Seven Matildas up for PFA Players’ Awards

Seven Commonwealth Bank Matildas have been nominated for PFA Players’ Awards, with Ellie Carpenter nominated for both Women's Footballer of the Year and Young Women’s Footballer of the Year for the second year in a row.

The winners will be revealed at the Dolan Warren Awards on Thursday 26 May, following a PFA Member vote. The nominees were selected by the PFA Awards Committee which is comprised of former players and figures in the Australian football media. 

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The awards consider the performances of all players plying their trade in the A-Leagues and Australians based overseas during the 2021-2022 season and recognise, reward and celebrate the significant contribution of the game’s established and emerging players.

The PFA Players’ Awards have been presented annually since 2009 when former Socceroo Tim Cahill won the inaugural PFA Men’s Footballer of the Year. The PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year was introduced the following season, which was won by Servet Uzunlar in 2010.

PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year 

Four of the Matildas’ finest products constitute the nominees for the 2022 PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year, with three London-based Australian stars, Sam Kerr, Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord joining Lyon’s Ellie Carpenter. Carpenter, who was named both the PFA’s Women’s and Young Women’s Footballer of the Year in 2021, had another impressive campaign for club and country and will aim to secure the 2022 UEFA Women’s Champions League in a mouth-watering final against Barcelona in Turin, Italy, this Saturday. 

Arsenal’s Aussie duo of Catleywho won the PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year in 2020, and Foord went within one point of the FA Women’s Super League title after campaigns that established their influence in England’s top tier competition.


Four-time winner of the PFA Award, Kerr completed an incredible record-breaking season with Chelsea. The Matildas forward finished with 29 goals and 8 assists across all competitions, lifting the FA Women’s Super League trophy for the third consecutive time, and the FA Women’s Cup for the second consecutive time. 

Previous Winners: Ellie Carpenter (2021), Steph Catley (2020), Sam Kerr (2013, 2017, 2018, 2019), Lydia Williams (2012, 2016), Katrina Gorry (2014), Elise Kellond-Knight (2011), Servet Uzunlar (2010)

PFA Young Women’s Footballer of the Year

Back-to-back winner of the Young Women’s Footballer of the Year, Ellie Carpenter is up for a record third PFA Young Women’s Footballer of the Year after another excellent period for the Matildas and Olympique Lyonnais Féminin. 

At just 22, Carpenter continues to excel on the international stage and in Europe, having secured the Feminine Division 1 title with Lyon, who finished five points clear of Paris St. Germain. 

At just 19, Mary Fowler has emerged as a Matildas star for the future, completing her third season in the Feminine Division 1 for Montpellier and scoring twice in four games at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the Matildas in January. 


Melbourne Victory’s Alex Chidiac and Melbourne City FC’s Holly McNamara impressed both the nominations committee and Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson, with both A-League Women’s players receiving call ups for an international friendly against New Zealand and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India, respectively.

Previous Winners: Ellie Carpenter (2020, 2021), Karly Roestbakken (2019), Alex Chidiac (2018, 2017)