Pernille Harder has been named UEFA Women’s Player of the Year 2017/18 at a ceremony, which took place on Thursday during the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco.
The VfL Wolfsburg and Denmark striker, who played in this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final in Kyiv, claimed a total of 106 points. Olympique Lyonnais forward Ada Hegerberg, whose team was victorious in this year’s final in the Ukrainian capital, came second with 61 points, while the Norwegian’s clubmate and France international Amandine Henry was third with 41 points.
The jury was composed of coaches from the 12 highest-ranked teams in the latest UEFA women’s national team rankings, together with the coaches of the eight clubs which participated in the quarter-finals of the 2017/18 UEFA Women’s Champions League. Also on the panel were 20 journalists specialising in women’s football who were selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group. The final result was based on the total number of points from the votes cast by the coaches and the journalists.
In a video-recorded message, the 25-year-old Harder said:
“I am extremely proud and honoured to receive this award, as I have always dreamed of playing at the highest level since I was a young kid. I would like to thank in particular my family for their support, as well as my teammates, coaches and staff from the national team. Of course, I would like to say a big thank you to my club VfL Wolfsburg for an amazing season where we continue to play and compete at the highest level.”
