Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw emerged as the biggest individual winners at the 2026 Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Awards, taking home the men’s and women’s Players’ Player of the Year prizes respectively.
The 53rd PFA Awards ceremony was held at the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, celebrating outstanding performances across the Premier League, Women’s Super League, Championship, League One, League Two and WSL2 during the 2025/26 campaign. The awards are voted for by fellow professional footballers, giving the winners recognition from their peers.
Fernandes secured the men's top prize after an outstanding campaign with Manchester United. The Portuguese midfielder set a new Premier League record with 21 assists during the season and scored nine goals as United finished third in the league. His PFA award also completed a remarkable run of individual recognition after he had previously been named Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season.
Shaw, meanwhile, claimed the Women's Players' Player of the Year award for the second time. The Manchester City striker scored 21 goals in 22 Women's Super League appearances and became the first player to win three consecutive WSL Golden Boots. Her goals helped City secure the league title.
Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly was named the Men's Young Player of the Year, while Arsenal forward Olivia Smith won the Women's Young Player of the Year award.
Below is the full list of the major winners and Teams of the Year from the 2026 PFA Awards.
PFA Major Individual Awards
Men's PFA Players' Player of the Year: Bruno Fernandes — Manchester United
Women's PFA Players' Player of the Year: Khadija “Bunny” Shaw — Manchester City
Men's PFA Young Player of the Year: Nico O'Reilly — Manchester City
Women's PFA Young Player of the Year: Olivia Smith — Arsenal
Championship PFA Players' Player of the Year: Hayden Hackney — Middlesbrough
League One PFA Players' Player of the Year: Dom Ballard — Leyton Orient
League Two PFA Players' Player of the Year: Aaron Drinan — Swindon Town
WSL2 PFA Players' Player of the Year: Lily Crosthwaite — Birmingham City.
PFA Premier League Team of the Year
Goalkeeper: David Raya — Arsenal
Defenders: Gabriel Magalhães — Arsenal, Nico O'Reilly — Manchester City, William Saliba — Arsenal, Jurriën Timber — Arsenal
Midfielders: Bruno Fernandes — Manchester United, Declan Rice — Arsenal, Rayan Cherki — Manchester City
Forwards: Erling Haaland — Manchester City, Antoine Semenyo — Manchester City, Igor Thiago — Brentford.
Arsenal supplied five players to the Premier League Team of the Year, while Manchester City had four selections. Manchester United, Brentford and other clubs also had representatives among the standout performers.
PFA WSL Team of the Year
Goalkeeper: Hannah Hampton — Chelsea
Defenders: Kerstin Casparij — Manchester City, Tōko Koga — Tottenham Hotspur, Ellie Carpenter — Chelsea, Emily Fox — Arsenal
Midfielders: Yui Hasegawa — Manchester City, Mariona Caldentey — Arsenal, Jessica Park — Manchester United
Forwards: Bunny Shaw — Manchester City, Alessia Russo — Arsenal, Lauren James — Chelsea.
PFA Championship Team of the Year
Goalkeeper: Carl Rushworth — Coventry City
Defenders: Milan van Ewijk — Coventry City, Bobby Thomas — Coventry City, Tristan Crama — Millwall, Taylor Harwood-Bellis — Southampton
Midfielders: Hayden Hackney — Middlesbrough, Matt Grimes — Coventry City, Jack Rudoni — Coventry City
Forwards: Žan Vipotnik — Swansea City, Haji Wright — Coventry City, Femi Azeez — Millwall.
PFA League One Team of the Year
Goalkeeper: George Wickens — Lincoln City
Defenders: Sonny Bradley — Lincoln City, Tendayi Darikwa — Lincoln City, Perry Ng — Cardiff City, Carl Piergianni — Stevenage
Midfielders: Oliver Norwood — Stockport County, Lewis Wing — Reading, Jack Moylan — Lincoln City
Forwards: Dom Ballard — Leyton Orient, Kyle Wootton — Stockport County, Amario Cozier-Duberry — Bolton Wanderers.
PFA League Two Team of the Year
Goalkeeper: Mathew Hudson — Oldham Athletic
Defenders: Omar Sowunmi — Bromley, Kelland Watts — Cambridge United, Jack Sanders — MK Dons, James Gibbons — Cambridge United
Midfielders: Alex Gilbey — MK Dons, Mitch Pinnock — Bromley, Sammy Braybrooke — Chesterfield
Forwards: Aaron Drinan — Swindon Town, Michael Cheek — Bromley, Callum Paterson — MK Dons.
PFA WSL2 Team of the Year
Goalkeeper: Sophie Whitehouse — Charlton Athletic
Defenders: Aimee Everett — Crystal Palace, Neve Herron — Birmingham City, Rebecca McKenna — Birmingham City, Mari Ward — Bristol City
Midfielders: Emily Syme — Bristol City, Jordan Nobbs — Newcastle United, Annabel Blanchard — Crystal Palace
Forwards: Lily Crosthwaite — Birmingham City, Ashleigh Weerden — Crystal Palace, Emily Murphy — Newcastle United.
The ceremony also recognised major contributions to English football beyond the playing awards. Former England international Karen Carney and Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish received PFA Merit Awards for their contributions to the game.
For Fernandes, the award represents a particularly significant achievement because he became the first Manchester United player since Wayne Rooney in 2010 to win the men's PFA Players' Player of the Year award. He is also only the second Portuguese player to receive the honour, after Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 2026 ceremony therefore brought together some of the biggest performers from English football's 2025/26 season, with the winners selected by the players themselves.
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