The 2025 PFA Awards delivered historic milestones, standout individual honors, and heavily debated Team of the Year selections, with Mohamed Salah becoming the first ever three-time PFA Player of the Year and Arsenal’s Mariona Caldentey recognized at the top of the women’s game according to multiple reports and the ceremony coverage timeline. The annual event, voted on by fellow professionals, celebrated the best of English football across the Premier League, Women’s Super League, and the EFL, with additional recognition for young talents and a special merit award acknowledging broader contributions to the sport.
Below is a comprehensive guide to the PFA Awards 2025: the full list of major winners, the Premier League Team of the Year and key league teams, how the voting works, ceremony details, recurring fan questions (including YouTube viewing and nominees), and why this year’s results matter in historical context.
Headline Takeaways
Mohamed Salah won the PFA Men’s Player of the Year and became the first player in history to claim the award three times, following wins in 2018 and 2022. Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers was named Men’s Young Player of the Year, the club’s first recipient since James Milner in 2010. Reports and coverage circulating after the event list Mariona Caldentey as the PFA Women’s Player of the Year following her outstanding season and European triumph with Arsenal.
The PFA Premier League Team of the Year featured heavy representation from champions Liverpool and runners-up Arsenal, with Liverpool’s Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, and Alexis Mac Allister among those included. Sir Gareth Southgate received the PFA Merit Award for his contributions to English football.
PFA Men’s Player of the Year: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Salah’s 2024–25 season 29 Premier League goals and 18 assists produced a clean sweep of top domestic accolades and drove Liverpool to the league title, culminating in the unprecedented third PFA Player of the Year award of his career. The award, voted on by professional players, acknowledged Salah’s all-around dominance, including topping both goal and assist charts, and his leadership in a title campaign that finished 10 points clear of second-place Arsenal according to contemporaneous reporting. He beat a six-man shortlist including Alexis Mac Allister, Cole Palmer, Bruno Fernandes, Declan Rice, and Alexander Isak.
The Big Winners
PFA Women’s Player of the Year: Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal) Post-ceremony lists from soccer outlets identified Mariona Caldentey as the 2025 PFA Women’s Player of the Year after a season that included European silverware with Arsenal. Coverage of the overall awards night highlighted that Caldentey’s individual recognition capped a campaign where her contributions were decisive at the continental level, enhancing her status among the elite in the WSL and Europe.
PFA Men’s Young Player of the Year: Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) Morgan Rogers’ breakout season at Aston Villa earned him the PFA Men’s Young Player of the Year honor, making him Villa’s first winner in the category since James Milner in 2010. Rogers prevailed over a talented field including Liam Delap, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri, Milos Kerkez, and Dean Huijsen.
PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year: Post-event roundups tracking the ceremony’s outcomes list Arsenal’s Olivia Smith among the award recipients at the 2025 event. These lists have circulated alongside the official team announcements and major award reporting, positioning Smith as one of the standout young performers in the women’s game.
PFA Merit Award: Sir Gareth Southgate The former England manager was recognized with the PFA Merit Award for his contributions and achievements with the national team, underlining a career of influence and leadership across the English game.
Shortlists and How Voting Works
The PFA awards are voted on by professional players across the Premier League and Football League, with shortlists compiled from those ballots and winners announced at a gala ceremony. For 2025, Salah emerged from a six-player men’s shortlist comprising Alexis Mac Allister, Cole Palmer, Bruno Fernandes, Declan Rice, and Alexander Isak. The peer-voted nature of the awards has long made the PFA trophies among the most respected in English football, often reflecting the players’ “inside view” of excellence in a given season.
PFA Premier League Team of the Year (2024–25)
The PFA Team of the Year was revealed at the ceremony, with a heavy presence from Liverpool and Arsenal, the top two in the league plus standout performers from Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth. Media coverage converged on the following XI:
Goalkeeper: Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
Defenders: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Milos Kerkez (recognition based on Bournemouth season), William Saliba (Arsenal), Gabriel Magalhães (Arsenal)
Midfielders: Declan Rice (Arsenal), Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool)
Forwards: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Alexander Isak (Newcastle), Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest)
Liverpool’s strong contingent reflected a title-winning campaign, with van Dijk, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, and Salah all honored, while Arsenal’s defensive backbone of Saliba and Gabriel plus midfield anchor Declan Rice were also recognized. Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels and Chris Wood underline the club’s standout season, joining the elite XI on merit, while Kerkez’s selection acknowledged his standout full-back season at Bournemouth before a subsequent move.
Teams of the Year Across the Leagues
The PFA reveals Teams of the Year across the pyramid, including the Women’s Super League and the EFL divisions. A consolidated rundown of Premier League and women’s selections appeared via sports outlets reporting after the ceremony, while dedicated PFA channels and club communications highlighted inclusions for their players. The full WSL XI and complete EFL XIs were announced at the event, with Liverpool- and Arsenal-heavy representation in the Premier League set mirrored on the women’s side by leading players from Manchester United and Arsenal in the reported lineups.
Ceremony Details: Date, Venue, and Broadcast Notes
The gala presentation took place on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, in Manchester, with coverage showing the awards and acceptance speeches as the PFA announced the winners and Teams of the Year. Post-event videos shared the ceremony moments, including Salah’s acceptance and category headlines, helping fans catch up on the key reveals and speeches if they missed the live announcements.
Why Salah’s Third PFA Player of the Year Is Historic
Salah is the first player to win the PFA Player of the Year three times, surpassing the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Mark Hughes, and Gareth Bale, who each won twice. That milestone is especially notable as it coincides with a season in which Salah led the league in both goals and assists and secured the Premier League title in the same campaign, reinforcing the scope and completeness of his impact.
Arsenal’s European Success Highlighted by Caldentey’s Recognition
Mariona Caldentey’s player-of-the-year recognition came in the wake of a landmark European run by Arsenal, with her influence central to the team’s achievement across the continental stage and domestically. Her award underscores the WSL’s increasing depth of talent and Arsenal’s role in pushing English clubs deeper into European competitions in recent seasons.
How the PFA Voting Process Shapes the Awards
The PFA awards stand apart because they are determined by players’ votes, impacting both who makes the shortlists and who ultimately wins. This peer recognition often amplifies the value of the trophies among footballers and fans alike, with nominations and ballots reflecting on-pitch perceptions over punditry or statistical modeling alone.
Premier League Team of the Year: Debates and Talking Points
The 2025 XI has sparked discussion for its balance of title-winning excellence and breakout performers from outside the traditional top six.
Liverpool’s quartet: Salah, van Dijk, Gravenberch, and Mac Allister represent a spine that powered Arne Slot’s side to the title, validating their inclusion via both team success and individual output.
Arsenal’s core: Rice, Saliba, and Gabriel reflect the league’s best defensive unit by many projections, with Rice’s two-way midfield influence and Saliba-Gabriel’s partnership foundational to Arsenal’s push.
Nottingham Forest recognition: Goalkeeper Matz Sels and striker Chris Wood earning places spotlights Forest’s strong season contributions at both ends of the pitch, a theme recognized across multiple outlets’ Team of the Year reporting.
Milos Kerkez’s year: His selection acknowledges a high-impact season at Bournemouth prior to his subsequent move and underlines his emergence as one of the most dynamic full-backs of the campaign.
Women’s Recognition and WSL Focus
While the PFA’s flagship announcements emphasized the men’s Player of the Year and Premier League XI, post-event summaries and coverage have highlighted the women’s awards and teams, with Mariona Caldentey gaining the headline individual honor and club communications and outlets noting the WSL Team of the Year constituents. The women’s categories mirrored the men’s structure top player, young player, and team of the year signaling parity of recognition at the awards level.
EFL Spotlight: Recognition Beyond the Premier League
As in prior years, the PFA Awards extended beyond the top flight to honor standout performers in the Championship, League One, and League Two, alongside Teams of the Year in each division. Media coverage around the event disseminated the divisional XI lists and player honors, emphasizing the PFA’s remit across the entire professional pyramid and reinforcing that the awards reflect contributions at every tier of English football.
Historical Context: How 2025 Compares
The end of a City-centric streak: Salah’s win broke the recent sequence of Manchester City winners (Erling Haaland, Phil Foden) and underscored a broader distribution of star power in 2024–25.
Three-time club: Salah’s third PFA Player of the Year places him alone at the top, beyond two-time winners an elite cohort that previously defined the ceiling for the accolade.
Liverpool’s awards footprint: Since the 1974 inception of the PFA Player of the Year, Liverpool players have now secured the award 10 times according to reports summarizing historical winners, a marker of the club’s long-standing association with this honor.
Acceptance Speeches and Sentiments
Salah’s acceptance remarks, reflecting on his journey from Egypt to the pinnacle of English football, resonated with the night’s theme of perseverance and excellence recognized by peers. The ceremony’s focus on contribution and character captured too in the merit award for Southgate reinforced that the PFA accolades recognize not just performance metrics but also leadership and the broader cultural impact of footballing figures.
How to Watch and Follow Post-Ceremony
For those seeking the sights and sounds of the night, post-event uploads on YouTube provide full-ceremony coverage and highlights, including category winners and reaction segments tied to the August 19 Manchester gala. Fans looking for official team lists and club-specific highlights can also consult club channels and press communications that amplified their players’ inclusions following the reveal.
FAQs
What are the PFA Awards, and when did the 2025 ceremony take place?
The PFA Awards (Professional Footballers’ Association Awards) are an annual celebration honoring the best performers across English football divisions. Winners are selected by votes from PFA members. The 2025 ceremony was held on 19 August 2025 at the Manchester Opera House.
What is the PFA Young Player of the Year award?
The PFA Young Player of the Year is awarded to the best player under the age of 21 at the start of the season. Past winners include Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, and Cole Palmer. The award is often seen as a predictor of future superstars.
How are the winners of the PFA Awards decided?
Unlike many football awards decided by journalists or panels, the PFA Awards are voted for by professional footballers themselves. Players from across the English leagues vote for their peers, making it one of the most respected honors in football.
Where can fans watch the PFA Awards 2025?
The PFA Awards ceremony is usually broadcast on Sky Sports in the UK, with highlights available on the PFA’s official YouTube channel and social media platforms. Fans around the world can also follow live updates on Twitter (X), Instagram, and football news outlets.
In Summary
The PFA Awards 2025 promise to be one of the most exciting events in English football, celebrating the standout players from both the men’s and women’s game. With rising young stars competing alongside established legends, this year’s ceremony will reflect not only individual brilliance but also the ever-growing competitiveness of football in England. What makes the PFA Awards truly special is that they are voted for by fellow professionals, giving them a unique credibility and prestige.
As fans await the official nominees and winners, discussions continue to heat up around who deserves the top honors. Whether its PFA Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, or the Team of the Year, the 2025 edition will highlight the incredible talent shaping the future of football. For fans, it’s not just about the awards, it’s about celebrating the passion, skill, and dedication that define the beautiful game.
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