Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson named FWA Footballer of the Year

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has been named the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.

The 30-year-old has been the driving force behind the Reds' first league title win in 30 years, a milestone that has been achieved in dominant fashion.

And that has helped him see off competition from the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Marcus Rashford and teammates Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker to scoop the prize.

Henderson becomes the 14th different Liverpool player to clinch the award, following in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard, Kenny Dalglish and, most recently, Mohamed Salah.

He said: “I’d like to say how appreciative I am of the support of those who voted for me and the Football Writers’ Association in general. You only have to look at the past winners of it, a number of whom I’ve been blessed to play with here at Liverpool, like Stevie (Gerrard), Luis (Suarez) and Mo (Salah) to know how prestigious it is.

In Pictures | Liverpool Premier League trophy lift | 22/07/2020

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"But as grateful as I am I don’t feel like I can accept this on my own. I don’t feel like anything I’ve achieved this season or in fact during my whole career has been done on my own. I owe a lot to so many different people – but none more so than my current teammates – who have just been incredible and deserve this every bit as much as I do.

"We’ve only achieved what we’ve achieved because every single member of our squad has been brilliant. And not just in matches. Not just in producing the moments that make the headlines and the back pages but every day in training.

"The players who’ve started the most games for us this season have been as good as they have been because of our culture and our environment at Melwood. No one individual is responsible for that – it’s a collective effort and that’s how I view accepting this honour.

"I accept it on behalf of this whole squad, because without them I’m not in a position to be receiving this honour. These lads have made me a better player – a better leader and a better person.

"If anything I hope those who voted for me did so partly to recognise the entire team’s contribution.

"Individual awards are nice and they are special and I will cherish this one. But an individual award without the collective achievement wouldn’t mean anywhere as much to me – if anything at all."

The annual award, which has been running since the 1947-48 season, is voted for by FWA members and awarded to the player deemed "by precept and example" to be the outstanding player for each season.

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