The most important vote of the month is upon the football community as voting for the 2020 New Zealand Football Awards gets underway.

And, for the first time, members of the footballing public have the opportunity to cast their votes on the football and futsal awards categories, alongside a panel of experts. The awards cover achievements by football and futsal players, teams and coaches.

Nominations were based on achievements in the 2019 calendar year, which included the U-20 Men’s World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup, qualification for the Olympic Games, the Futsal Ferns' tour of China, the FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifiers the All Whites’ double header in Europe, 2019 Men's Futsal SuperLeague, the 2019 National Women’s League, and the 2019/20 ISPS Handa Premiership season (which concluded in March 2020). Please note that the awards this year were delayed due to COVID-19.

In another New Zealand Football first, the awards will be streamed on the New Zealand Football Facebook page and New Zealand Football YouTube channel from Eden Park on 1 October at 7pm.

Voting is open from Tuesday 22 September until 5pm Thursday 24 September.

To register your vote, click here.

See below for further information on the finalists.

New Zealand Football Awards Finalists

International player of the year

Awarded to a player who has excelled for a senior New Zealand Football national team. 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

Michael Boxall (All Whites/Minnesota United),

Chris Wood (All Whites/Burnley) and

Sarpreet Singh (All Whites/U-20 Men/Bayern Munich).

Women

Erin Nayler (Football Ferns/Bordeaux)

Ria Percival (Football Ferns/West Ham United/Tottenham Hotspur)

Rebekah Stott (Football Ferns/Melbourne City)

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.

Men

Derek Tieku (Hamilton Wanderers)

Myer Bevan (Auckland City FC)

Jack-Henry Sinclair (Team Wellington)

Women

Stephanie Skilton (Auckland Football)

Emma Rolston (Capital Football)

Chloe Knott (Northern Lights)

Futsal player of the year

Awarded to a player who has excelled for a New Zealand Football national futsal team and/or in one or more of New Zealand Football’s national futsal competitions.

Men

Dylan Manickum (Auckland Football Federation/Futsal Whites)

Miroslav Malivuk (Capital Football/Futsal Whites)

Ethan Martin (Waikato Rapids)

Women

Serena Patel (Canterbury United Futsal Pride)

Maxine Cooper (Auckland Football Federation/Futsal Ferns)

Hannah Hegarty (Canterbury United Futsal Pride/Futsal Ferns)

Young Player of the Year
Awarded to a player aged 20 and under 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

Joe Bell (All Whites/U-20 Men/University of Virginia)

Sarpreet Singh (All Whites/U-20 Men/Bayern Munich)

Liberato Cacace (All Whites/U-20 Men/Wellington Phoenix)

Women

Claudia Bunge (Football Ferns/Northern Lights) 

Kelli Brown (U-20 Women/Northern Lights) 

Grace Wisnewski (U-20 Women/WaiBOP Football)

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

Des Buckingham (U-23 Men/U-20 Men)

Jose Figueira (U-17 Men/Auckland City FC)

Scott Hales (Team Wellington)

Women

Gemma Lewis (U-20 Women/FFDP)

Natalie Lawrence (U-20 Women/FFDP/Capital Football)

Alana Gunn (Canterbury United Pride)

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

Sam Masterson (Waikato Rapids)

Nic Downes (Futsal Ferns)

Marvin Eakins (Futsal Whites)

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. Performances in the OFC Champions League/FIFA Club World Cup can also be taken into consideration. Can be either male or female.

New Zealand U-23 Men

New Zealand U-20 Men

Canterbury United Pride

 
Futsal Team of the Year
Awarded for the most outstanding performance by a New Zealand Football national futsal team or a team competing in one of New Zealand Football’s national futsal competitions. Can be either male or female.

Waikato Rapids

Futsal Ferns

Futsal Whites

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 but there is no requirement to have represented a New Zealand Football national team during the calendar year.

Chris Wood (All Whites/Burnley - Scored 16 goals in all competitions for Burnley in 2019 and was the club’s joint top-scorer in 2018/19 season as they maintained their Premier League status)

Sarpreet Singh (All Whites/U-20 Men/Bayern Munich - A standout performer at the U-20 FIFA World Cup, earning a move to giants Bayern Munich soon after and starring for the club’s second team in the German third division)

Abby Erceg (Football Ferns/North Carolina Courage - Captained North Carolina Courage to their second consecutive NWSL Shield/Championship double)

Article added: Tuesday 22 September 2020