The Football Writers' Association (FWA) is an association of football journalists and correspondents writing for English newspapers and agencies. It presents the Footballer of the Year Award, the oldest and most distinguished award given in the domestic game. In 2018, recognising the growth of the woman's game, it announced a Woman's Footballer of the Year Award.

History

The choice to create the Football Writers' Association (FWA) was made on 22 September 1947 by journalists, Charles Buchan (News Chronicle), Frank Coles (Daily Telegraph), Roy Peskett (Daily Mail), and Archie Quick while aboard a boat in the middle of the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

that was returning from a football match in which England beat Belgium 5–2. Ivan Sharpe of the Sunday Chronicle was appointed chairman a month later, a position he held for the first six years of the FWA's existence and eight times in all in his long career. The men formalized a few of the newborn association's rules and regulations within one month. Some of the rules initially created were that membership to the FWA would be invitation only and that they would exclusively send invitations to "working journalists who are accredited football correspondents for newspapers and agencies." It was also determined that the Football Writers' Association's headquarters would be in London, England and the membership fee would be five guineas for the first year of membership with a recurring annual payment of two guineas each year after. Furthermore, the men had decided that there would be a vote held annually for all members that would decide the recipient of the prestigious Footballer of the Year Award, which is still today the oldest and most distinguished award given in the domestic game. The award was originally presented at the annual dinner, which was held on the night before the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

, but was later changed to the Thursday preceding every FA Cup Final. To mark the FWA's 70th anniversary newly created Life Members of the association will now receive the Ivan Sharpe Life Membership Award, while in 2018, the FWA announced it was awarding a Woman's Footballer of the Year award in recognition of the growth of the woman's game in this country. ed

The Football Writers' Association today

The FWA has experienced steady growth since its inception in 1947. Membership has grown to about four-hundred members. Changes in modern journalism have welcomed a more diverse range of members. In recent years, the association has modernized itself by changing the voting process for Footballer of the Year by making online voting available to its members as well as incorporating social media into its revamped web site. The Football Writers' Association continues to recruit new members openly in the same manner as was created by its founders in 1947. On 24 April 2019,

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senior sports correspondent Carrie Brown was announced as the first female chair of the FWA.

The FWA Footballer of the Year Award

Charles Buchan, one of the founding fathers of the FWA, had originally suggested that there be an award presented "to the professional player who by precept and example is considered by a ballot of members to be the footballer of the year." The award is the oldest and is considered to be the most prestigious award in British football. The award is presented annually. The first player to receive the award was

Sir Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game and one of the greatest players of all time, he is the onl ...

in 1948. In 2018 the FWA introduced their award for the Woman Footballer of the Year in recognition of the growth of the woman's game.

Winners

The award has been presented on 71 occasions as of 2018, with 63 different winners. On one occasion two players shared the award for a season (1968–69). The table also indicates where the winning player also won one or more of the other major "player of the year" awards in English football, namely the Professional Footballers' Association's Players' Player of the Year award (PPY), Fans' Player of the Year award (FPY), and Young Player of the Year award (YPY). Dennis Bergkamp cropped

The FWA Women's Footballer of the Year Award

In 2018, the FWA introduced their award for the Woman Footballer of the Year in recognition of the growth of the women's game.The award has been presented on one occasion as of 2018, with one winner. The table also indicates where the winning player also won one or more of the other major "player of the year" awards in English football, namely the

PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Women's Players' Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is voted to have been the best of the year in Women's football in England, English women's football. The award has been prese ...

award (PPY), and the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year award (YPY).

The FWA Tribute Award

The Football Writers' Association Tribute Award is presented annually every January at the

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1 ...

to the individual that the committee believes to have contributed to the national game in a significant way. The award was first given in 1983 to Ron Greenwood.

References

External links

Official website
(archived 13 December 2007) {{FWA awards Journalism-related professional associations Football mass media in the United Kingdom * * Football organisations in England Sports journalism organizations in Europe Professional associations based in the United Kingdom Sports organizations established in 1947 1947 establishments in England