Manchester United and England ‘keeper Mary Earps is on the five-strong shortlist for the BBC Women’s Footballer Of The Year 2023 award, which the broadcaster revealed this morning.
Earps was at the centre of controversy during England’s recent World Cup campaign in Australia and New Zealand when kit supplier Nike declined to make a replica of her shirt available to fans. The sportswear giant ultimately made a u-turn under public pressure and made a “limited” number of Earp shirts available, albeit somewhat belatedly – Earp had already played on the losing side in the World Cup Final and picked up the tournament’s Golden Glove by the time the kit sponsor relented.
The full list of footballers shortlisted for the award this year is:
- Aitana Bonmati – Barcelona and Spain
- Mary Earps – Manchester United and England
- Sam Kerr – Chelsea and Australia
- Alexandra Popp – VfL Wolfsburg and Germany
- Fridolina Rolfö – Barcelona and Sweden
Now in its ninth year, BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award sees an expert panel made up of current and former professionals, coaches and journalists nominate their top five players over the past year. Then the world’s public get to vote online for their standout player.
Previous winners of the award include former Manchester City, now Barcelona, and England defenfer Lucy Bronze and North East native and former Sunderland and Middlesbrough striker Beth Mead, who now plies her trade for Arsenal and England. Past international winners include Netherlands forward Vivianne Miedema, Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg and debutante award winner, Nigerian striker Asisat Oshoala.
Earps said: “I feel privileged to have so many stand out moments. Obviously being a World Cup finalist, winning the FIFA Best Goalkeeper Award, reaching the FA Cup Final, being on the Ballon d’Or shortlist which is incredible as well.
“I’m really just enjoying being a role model to kids, to anyone who can take inspiration from the journey I’ve been on, being a beacon of light for people who’ve maybe had similar stories to me and see similarities in what I’ve gone through and know you can keep going – the best is yet to come.”
Voting is free and open to the public on bbc.com/womensfootball. The vote will close at 9am on Friday November 3, 2023, and the recipient of the prestigious award will be announced on Tuesday November 28 on the BBC World Service’s flagship news programme, Newsday.
