Jamaican football luminaries Leon Bailey and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw have been shortlisted for the prestigious CONCACAF Player of the Year Awards in the male and female categories, respectively.
Their impressive performances for both club and country during the 2023-24 campaign earned them this recognition.
The nominees for the Confederation Award were revealed on Tuesday, alongside the opening of fan voting. Players were shortlisted based on their performance statistics and insights from football experts. To be eligible, players must have competed for a CONCACAF Member Association’s senior national team in CONCACAF and FIFA competitions and must have played in a top division professional league in the CONCACAF region during the 2023-24 season.
Leon Bailey, 26, had an exceptional season with English Premier League (EPL) club Aston Villa. His contributions, including 10 goals and nine assists, helped Aston Villa secure a fourth-place finish in the league. Despite controversies surrounding his international appearances, Bailey’s club performance was sufficient to earn him a spot on the shortlist. Other nominees in the male category include Adalberto Carrasquilla of Panama and Houston Dynamo, Canada’s Jonathan David (Lille), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Mexico’s Santiago Gimenez (Feyenoord), and American Christian Pulisic (AC Milan).
Khadija Shaw’s remarkable achievements
Khadija Shaw, the Reggae Girlz and Manchester City striker, had an unforgettable 2023-24 season. She was named the Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) Player of the Season and the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Women’s Footballer of the Year. The 27-year-old scored 21 goals in just 18 appearances, despite her season being cut short due to a broken leg. Shaw made history as the first player to score three WSL hat-tricks in a calendar year and became Manchester City’s record goalscorer in March.
Shaw, who won the CONCACAF Player of the Year award in 2022, is a strong contender again this year. Her competitors for the female category include Charlyn Corral (Mexico, Pachuca Femenil), Melchie Dumornay (Haiti, Olympique Lyonnais), Adriana Leon (Canada, Aston Villa Women), Jacqueline Ovalle (Mexico, Tigres Femenil), and Sophia Smith (USA, Portland Thorns).
The winners will be determined through a voting process involving players, coaches, media, and fans. The total of 100 votes will include 41 votes from men’s national team head coaches, 41 votes from men’s national team captains, nine votes from media representatives, and nine fan votes from the CONCACAF website. The player with the most fan votes will receive four votes in the overall count, with the second and third places receiving three and two votes, respectively. The same process applies to the women’s award.
At the end of the voting period on August 2, the player with the highest number of votes in each category will be named the 2023-24 CONCACAF Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year.
