BRUNO FERNANDES, SHAW LEAD STAR-STUDDED WINNERS AT 2026 PFA AWARDS

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw emerged as the biggest individual winners at the 2026 Professional Footballers’ Association Awards, taking home the men’s and women’s Players’ Player of the Year prizes respectively. The awards ceremony was held at the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday.

Fernandes was recognised after an outstanding 2025/26 campaign in which he produced 21 Premier League assists. The Portuguese midfielder was voted the best player in the men’s category by his fellow professionals, beating a strong shortlist that included Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Declan Rice, David Raya and Gabriel Magalhães.

Shaw, meanwhile, claimed the women’s Players’ Player of the Year award after another impressive season with Manchester City. Her recognition underlined her influence in the women’s game and made her one of the major figures honoured during the ceremony.

Manchester City also celebrated the emergence of Nico O’Reilly, who was named the PFA Young Player of the Year. The 21-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough season, featuring in 53 matches across competitions and contributing directly to 15 goals while operating in both midfield and defence.

Arsenal’s Olivia Smith took the women’s Young Player of the Year award, while former Liverpool manager Sir Kenny Dalglish and former England international Karen Carney were honoured with PFA Merit Awards for their contributions to football.

Other PFA award winners:

Men’s Players’ Player of the Year: Bruno Fernandes — Manchester United

Women’s Players’ Player of the Year: Khadija “Bunny” Shaw — Manchester City

Men’s Young Player of the Year: Nico O’Reilly — Manchester City

Women’s Young Player of the Year: Olivia Smith — Arsenal

Championship Player of the Year: Hayden Hackney — Middlesbrough

League One Player of the Year: Dom Ballard — Leyton Orient

League Two Player of the Year: Aaron Drinan — Swindon Town

PFA Merit Awards: Sir Kenny Dalglish and Karen Carney OBE 

The PFA Awards carry particular significance because the winners are selected by fellow professional footballers, making the honours a recognition of outstanding performances from within the footballing community itself.