Congratulations to Manchester City's Lauren Hemp who has made history as the first four-time winner of the PFA Young Player Of The Year Award!
Her fourth win from four nominations makes Hemp the most decorated PFA award winner of all time, with four individual trophies. Already the only female player to have received three PFA awards, her 2022 YPOTY win also makes Hemp the first player to win four awards in the same category. Her incredible form this season also prompted her peers to vote her in as part of the PFA Women's Super League (WSL) Team Of The Year.
Only five players have won PFA Awards in two categories - Mark Hughes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney – and there's no doubt Lauren is on track to join them as a double category winner. This year, her fellow PFA members nominated her for both the PFA Players' Player Of The Year and PFA Young Player Of The Year, a feat she has now achieved two years running.
In April this year, Hemp became the latest City centurion, reaching the milestone of 100 appearances in a match against Brighton and Hove Albion, where she went on to score the club's 100th goal of the season. After her first senior call up for the Lionesses in October 2019, Hemp was selected to represent Team GB at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and has been named in the preliminary squad for Euro 2022. Her dynamic pace and superb finishing ability have already set her apart as a rising star, and she looks set to become one of the most exciting players in women's football globally.
Hemp said, "It’s an honour to get this again. I think especially for it to be voted for by players that I’ve played against and come up against. I mean, I look to many of them as role models as well so it’s an honour to be picked from them. Coming off the back of a great season, I’ve also got a lot to thank my teammates for to be honest, because I think they make me look better than I actually am! We’ve got a fantastic squad and players who get me the ball in good positions and strikers who can finish the crosses that I put in wherever I put them. I’ve got a great set of staff as well, people who are always pushing me, wanting me to get better so, I appreciate it and I know there’s so much more to come. I'm going to keep working hard for that to make sure that I continue on the right path.”
From all at the PFA, a huge congratulations to Lauren!
