England and Manchester United Women goalkeeper Mary Earps has been voted the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year for 2023, adding yet another accolade to what has been a heavily decorated 18 months for the sporting star.
The Nottingham-born keeper was announced as the winner on Tuesday, 28 November, becoming the very first goalkeeper in history to ever win the BBC’s award for the best and most impactful female player of the year ahead of Spanish midfielder Aitana Bonmati and Chelsea star Sam Kerr.
And, of course, following her incredible performance during the tournament and that now iconic stop seen around the world in the final against Spain, it was never going to be anyone else, was it?
Mary Earps came first in the public vote for the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year, a five-player shortlist selected by expert coaches, players, administrators and journalists.
“To be the first goalkeeper to get their hands on the award is incredibly special and I am incredibly grateful. Hopefully, one of many more to come and thank you so much again.”
The 30-year-old went on to add, “I try to use my story as a beacon of hope for people. To show that there are better days coming. You just have to keep going and keep fighting; that looks very different to different people.
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“I think there was a time when no one was watching what I was doing. To work hard in silence, on your own, nobody notices what you do. It doesn’t matter what you do, apart from to yourself and your own standards.
“I think that is a big part of where I am today, and sort of the resilience that I’ve shown and I know there are going to be many more moments where I’m going to need that resilience.” Earps also picked up the Billy Seymour Impact Award at the 2023 North West Football Awards earlier this month.
It goes without saying that just like the rest of the Lionesses squad, the no-nonsense no.1 has become an inspiration to so many women and young girls over the past year or so, as well as cementing herself as a firm favourite among football fans in general.
Having finished second in the 2022/23 WSL title race and making it to Man United‘s first-ever Women’s FA Cup final, Earps had a great year at club level too and is undoubtedly one of the most popular female footballers on the planet right now, so we’re going to go ahead and call this latest award well-deserved.
Featured Images — Mary Earps (via Instagram)/Adidas
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Two Manchester Basketball players have been named in the SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26
Danny Jones
A pair of Manchester Basketball players have been named in the latest SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26.
The most recent UK Super League Basketball (SLB) campaign is set to wrap up this month, with the playoffs taking place down in the capital, but there are other awards to be handed out before then.
It remains to be seen how ‘The Final Four’ phase will play out at The O2 in London on 17 May, but we can definitely take joy in moments like this.
Announced on Thursday, 7 May, Manchester Basketball confirmed that duo Max Jones and Jordan Johnson have joined the rest of the league’s roster of the best players this term.
As detailed on the club website, “Max has averaged 17.4 points in the SLB in 32 games – he’s been a starter for the franchise and was also named in the ENBL All-Star Five in Germany last month.
“Jordan averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 assists in 30 games in the SLB, had a stellar European campaign and hit 30 pts in just over 27 minutes in the SLB Cup Final.”
Commenting on social media, one fan wrote: “Both JJ and PJ have been so great at the PG spot all year. I feel this is a joint award for them both, but they can only fill one spot for the accolade. If we wanna be a serious club to build upon year on year, JJ also needs to be in an MCR jersey next year.
“We absolutely have the pieces to build around. JJ’s nerve is sooooo cool under pressure. You can just tell they wanna loft a meaningful trophy, and it’s gonna happen if we as a club plan and build the way we need to.”
Plenty of supporters have also stressed the importance of making sure that the board tie down the likes of Jones and other big talents this summer; the rest of the Molten All-League Team of the Season for 2025/26 can be found below.
It’s also worth noting that teammate Tim Adetukasi and women’s team star Irene Oboavwoduo have each been named in the SLB’s British Team of the Year in their respective divisions for 2026.
Writing in a club statement reflecting on a great week of recognition for the resurgent club, General Manager Dominique Allen said: “We are really proud to be a club flying the flag for British players.
Both Tim and Irene have made a real impact on and off the court. We’re really happy for both of them that they are getting some well-deserved recognition.”
Well done to all the MCR stars who are helping get the franchise back on its feet following such a major rebrand across the board.
Here’s looking forward to another promising and productive year for Manchester Basketball.
Manchester City win first Women’s Super League title in a decade
Danny Jones
After a decade of hope and hard work, Manchester City have finally won the Women’s Super League once again in a huge moment for the local club.
Lifting not just their first division title in 10 years, but only their second WSL trophy since the modern female football era began in 2010, it felt like only a matter of time to many supporters.
Ending a six-year Chelsea supremacy, this is also manager Andrée Jeglertz’s first at the helm of Man City’s women’s team, who arrived at the club with a strong silverware record at the start of this season.
These were the scenes at home base as one key result sealed their status as champions:
— Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 6, 2026
City Women secured the WSL title following third-placed Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Brighton on Wednesday evening.
They even managed to do so with a game to spare and a six-point gap over the west London club, which has won so much over the past few years.
Speaking in an interview with club media after confirmation of the win, captain and Euro 2025-winning Lionesses defender, Alex Greenwood, said: “[It feels] absolutely incredible. “A moment – we as a team, me personally – us as a club has waited so long for”.
“An incredible moment, it’s an incredible feeling. I’m so glad we got to spend this moment together as a group. Just an absolutely incredible feeling.”
With fans watching both at home, along with the first team themselves, the celebrations have already begun as the team shared a look back at how they got here.
You can see the recap posted on social media in full below.
Commenting on his latest accolade, the Swedish head coach added in a full club statement: “There’s never been doubt about the talent in the group, but there is something else about talking about being winners and champions. We started that early, and we believed in that. That’s led us through this year.
“It hasn’t been easy; it’s been hard work every day, but we had a strong belief that we could be sitting here in May and be champions. That is the first thing, and we definitely deserve it.”
Congratulations to the Cityzens on a well-deserved and long-awaited WSL title; could this be the start of another sporting dynasty of dominance over in East Manchester? Only time will tell…
In other news around the Etihad Campus, the women’s, EDS and academy team stadium is also set to host the final of the FA Youth Cup later this month.
Danny Jones -
28th November 2023 
