Arsenal duo win FSA Player of the Year awards

Declan Rice and Alessia Russo won the FSA Player of the Year awards on Monday, completing an Arsenal sweep in the category.

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Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Alessia Russo won the Football Supporters’ Association Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards respectively on Monday night, coming out on top after 400,000 votes.

Rice was up against Erling Haaland of Manchester City, Antoine Semenyo of Bournemouth, Jean-Philippe Mateta of Crystal Palace, Moises Caicedo of Chelsea, and Ryan Gravenberch of Liverpool, but the voters evidently thought he was the best of the bunch.

As for Russo, she had to fight off competition from Chelsea duo Erin Cuthbert and Millie Bright, Manchester United’s Maya Le Tissier, Manchester City’s Yui Hasegawa, and Arsenal teammate Mariona Caldentey.

Photo via TheFSA.org.uk

“It’s a massive privilege to receive the FSA Player of the Year Award, seeing the players I’m up against,” Rice said. “To be recognised by the supporters, to vote for me to win, it’s really, really special so I can’t thank them enough.”

Russo agreed: “Thank you to all the fans that voted, it means a lot. It was an incredible summer, an incredible few months, winning the Champions League and the Euros. Hopefully it’s inspired us to carry on winning because that’s what it’s all about!”

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Rice has put in strong performances throughout 2025, and he was named in the Champions League Team of the Week after a Player of the Match performance against Bayern Munich just last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Russo’s credentials are pretty clear, having played a key role in the Arsenal Champions League-winning team and the England Euros-winning team.

It’s great to see both players recognised by the fans at large, and hopefully they’ll have more trophies to celebrate at the end of this campaign.