The nominees have been announced for the New Zealand Football Awards for 2020-2021. 

The awards cover the 2020 and 2021 calendar years combined due to the fact that Covid-19 meant that international football/futsal, as well as a number of domestic competitions, couldn’t take place in 2020.

Along with a panel of experts judging the awards, fans also have the opportunity to vote:

Vote in the football awards

Vote in the futsal awards

The nominations in full are below. The winners will be announced later this month. 

Football Nominations

International Player of the Year:

Awarded to a player who has excelled for a senior New Zealand Football national team in 2021. Performances for clubs can also be taken into consideration, but the player must have represented a senior New Zealand Football national team during the calendar year to be eligible.

Men:

Joe Bell (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team/Viking FK)

Liberato Cacace (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team/Sint-Truiden/Wellington Phoenix)

Chris Wood (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team/Burnley FC)

Winston Reid (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team/Sporting KC/Brentford)

Women:

CJ Bott (Ford Football Ferns/Vålerenga)

Abby Erceg (Ford Football Ferns/North Carolina Courage)

Ria Percival (Ford Football Ferns/Tottenham Hotspur)

Ali Riley (Ford Football Ferns/Orlando Pride/FC Rosengård)

Domestic Player of the Year:

Awarded to a player who has excelled in one or more of New Zealand Football’s national competitions. There is no requirement for the winner to be eligible to represent New Zealand.

Women:

Georgia Candy (Capital Football/FFDP)

Rebecca Lake (Canterbury United Pride)

Annalie Longo (Canterbury United Pride)

Emma Main (Capital Football/Wellington United Diamonds)

Rose Morton (Southern United)

Men:

Garbhan Coughlan (Canterbury United/Cashmere Technical)

Alex Greive (Waitakere United/Birkenhead United)

Cam Howieson (Auckland City FC)

Taylor Schrijvers (Team Wellington/Miramar Rangers)

Ollie Whyte (Team Wellington/Miramar Rangers)

Young Player of the Year:

Awarded to a player aged 20 and under in 2020 who has excelled for a New Zealand Football national team. Performances for clubs can also be taken into consideration but the player must have represented a New Zealand Football national team during the calendar year to be eligible.

Men:

Liberato Cacace (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team/Sint-Truiden/Wellington Phoenix)

Matt Garbett (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team/Falkenbergs FF/Torino)

Marko Stamenic (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team/FC Copenhagen/HB Køge)

Ben Waine (Men’s Olympic Team/Wellington Phoenix)

Women:

Ava Collins (Ford Football Ferns/Eastern Suburbs/St John’s University)

Anna Leat (Ford Football Ferns/FFDP/West Ham United)

Gabi Rennie (Ford Football Ferns/Canterbury United Pride/Indiana University)

Coach of the Year:

Awarded to a coach who has achieved excellence with a New Zealand Football national team and/or in one or more of New Zealand Football’s national competitions.

Men:

José Figueira (Auckland City FC) 

Scott Hales (Miramar Rangers/Team Wellington)

Danny Hay (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team)

Graeme Smaill (Southern United)

Women:

Alana Gunn (Canterbury United Pride)

Jitka Klimková (Ford Football Ferns)

Gemma Lewis (FFDP/Wellington Phoenix)

Maika Ruyter-Hooley (Wellington United Diamonds)

Team of the Year:

Awarded for the most outstanding performance by a New Zealand Football national team or a team competing in one of New Zealand Football’s national competitions. 

All Whites 

Men’s Olympic Team 

Wellington United Diamonds

Player of the Year:

Celebrating outstanding achievement by any player eligible to represent New Zealand. The achievements may be at club or national team level.

Joe Bell (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team/Viking FK)

Ria Percival (Ford Football Ferns/Tottenham Hotspur)

Chris Wood (All Whites/Men’s Olympic Team/Burnley FC)

Best Moment: 

Celebrating the best football moment from 2020 or 2021 for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Liberato Cacace’s goal against Honduras at Tokyo 2020

Wellington Phoenix playing their first game in the A-League Women

Rebekah Stott returning to football after recovering from cancer

Men’s Olympic team reaching quarter-finals for the first time

Southern United claiming their first title by winning the National League: South Central Series

Wellington Phoenix playing first game back in Aotearoa New Zealand after 433 days away

Chris Wood scoring 50th Premier League goal 

Futsal Nominations

Team of the Year:

Awarded for the most outstanding performance by a team in 2020 and/or 2021. 

AFF Women

Auckland City Men

Canterbury University Women

Otago University Men

Coach Of the Year:

Awarded for the most outstanding performance by a coach in 2020 and/or 2021. 

Nic Downes – AFF women and Auckland City FC

Darren Hart – Otago University and Southern United

Sam Masterson – Waikato Rapids

Ronan Naicker – Canterbury University and Canterbury United Futsal Pride

Player of the Year:

Awarded for the most outstanding performance by a player in 2020 and/or 2021. 

Women:

Shivanthi Anthony

Danielle Bradley

Britney Nicholson

Serena Patel

Men:

Rahan Ali

Mike Antamanov

Jordi Ditfort

Adam Paulsen

Article added: Friday 06 May 2022