footballer of the Year for 2019-2020

The Football Writers’ Association crowned Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson as the Footballer of the Year for 2019-20 season. The association of football journalists and correspondents writing for English newspapers and agencies said that Henderson emerged as the winner after a stiff competition from Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford.

Liverpool captain also saw off competition from team-mates Virgil Van Dijk and Sadio Mane to claim the honour, the oldest individual award for soccer. Liverpool’s dominant performance throughout the English Premier League reflected in the voting pattern as their other two players, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker, also received votes.

However, captain of the Premier League champions emerged as a clear winner with more than a quarter of the votes. According to a statement published by the Football Writers’ Association, Henderson expressed his appreciation for those who voted for him and the association in general. He said that he has been blessed to play with a number of past winners at Liverpool, including Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Mo Salah.

“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 said.

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Call it 'team effort'

Henderson said that he owes to so many different people, especially his current teammates who have just been “incredible and deserve this every bit as much” as he does. Lauding his whole squad, the 30-year-old footballer said that every single member has been brilliant not only in matches but also every day in training. He emphasised that no individual is responsible for Liverpool’s dream run, saying it’s a collective effort and that’s how he views accepting the honour.

"Individual awards are nice and they are special and I will cherish this one. But an individual award without the collective achievement wouldn’t mean anywhere as much to me – if anything at all,” he said.

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