Sam Kerr 'robbed' as football fans blast Matildas hero's brutal awards snub

Sam Kerr has missed out on the prestigious PFA Players' Player of the Year award, with England and Aston Villa star Rachel Daly winning the women's gong. Organised by the Professional Footballers' Association, the award is voted on by the players and recognises the the best male and female players in English football in 2023.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland won the men's award after a stellar first season with the treble winners. Daly scored 22 goals for Villa in the Women's Super League last season, and helped England reach the final at the recent Women's World Cup in Australia.

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She beat out the likes of Kerr, Frida Maanum, Guro Reiten, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and Ona Batlle for the top award. Kerr would have narrowly missed out on the gong after she scored 29 goals in all competitions last season as Chelsea won their fourth consecutive Women's Super League title, as well as the Women's FA Cup.

However Kerr only managed 12 of those goals in the Super League - the Australian star's lowest tally in a full season since she joined Chelsea. The Matildas striker won the gong the previous season.

Despite the snub, Kerr later finished runner-up for the UEFA women's footballer of the year award between Spanish duo Aitana Bonmati and Olga Carmona. It marks the highest-ever finish for an Australian for the prestigious award.

Kerr helped the Matildas reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, scoring one of the goals of the tournament as the Matildas went down 3-1 to England in the final four. Bonmati and Carmona were part of the Spanish team which beat England 1-0 in the final.

Nevertheless, many felt Kerr deserved the PFA nod ahead of Daly.

Erling Haaland wins PFA men's player of the year

Bukayo Saka was voted the men's Young Player of the Year on Tuesday, while Chelsea forward Lauren James picked up the women's award. Daly and James were both key performers for England in their run to the World Cup final.

Haaland beat teammates John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne, as well as from Arsenal pair Saka and Martin Odegaard and former Tottenham striker Harry Kane for the PFA men's award. "It's an honour to win this prestigious award. To be recognised by your competitors is a great feeling and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me," he said.

"It was an unforgettable season for the team and for me personally. Winning the treble was something I never imagined, so to achieve that with such a special group of players was an amazing feeling. We created some incredible memories last season, but now we want to do the same again this year. We have started the season well and we need to keep going."

with agencies

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