Alessia Russo voted England women's player of the year again
Alessia Russo is England's women's player of the year again.
The Arsenal forward won the fans' vote for the 2025-26 season, BBC Sport reported. She finished ahead of Chelsea's Lucy Bronze and Hannah Hampton.
Russo was ever-present for England across the campaign. She appeared in all 10 games, started nine, scored five goals and added one assist.
Her key contribution came at the start of the road to the 2027 World Cup. Russo scored England's third goal in a 3-1 win over Greece in the first leg of the play-off semi-final. The tie is played over two legs, with the aggregate winners moving on.
England take a two-goal cushion into the return game. They host Greece in the second leg at the King Power Stadium in Leicester.
It is the second time Russo has won this award. She also won it two seasons ago for 2023-24, when she scored six goals in 11 starts for England, according to England Football.
Her England form has matched her club form. In May 2025, Russo was named the Football Writers' Association Women's Footballer of the Year for 2024-25 after scoring 20 goals and adding four assists, Arsenal reported. The FWA award is voted for by football writers.
She was also in the running for peer recognition. Russo and Arsenal team-mate Mariona Caldentey made the six-player shortlist for the 2024-25 PFA Players' Player of the Year award, and she was shortlisted again for the 2026 PFA award.
Recognition is nothing new. Russo was named in the FIFPRO World XI for 2023 at The Best FIFA Football Awards in London. That team is picked as the best XI in the women's game for the year.
Her consistency has been recognised at club level too. In December 2025 Arsenal confirmed she had won the club's Women's Player of the Month award for November. It was another marker of a striker in rhythm.
What makes this stand out is reliability. Ten games. Nine starts. Goals when they mattered.
For fans, this means a familiar face up front. Russo, a forward who leads the line, has become a constant in an England team that keeps changing around her.
