Carli Lloyd

So what did the judging panels base their decision on?

American Carli Lloyd won the Player of the Year award in 2015 and 2016, and was named as one of the three finalists for this year’s decision, with her unique brand of powerhouse, box-to-box midfield play clearly a favourite among the judges.

She didn’t win an individual award this season at club or international level, nor did she score an international goal, but she led Manchester City to an F.A Cup triumph and a UEFA Champions League semi-final.

She did however, miss out on the Champions League Squad of the Season for 2016/17, with fellow Manchester City midfielder and English international Jill Scott garnering greater plaudits for the Citizen’s run in that competition.

While she missed most of Houston Dash’s 2017 season, upon rejoining the squad Lloyd has scored one goal and received one red card as her side slipped down to eighth in their league standings and failed to make the finals campaign.

The U.S Women’s National Team had a fairly poor year by their own lofty standards. They lost two out of three games to finish last at the SheBelieves Cup and finished runner up at the Tournament of Nations – both held on home soil – to Australia. They also briefly lost their World No.1 ranking, however reclaimed it towards the end of the year.