Matt McKay PFA Footballer of the Year

by BarcaKizz Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:07 pm

SOCCEROOS midfielder Matt McKay capped his remarkable rise after being named Australia's male footballer of the year.

McKay, 28, took out the top honour at the Australian Football Awards in Sydney after a whirlwind 12 months that saw him lead Brisbane Roar to the A-League title and star for the Socceroos at the Asian Cup.

McKay made it a double by also taking out the Professional Footballer's Australia (PFA) footballer of the year award, voted on by his peers.

He received 329 votes to finish ahead of Brett Holman (194), Tim Cahill (185) and 2010/11 A-League Johnny Warren Medallist, Adelaide's Marcos Flores (109).'

"I'm still pinching myself," McKay said.

"This time last year I got my first call-up to a full-strength Socceroos, I was excited just to meet Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill and Mark Schwarzer and now they are my mates.

"It's a huge honour for me and I want to be part of the Socceroos for a long time."

McKay was last month rewarded for his fine form by sealing a switch to Scottish giants Rangers and remains a regular starter for the Socceroos under Holger Osieck after his breakthrough performances in Qatar in January.

Holman capped a fine season of his own by being voted the Football Media Association's player of the year.

The AZ Alkmaar midfielder has completed a remarkable transformation to go from an often-maligned fringe player to become one of the Socceroos' most reliable stars.

Brisbane Roar's Elise Kellond-Knight was named both the female footballer of the year and PFA female footballer of the year.

Central Coast goalkeeper Mat Ryan was named the under 20s footballer of the year and Caitlin Foord the under 20s female player.

German-based striker Robbie Kruse took out the PFA award for best young player, polling ahead of Tommy Oar (165) and Kosta Barbarouses (162).

The Socceroos face Malaysia in Canberra on Friday ahead of Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Oman in Sydney.

RESULTS:
POTY: McKay (329 votes), Brett Holman (194), Tim Cahill (185), Marcos Flores (109).
Young POTY: Robbie Kruse (310), Tommy Oar (165), Kosta Barbarouses (162).
U20 POTY: Matt Ryan

Essentially my picks. I thought McKay deserved it, as did Kruse, both were revelations for the Socceroos and both were great in the A-League. Cahill started the year fantastically, but injuries screwed him over at Everton. Holman's been very consistent as usual. I think Emerton is underrated. He had a wonderful year at Blackburn, his best in a few season in my opinion. My guess is Emerton was closely behind Flores, who the A-League will really miss.

Next year will be interesting... Tommy Oar really gunning at Utrecht, other young players like Rhys Williams, Michael Zullo and Spiranovic all coming along nicely.

by beatrixasdfghjk. Sun Oct 23, 2011 12:22 pm

..
WHO ARE YOU?

by BarcaKizz Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:05 pm

Beatrix may I remind you that this section is for discussing football... it would be nice if you could contribute something about actual football...

by beatrixasdfghjk. Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:22 pm

Sorry, sorry, it's just more fun to treat the entire Australia section as off-topic cheers

.
Sorry

by fatman123 Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:08 pm

pwaaaa nearly doubled 2nd place, cant really say he doesnt deserve it, hes been pretty fundamanetal to the roar being dominant
curious, has tim cahill win this award before?

by BarcaKizz Sat Oct 29, 2011 6:37 am

Tim won it in 2009, and I'm sure he would have won it at another time too.

Not only Matt's efforts at Roarcelona... but also with the Socceroos. He's been one of our best in the last 12 months and made the Asian Cup All Star XI.

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