Arsenal's Alessia Russo became just the sixth recipient of the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year award.
The English striker is enjoying the most prolific campaign of her top-flight career, jointly leading the Women's Super League (WSL) for goals alongside Manchester City's Khadija Shaw, who won last year's individual award.
Russo's form has exploded under the watchful gaze of Renee Slegers. Since the Arsenal boss took over from Jonas Eidevall in October, the Gunners' number nine has averaged a goal every 108 minutes across all competitions.
While Arsenal have watched Chelsea lift a sixth top-flight title in succession, the north London outfit have managed to reach the Champions League final. Russo has been particularly decisive in the knockout stage of the competition, scoring twice in Arsenal's staggering comeback quarter-final victory against Real Madrid before nabbing the decisive goal in a 4-1 win away to record European champions Lyon to book a spot in the showpiece fixture against Barcelona.
City's Shaw came second in the voting while Russo's Arsenal teammate Mariona Caldentey finished third ahead of Chelsea's title-winning captain Millie Bright.
"Alessia's performances, especially in the Champions League have been the stand-out from the season," FWA chair John Cross said. "She seems to have taken a huge leap since joining Arsenal and her overall game as well as her goals make her a special player. We're delighted to be crowning her Women's Footballer of the Year but hope that it's not the last honour she receives this season with the Champions League Final at the end of the month."
The FWA only handed out their first Women's Footballer of the Year award in 2018. The inaugural recipient, Fran Kirby, has twice won the accolade, matching the record set by her former Chelsea teammate Sam Kerr. Russo became just the second Arsenal player to win the award, following in the footsteps of Vivianne Mediema.
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