Manchester City and England captain bags Special Achievement award

The PFA’s Special Achievement award went to Manchester City and England captain Steph Houghton.

2019 PFA Awards – Grosvenor House Hotel
PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor (left) and chairman Ben Purkiss (right) with award winner Steph Houghton (Steven Paston/PA)

The 31-year-old defender was named in the PFA’s Women’s Super League Team of the Year and is set to skipper the Lionesses at this summer’s World Cup in France.

Houghton has been one of the leading lights in the English women’s game and has drawn praise from England Women coach Phil Neville for her handling of difficulties in her personal life.

Her husband, former Liverpool midfielder Stephen Darby, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year and she has stated that she would give up her place at this summer’s finals to care for him if necessary, though he has said he will not let her do that.

In the men’s slot Liverpool centre-back Virgil Van Dijk was been named the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Players’ Player of the Year for 2019 after a stellar season for the Reds.

Van Dijk succeeds team-mate Mohamed Salah in winning the award after seeing off tough competition from Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling.

Sterling had the consolation of being named Young Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of City team-mate Leroy Sane.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *