Khadija Shaw wins Football Writers’ Association women’s player of the year
Manchester City’s Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has won the Football Writers’ Association women’s player of the year for the 2025-26 season. It is the second time in three years that the forward has taken the award, either side of Alessia Russo’s win in 2024-25. Russo finished second while Chelsea’s Lauren James was third after a vote of the FWA’s more than 900 members.
Shaw, 29, won her first Women’s Super League title on Wednesday, after Arsenal dropped points to Brighton & Hove Albion, and is the league’s leading scorer on 19 goals. With seven more goals than Aston Villa’s Kirsty Hanson in second, if Shaw wins the 2026 Golden Boot it will be the third consecutive campaign that she has finished as the WSL’s top scorer. Last season she shared the Golden Boot with Russo despite playing seven fewer games than the Arsenal forward.
Amid her on-field success, the Jamaica international’s future looks set to be away from City with her contract expiring in the summer and negotiations over fresh terms breaking down . The Athletic reported in April that Chelsea had offered Shaw a £1million ($1. 4m) per year contract.
Shaw has started every WSL game for City this year, scoring 19 goals and providing four assists as they won their first title in a decade. Her goal haul includes the quickest hat-trick in WSL history during March’s win against Tottenham Hotspur, and four goals in December’s victory over Aston Villa. Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes is the winner of the men’s award.
‘Another trophy for a total forward’ Analysis by women’s football writer Megan Feringa Welcome to the year of the Bunny. Shaw that is. At 29 years old, it’s belated that the Jamaica striker is finally being recognised as the generational talent she is, that her days as the season trundles to a close are busied by learning how to best balance various pieces silverware in her arms without bruising as clubs around the globe attempt to cajole her into signing on their dotted line.