MOHAMED SALAH was named Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association today, winning the award after receiving 90 per cent of the vote.

Arsenal’s Alessia Russo won the women’s award, which has run since the 2017/18 season, receiving the most votes ahead of last year’s winner Khadija Shaw of Manchester City and impressive teammate Mariona Caldentey, who came third.

Thirty-nine different players received votes in the women’s award this year, compared with 15 for the men’s.

That’s partly because the vote for this year’s men’s award was one of the easiest decisions to make.

If anything, it’s a surprise that the number of players receiving votes was as many as 15, as Salah has been the clear outstanding player in the league for the runaway league champions, Liverpool.

This is reflected in Salah receiving 90 per cent of the vote, which is the biggest winning margin of any FWA Footballer of the Year this century.

The award was introduced when the FWA was formed in 1947 by one of its co-founders, Charles Buchan — a player for Sunderland and Arsenal between 1911 and 1928, who became a journalist after hanging up his boots.

Buchan signed for Arsenal in 1925 when the team were managed by Herbert Chapman and is credited with the implementation and success of the WM formation at the club — a tactical switch from a 2-3-5 formation to a 3-2-2-3 which played a part in Arsenal’s success in the 1930s, leading to five title wins during that decade.

The first FWA Footballer of the Year was awarded at the end of the 1947/48 season to Stanley Matthews of Blackpool.

When deciding who to vote for, members often turn to the original guidelines set by the FWA back in 1947 that the Footballer of the Year title should be awarded “to the professional player who, by precept and example, is considered by a ballot of members to be the footballer of the year.”

It suggests that conduct as well as performance should be taken into account when choosing who to vote for.

Whatever the criteria, Salah satisfies them this season.

The Egyptian continues to set records in the Premier League, year after year, and though he turns 33 next month, he has enjoyed what has arguably been the best season of his career.

It’s at least up there with his 2017-18 season when he scored 32 goals and made 10 assists, and many would say it has surpassed that campaign as Liverpool won the league title this time.

In 2024-25, he’s not quite reached the goal tally of 2017/18 — he’s on 28 with three games to go — but his 18 assists demonstrate that his all-round game is now much better.

These goals and assists combined give him 46 goal involvements in the Premier League this season, which is the highest ever for a 38-game season in the Premier League era.

One more would take him to the overall Premier League era record of 47, jointly held by Alan Shearer (1994-95) and Andy Cole (1993-94), which were both achieved in 42-game seasons.

On top of everything else, anyone who plays the league’s official fantasy game, Fantasy Premier League, will know Salah has been a points machine in the game this season.

His tally of 330 points with three games to go is the highest score in the history of the game by some distance, breaking his own record of 303 points set in the 2017-18 season. He remains the only player in the history of this game to have scored over 300 points in a single season.

It’s yet another measure of how good Salah has been throughout the previous year.

“Rarely has there been a more popular winner than Mo,” said FWA chair and Daily Mirror chief football writer John Cross.

“His overwhelming victory is just a reflection of an incredible season.

“He continues to rewrite the record books, and his performances this season have obviously been key to Liverpool’s 20th title.

“It’s been a privilege watching him this season.”

Salah’s teammate Virgil van Dijk came second in the voting, with Alexander Isak third and Arsenal’s Declan Rice fourth.

Salah’s win also continues the dominance of the award by Liverpool and Manchester City players, who have won it for the past eight seasons. The last time a player not from one of these two clubs won the award was N’Golo Kante for Chelsea in 2016-17.

Salah now has three more games to add more goals and assists to his record-breaking total and help add more points to Liverpool’s title-winning tally, beginning this Sunday at Anfield against Arsenal.