Liverpool's Jordan Henderson wins Footballer of the Year honors

On Friday, the Football Writers' Association announced that Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson won the organization's Footballer of the Year award.

Per the FWA, the 30-year-old midfielder beat out teammates Virgil Van Dijk and Sadio Mane, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford for the honor.

Liverpool clinched the Premier League title on June 25, roughly one month before the completion of the pandemic-altered campaign. The Reds were presented the top-flight trophy following Wednesday's thrilling 5-3 victory over Chelsea at Anfield.

Henderson told the FWA:

“I’d like to say how appreciative I am of the support of those who voted for me and the Football Writers’ Association in general. You only have to look at the past winners of it, a number of whom I’ve been blessed to play with here at Liverpool, like Stevie (Gerrard), Luis (Suarez) and Mo (Salah) to know how prestigious it is.

 “But as grateful as I am I don’t feel like I can accept this on my own. I don’t feel like anything I’ve achieved this season or in fact during my whole career has been done on my own. I owe a lot to so many different people – but none more so than my current teammates – who have just been incredible and deserve this every bit as much as I do.
 “We’ve only achieved what we’ve achieved because every single member of our squad has been brilliant. And not just in matches. Not just in producing the moments that make the headlines and the back pages but every day in training.

“The players who’ve started the most games for us this season have been as good as they have been because of our culture and our environment at Melwood. No one individual is responsible for that – it’s a collective effort and that’s how I view accepting this honour.

 “I accept it on behalf of this whole squad, because without them I’m not in a position to be receiving this honour. These lads have made me a better player – a better leader and a better person.
 “If anything I hope those who voted for me did so partly to recognise the entire team’s contribution.

 "Individual awards are nice and they are special and I will cherish this one. But an individual award without the collective achievement wouldn’t mean anywhere as much to me – if anything at all.”