2025. It was a year of underdog trophies, new trophies, women’s football taking over the summer….and FIFA making apprehensible decisions in and around the US administration and the World Cup next year. In between, we’ve had some great moments within the game and now its time for us to award people for their efforts.

We opened up our Instagram Stories for our followers to send their picks for the People’s Choice of the following awards, but firstly we made our own picks of…

• Men’s Player of the Year

• Women’s Player of the Year

• Goal of the Year

• Game of the Year

• Football Shirt of the Year

• Football Boot of the Year

• Football Content of the Year

• Football Content Creator of the Year

• Social Activism and Community Award

• Story of the Year

FrontPost Picks.

Men’s Player of the Year: Ousmane Dembele.

The obvious choice.

What a comeback story. Admittedly, the start of the 2025/26 season has been slowed down by injuries, but you couldn’t deny the run of games he went on this year and the performances he delivered. Impressive at Anfield and the Emirates, one of the best UCL final performances without a goal. You had the typical dribbling masterclasses we’ve known him to be capable of but the new level of physical output and endurance, summed up by that one photo of him ready to initiate the press. It’s maybe the first time in a while we’ve seen a star player not play like a luxury player.

Women’s Player of the Year: Alessia Russo.

Ohh..were you expecting someone else?

It’s no coincidence that her best football to date has lined up with success for club and country. A complete striker willing to drop deep but with the instincts in the box. Joint top scorer in the Barclays WSL, 7 goals in the Champions League with big goals against Real Madrid and Lyon on the way to winning the second European title for Arsenal. 2 goals in the Euros might not look amazing but considering one was the biggest goal for England in the final to get them to penalties… let it slide this time.

Goal of the Year: Scott McTominay vs Denmark.

Outrageous.

Let’s put aside that this is a physical feat that not many can pull off successfully, especially at the height that he reached in the air and to hang up that long in order to connect with the ball…. The confidence to even try something like that 3 mins into a win-or-bust game to go to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years is insane. A stunning goal both in beauty and importance.

A quick one too, how’d he not get nominated for BBC SPOTY 2025?…..

Game of the Year: Manchester United vs Lyon (2nd leg).

Typical United but dialled up to 11.

The Maguire header in the 121st minute felt like a phoenix rising from the ashes, such a feeling that makes you forget that it was the ashes of their own destruction. It was looking towards being a comfortable game for the home side at half time, yet most people knew not to feel any comfort knowing how much United have thrown away in 2025. The routine implosion after the hour mark brought the game into extra time, even with the visitors a man down it looked like United were short of everything. Until something just clicked. Magic? Chaos? Who knows? No one at the Theatre of Dreams cared that night.

Football Shirt of the Year: Adidas Germany Home.

Bittersweet.

When we heard the news that from 2027 the German national teams will be wearing Nike, we were shellshocked. This was like a famous couple that you could never see splitting up: Barack and Michelle, Tom and Zendaya, Toni Kroos and his 11pros. But it is sadly true. The softening comfort is that, with this tribute to their best times, adidas are set to leave on a high (shirt-wise that is, this shirt better go far in the tournament next summer).

Football Boot of the Year: Skechers SKX 2.

A lesson in how product changes perception.

To say that Skechers had to fight an almighty uphill battle to break through its public perception to break into football back in 2023 was a wild understatement. The original SKX, whilst solid for a first attempt, was too similar to a previous Nike model to make us believe it could break barriers, even with Harry Kane on side. The biggest compliment we can give to the SKX 2 released this summer is that it made us believe, solely through the product. More unique to Skechers with their signature technologies in the sockliner and insole optimised for comfort, an upper massively upgraded. Its the boot this year that captured our attention the most; room to improve but the stigma is lifting on Skechers.

Football Content of the Year: HMRC of Football Podcasts.

The obvious choice.

“Come to the stage, come to the stage, front and centre……roll the tapes!” It’s the unique audible hook on top of the storytelling on top of the genius of the concept. Karel Prince has been telling football stories for a while, with his player articles catching our eye first, but the concept of calling out ex players in the media for twisting stories, misinforming the masses or straight up lying on podcasts in hindsight is an incredible niche to find. Put on top the theme of a tax audit to make it somehow even more relatable and you’ve now got a well known series of content crossing over big media and even other sports.

Football Content Creator of the Year: James Lawrence Allcott.

The voice of football on YouTube starting to become the face of football media.

Real ones know seeing James part of the original group of talent on a YouTube watch along show, so to see the breakout of his work through continued work on YouTube along with his incredibly detailed JLA FC Substack and the conversations on his podcast The Ripple Effect is amazing to see. It’s where it has led him to in 2025 that made us astounded. First, the work done alongside the BBC (with his own production too) to give growing influencers an opportunity to work on the BBC through his show Last Pundit Standing, followed by hosting a daily show on DAZN surrounding the FIFA Club World Cup with established pundits, journalists and other talented football content creators. An entertaining personality with an eye for tactical nous and wit in his humour….honeslty wouldn’t have been surprised if he was in the running for the MOTD gig.

Social Activism and Community Award: Will Vaulks.

Tremendous work alongside his club becoming more recognised.

Content warning: Suicide

Oxford United’s Will Vaulks has grown to be open to talk about the suicide of both of his granddads at a young age, and it has led to him working alongside his club for their “Can We Talk?” campaign centred around having conversations around mental health. Will has helped lead workshops around the topic with Oxford United supporters and planning to bring these conversations into schools in the community. His work, which started last year, was recently recognised by FIFPRO with the Player Voice Award this year. Amazing work from Will this year to help the community around Oxford to speak on mental health and to help prevent deaths by suicide.

Story of the Year: Palestine and DR Congo.

Providing hope through the escape of football.

The troubling conflicts on both of these countries has been publicly aired over media all year, the increasing death tolls and lack of justice towards the people broke our hearts to see. What warmed our hearts was seeing that it didn’t break the spirits of the Congolese and Palestinian people. After just missing out on the final round of AFC qualification for the World Cup, the national team of Palestine went on to make their first football appearance in Europe through two friendlies organised against the Basque Country and Catalonia, two regions in Spain that can relate to the struggles of independence that Palestine face. Their year was capped off by qualifying out of the group stage of the FIFA Arab Cup in December before losing to Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals. DR Congo’s impressive qualifiers rewarded them with a playoff final in March after beating Cameroon and Nigeria in the CAF playoffs, they’ll be looking to further impress in AFCON now.

People’s Choice.

Men’s Player of the Year: Ousmane Dembele.

With 30% of the votes, Ousmane Dembele won the people’s choice, matching our choice. A popular option which seemed obvious to most. Other mentions went out to Raphinha for his terrific year, Vitinha for his part in trophies for PSG and Portugal, the likes of Pedri, Cole Palmer and Harry Kane nominated too.

Women’s Player of the Year: Chloe Kelly.

With a leading majority of 30%, you have picked Chloe Kelly as the Women’s Player of the Year. A return to Arsenal this January was a move she said made her feel happy again. A feeling that she repaid in her performances leading to their Champions League win. That was before she became Clutch Kelly this summer at the Euros, a constant game changer off the bench against Sweden, Italy and Spain. Russo, Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey were the joint next closest.

Goal of the Year: Declan Rice vs Real Madrid (2nd).

Declan RIce’s stunning second free kick against Real Madrid wins this one, with 38% of the votes. We were already in shock after the first one but yeah we can all agree the second one’s even better.

Game of the Year: Inter Milan vs Barcelona (2nd leg).

A banger of a semi final in the Champions League this year, Inter and Barca put on a show and it clearly lived in the memories of the fans, with it winning the Game of the Year. 38% of our followers picked the second leg at the San Siro, however 23% did pick the first leg in Barcelona.

Football Shirt of the Year: Arsenal 3rd 2025/26.

The white and burgundy number with a smart collar, the Cannon emblem and the adidas Trefoil. It’s a winning combination, one that won the eyes of the public and our followers…just. 23% of the vote, with the PSG x Jordan “Wings” 4th kit second at 15% of the votes. Honourable mentions go to the Mexico Home kit for next summer, Monaco’s blue away kit this season, Estoril’s 4th kit inspired by F1’s Ayrton Senna, Roma’s third kit last season and Manchester United’s Cantona inspired third kit this year.

Football Boot of the Year: Asics DS Light X Fly Pro 3.

Bit of a mouthful and also difficult to find outside of the Asian market. Yet to our followers, most of whom reside in the Western side of the world, this was the best product launched this year. The previous model did include natural leather but, as trending, the X Fly Pro 3 switches to a synthetic leather called Silkywrap. Simply put, it’s the best in class currently out of all synthetic leather boots, until we can get a hands on with the upcoming Tiempo. Comfort is top class here, but it’s got speed boot characteristics too, so can appeal to all kinds of players. It actually tied in our votes with the Skechers SKX 2, both having 27% of the votes, but out of fairness we decided to edge it towards the Asics boots so that the people get to know. How did we find out about it? A perfect segue into….

Football Content of the Year: The Football Boot Hour.

Our followers picked The Football Boot Hour podcast, a weekly YouTube podcast on the latest releases and discussions on brands and models, as their favourite football content this year. Continued efforts over the past year has led to some big appearances from fellow boot influencers and brands such as Sokito, Unozero and Eleven Football. 40% of the votes going towards the pod hosted by Andrew (@lockhartbootblog on IG) and James (@bootwizardbootreviews).

Football Content Creator of the Year: Boot Wizard.

James (@bootwizardbootreviews) has also picked up the football content creator of the year award with 33% of the votes. Aside from the podcast, he has also reviewed almost every major release this year in detail for his audience. This includes the popular brands but he will also give smaller emerging brands, such as TLSS a Chinese brand, an opportunity on the same platform. Honourable mentions go out to Josh (@j8ghost) a freestyle/skills content creator, Mr HMRC Karel Prince and Arsenal content creator ShayGunner.

Social Activism and Community Award.

With the Social Activism and Community Award, there were no clear favourites, so we will mention all the nominations given to us.

• PSG continued their Breast Cancer Awareness campaign ahead of their home match against Strasbourg with the Pink Ribbon on the shirt.

• Bohemians and their efforts towards social issues in Ireland and beyond, notably their support for Palestine.

• Mayowa Quadri and his work on VERSUS as well as supporting Black In Sport and BCOMS (Black Collective of Media in Sport).

• Maymi Asgari who continues to post freestyle content and positivity towards being a Muslim woman wearing the hijab and playing football.

• Nottingham Forest supporting Himmah’s Salaam Shalom Kitchen, a local food bank, for the community over Christmas.

Story of the Year.

With the votes all tied, we will again share all the responses we got.

• The Washington Men’s Soccer team winning the NCAA National Championship.

• Miguel Barbosa, a young Portuguese player who lost his leg in an accident in February, returning to play amputee football and increasing awareness and support for amputee football in Portugal.

• Edna Imade, a women of Nigerian and Moroccan descent, who emigrated to Spain for a better life. She is now a star striker at Real Sociedad and recently made her debut for the Spanish national team.

• Alexander Isak, the Swedish striker of Eritrean origin, becoming the most expensive Premier League signing of all time after joining Liverpool from Newcastle United.

• Mahdi Nicolll-Jazuli, a 15 year old Chelsea academy player, who made his debut in the UEFA Youth League and has trained with the senior team this year.

Final message from us.

If you have managed to get to this point, I just want to say thank you so much for the support in beginning FrontPost this year. Every single bit of support is massively appreciated. We hope for a bigger and better year in 2026 so look out for us.

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But what did we miss this week?

Should We Be Surprised?: Ronaldo avoids World Cup ban.

I think most of us saw this one coming.

After his red card against the Republic of Ireland in last month’s European Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, many were quick to point out that the typical punishment handed out for violent conduct offences, such as his elbow on Dara O’Shea) would be a three-match ban in official competitions, including qualifiers. He had already served one of those when Portugal beat Armenia 9-1 without him, but there are now no competitive games until the World Cup, so no CR7 for the first two group stage games.

So we thought. FIFA decided to hand out a probationary 1 year suspension for his last two games on the ban, required that he does not repeat such actions again according to Article 27 of FIFA’s disciplinary code. So Ronaldo will be ready from the off in the States. Very controversial? Yes. Surprising? Absolutely not.

Think we all know who stepped in and made boss calls on this one.

The Best Remake This Year?: Predator Mania Gunmetal Remake.

This has been anticipated for a while, but adidas finally delivered.

On Wednesday (26/11), we got quite possibly the best remake of the year from adidas: The Gunmetal Mania.

The original colour way was famously worn by David Beckham on arrival to Real Madrid, the new Galactico with the boots to match. It was seen on many more Predator players such as Steven Gerrard and Alessandro Del Piero in 2003. It was rare and it stood out on pitches back then, making it many people’s holy grail boot.

As with all Made In Germany remakes, the boots are handcrafted with a fine calf leather in their Scheinfeld factory, with the current model soleplate being used underneath.

But that is not the current model soleplate. The Gunmetal remake gives us an exclusive look at the new generation soleplate for the Predator 26, set to be unveiled…. now, whilst writing this up.

Shocking Abuse: Incident between Stiller and Edvardsen.

Incidents like this in the game are ugly and need to be called out so it doesn’t happen again.

On Thursday, a Europa League match between Go Ahead Eagles and Stuttgart became big news for all the wrong reasons. Victor Edvardsen, a forward for the home team, had come on as a late substitute. In the midst of a previous incident, he made a gesture towards Angelo Stiller, Stuttgart’s star midfielder, in relation to his appearance. This sparked further tensions as Stiller’s teammates defended him.

The insult was targeted at his nose, which is a birth defect, and his cleft lip. It was promptly called out on Dutch TV by former player Wesley Sneijder as “bullying”. The Swede has since apologised on social media and was fined by his club.

The notion of a footballer being attacked for a deformity that they were born with is absolutely disgraceful, even worse coming from a fellow opponent. The reactions from social media have overwhelmingly backed Stiller with support and condemnation of Edvardsen. Here’s hoping we don’t see an incident like this on the pitch or from the stands again.

Against All Odds: Neymar stars despite meniscus injury.

We can question a lot of Neymar, especially in recent years, but we cannot the love and the fight that he has for Santos.

The Brazilian maverick has gone through a tough time since leaving PSG. An ACL and meniscus tear that ended his debut season and ultimately his career at Al Hilal along with the national team seemingly moving on from him. The Santos return was meant to be a move for love, the opposite of the Al Hilal move, yet it seems to have gotten worse for him and for Santos.

Frequent injuries have ruined his momentum and he hasn’t delivered much when fit, leaving Santos having just come back from the Serie B facing a return to second division football. With three games to go, another injury was reported on Neymar; a meniscus tear in the knee he previously injured, which looked to end his season and require surgery.

So it was surprising to see the Santos 10 step onto the pitch to lead his team out on Saturday against Sport Recife, clearly ignoring the required advice. Yet to those in the stands, it may have been the best performance they’ve seen from him since he came back. An early goal and an assist for Joao Schmidt secured a 3-0 win that brings Santos 4 points clear of the drop zone, with 2 games left. Having played 90 mins, he was subbed off in added time to a well deserved standing ovation. The Prince of Brazil may still have something left to save Santos.

Conference Champs: Inter Miami vs Vancouver Whitecaps for the MLS Cup.

The final is set for this Saturday. Messi vs Muller.

The Eastern and Western Conference Finals took place over the weekend in order to determine who faces each other for the big one, the MLS Cup. The favourites Inter Miami, making light work of Cincinnati in the semis, took on New York City FC in the East. The Vancouver Whitecaps meanwhile took on San Diego, in their inaugural season debut, in the West.

Out of the 4 teams, it was NYC who had ever been here before, but it seemed as if nothing was going to stop the tidal wave of Messi and co, despite conceding their first goal since the second leg of first playoff round. Tadeo Allende with a hat trick and Messi picking up his 405th assist, the most in history by a single player, to Silvetti and Segovia also on the scoresheet, giving Miami a 5-1 win.

Brian White was the key player for the Whitecaps as they beat San Diego FC 3-1. An early goal from White was followed by an own goal from SD keeper Pablo Sisniega before White scored again in first half added time. Star player Hirving Lozano scored in the second half to give some hope but it wasn’t enough, by the time Sisniega got himself sent off it signalled a poor end to one of the best inaugural seasons.

So Messi vs Muller. The Herons of Miami have the tag as favourites and with home advantage due to having more points in the regular season. But the star of MLS doesn’t exactly have the best track record against sides that contain Thomas Muller in them…..all eyes on this final then.

Argentine Crisis: The new trophy that has caused outrage.

The controversy that has increased pressures on the AFA to make changes at the top.

The story of Angel Di Maria being the favourite son of Rosario, who went from Central to conquer the world of football, and return to his home to bring them their first league title in 38 years should be an incredible one to share. The reason it isn’t is because up until a few days ago, this league title didn’t exist.

In order to get this to make sense, we have to try and explain how top flight football works in Argentina. The league this year consists of 30 teams, who are split into 2 zones. The teams play each other once in their zones, then play 2 “inter-zonal” teams, one based on derby rivalry and one picked from a draw. The top 8 teams then go into a knockout tournament. Simple…..oh and this happens twice in a year. The opening tournament runs from January to mid-June, before the closing tournament runs from July and December.

So two tournaments, two champions of this tournament, yet Rosario are neither of those. So why were they lifting a trophy? The Argentinian Football Association (AFA) introduced the ‘Champions of the League’ trophy, for the team who achieved the most points across both tournaments this year (think similar to MLS Supporter’s Shield).

Last Sunday (23/11) saw a protest from opponents Estudiantes to give Rosario a guard of honour, instead turning their backs on opponents. The fallout of the incident this week has seen club president Juan Sebastian Veron (yes that one) banned for six months for leading the plan of protest with multiple players suspended for a minimum of 2 games.

It has only added further pressure on AFA president Claudio Tapia whose changes to the league, including the increase to 30 teams and changing relegation rules, have not been received positively.

Hale End History: Arsenal young stars in UEFA Youth League

On a more postive conclusion to the roundup, we end with youth, excellence and history being made.

First of all, we are just going to get the obvious statement out there first from this game: Max Dowman is head and shoulders above his age mates. The 15 year old must be continuing to look towards more Premier League minutes but is biding his time playing U19 level, in the UEFA Youth League against Bayern Munich, despite being the youngest ever Champions League player.

Now we just have to show you the goal below, because words do no justice:

However, it’s not just Dowman making moves and history. Enter Luis Munoz, who came off the bench to become the youngest ever UEFA Youth League player. How old is he? 13 years old. For context, he wasn’t born to see Cesc Fabregas play for Arsenal.

A 4-2 win over Bayern’s U19s, however they were already eliminated from the UEFA Youth League due to 4 previous defeats so far.

Anything we may have missed?

Honourable mentions go out to the Lionesses returning to Wembley for the first time since becoming European champions again and beating China 8-0, England wearing special warm up shirts in that game to confirm that the UK and Ireland’s bid to host the Women's World Cup in 2035, Skechers releasing a stunning limited edition Chrome colour of the SKX 2, Monaco beating PSG in Paul Pogba’s first home game, the Ajax game getting called off after flares and fireworks going off straight from kickoff, and Robin van Persie giving his son Shaqueel his senior debut for Feyenoord at the age of 19. Damn, we are getting old….

Anything else we’ve missed? Leave a comment and let us know.

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But what did you not hear about from this week?

Stateside Bound: Curacao qualify.

The World Cup qualifying has had a quite scintillating finish this November, with the fates of teams being decided in one game. Ultimately, it seemed that Curacao had done all the hard work beforehand.

The Blue Family had an unbeaten qualifying phase, winning 7 of the 10 games they played. The squad was still not favourites to succeed even with the increased spots in this 48-team World Cup and the benefit of having the US, Canada and Mexico having their spots secured as hosts. Many would have thought the next best would have been Steve McClaren’s Jamaica. Instead, it was Dick Advocaat making history, with a 0-0 draw against the Reggae Boyz being enough.

Setback at Stamford Bridge: Chelsea vs Barca.

You know in recent years, in the men’s game, there was a growing sense of ‘when, not if’ in the Champions League draws. Would it be the groups, round of 16 or quarters that Manchester City face Real Madrid? Well we’re starting to see the female equivalent of that. This time (for now at least), Chelsea and Barca do battle in the Women’s Champions League league phase.

Since they first met in the 2021 final, they have faced each other in the semi finals in the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons. The sole victory for the London side being in last season’s first leg in Barcelona, only to see the aggregate score turned around at Stamford Bridge.

But there have been changes in both sides since then, more positive for Chelsea, more negative for Barca.

An early goal from summer signing Ellie Carpenter with a devastating run though the right hand side followed by an inch perfect finish. At the front post……..

It only took less than 10 mins for Barca to get back into the game through Ewa Pajor, but it seemed throughout the rest of the game, Barca had nothing else left to offer in front of goal. Chelsea meanwhile would have been scratching their heads wondering how they missed some of the opportunities they had to win it. Both teams unbeaten, comfortably safe from elimination, now we see when they play each other next.

2005 Clasico Modernised: New Barca 4th kit.

Honouring a moment through a shirt would normally be done by dropping a remake of the original, but Barca and Nike switched things up here.

On Wednesday (19/11), Nike and FC Barcelona unveiled their special edition 4th kit, inspired by the 2005 El Clasico. Yes, the game where Ronaldinho scored that goal and got the standing ovation. The kit being both a reimagined version of the 05/06 T90 Barca home kit worn that year and a representation of the artist that was R10.

There is a big issue with this release; the idea of the 4th kit that matches the home kit colours. When club essentially release two home shirts, both pricy, both having the same feel to it, but only one would get to have some memories attached to it on the pitch leaving the other being completely redundant.

Wasn't even worn this weekend in their Camp Nou homecoming against Athletic Club. We will have to wait for an official on pitch appearance.

Speaking of Ronaldinho….: The Nike Tiempo Legend V Remake.

What a week Nike have had by the way when it comes to celebrating Ronaldinho. First a shirt inspired by his magic on the pitch, then a boot inspired by his magic on the pitch.

In all fairness, just look at them. A work of art. Now that’s established, let’s go through the story of these.

In short, this is a remake of a boot released in 2015, which was inspired by a boot released in 2005.

The full version? In 2015, Nike released the Tiempo Legend V ‘Touch of Gold’, which featured a super soft kangaroo leather, folder tongue and was limited to 3,000 pairs. It’s inspiration; The Air Tiempo Legend in 2005, made famous by that YouTube video.

You know which one we’re talking about.

But there is a twist here. For those unaware, Nike chose to stop using leather on their football boots from 2023 onwards, with the Tiempo Legend 10 being the first to only come in a synthetic upper. Nike have chosen to keep with the times in this case, and this remake also uses a synthetic leather upper.

This has also come about around the time we’ve started seeing Nike players move into what looks to be the next version of the Nike Tiempo. If it invokes anything Ronaldinho-esque, we are in for a treat. Get ready for 12th December to buy these.

The Brazilian General: Fernandinho announces retirement.

I’ll start this with a question; is Fernandinho the Premier League’s greatest ever Brazilian player. While you think of any answers, let’s go through his career.

His Manchester City stint is the most glamorous part of his career. 383 appearances in 9 seasons, with 26 goals and 13 trophies - yes thirteen. He made an immediate impact in the midfield under Manuel Pellegrini in the 2013/14 season, but grew into a much better player under Guardiola. He spent his last two seasons as both a rotation option for midfield or central defence and the club captain.

He returned to his boyhood club, Athletic Paranaense, who he started his career with in 2002 before he broke out in Europe at Shakhtar Donetsk. His deal ended December of last year so, after a year as a free agent, he announced his decision to retire at the age of 40. What a stunning player of steel and skill.

Vancouver History: Whitecaps make their first Western Conference final.

The Vancouver Whitecaps have made club history in one of the all-time MLS playoff matches.

In front of a record crowd attendance, BC Place were treated to a rollercoaster of a game. It started off incredibly positive for the home side, going route one from goalkeeper to goal scorer Sabbi for the first goal then Laborda finishing from a set piece to make it two before half-time.

LAFC weren’t in it until an hour into the game. Until Son Heung-Min locked in. A scrappy first finish gave his side hope, and if the first goal was ugly then the second was sublime. A 95th min free kick over the wall and arrowing into the top corner. Extra time for LAFC thanks to their star man.

Already a man down in normal time, the Whitecaps lost another through injury with no more subs left and were holding on until penalties. For LAFC, the nightmare scenario became worse after Son and Mark Delgado missing penalties for the Black and Gold, which was enough for the Whitecaps to win on penalties despite missing one themselves.

The Canadian side will now face inaugural side San Diego FC for a chance to win the West and go on to battle for the MLS Cup.

Elite Standards of Style and Skill: The first Footballer Fits Gala.

You will find it very difficult to find as much style in a room full of people in football than at a gala that celebrates the connection between fashion and football.

Footballer Fits is the key platform of promoting and supporting footballers, clubs and brands with the vision of making the link between football and fashion a positive one. Founded by Jordan Clarke, the page across social media hits millions of views and gets massive engagement from some of the best and most stylish ballers in the game.

Last Friday saw their inaugural Awards Gala, bringing some of the best footballers and creatives within the football fashion niche to celebrate some of their achievements. With sponsors such as Classic Football Shirts and Nando’s at hand, the brand and their special night was clearly recognised for their importance in the scene.

Awards winners went out to several players such as Nottingham Forest’s Ola Aina winning the Men’s Personality of the Year and Melvine Malard of Manchester United as the Women’s Personality of the Year. Both were recognised for inspiring others to be authentic even on social media, with Malard being the leader of TikTok content for both club and country and Aina bringing Snapchat back to the fold of football content alongside iconic podcast appearances.

Creatives such as Geoffrey Owusu with his sport inspired clothing brand Avere Forza and content around fashion in football, and Tiannah Pedler with her daily output of engaging content on fashion as well as other cultural niches in football, were also honoured at the gala.

It’s amazing to see some of the best content creators and footballer in a room together celebrating the growing niche of fashion and social media in the sport. Shout out to Jordan and I cannot wait to see what next year brings and what the dress code will be (if I am ever invited, please have your Worst Dressed award ready….).

Anything we may have missed?

Honourable mentions go out to Iraq becoming Asia’s representative at the inter-continental playoffs happening in March after beating the UAE, Freya Godfrey getting her first Lionesses call up after a brilliant string of performances for London City Lionesses, and the Serie A continuing their support for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women with all players wearing a mark of red paint on their cheek for awareness of domestic abuse and some wearing the names of women they love on the back of their shirts.

Any other stories? Let us know in the comments.

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Based on the difference in levels between the reporting of these two stories, you may have been completely surprised in realising the fallout from the England game vs Albania was within the same week that, arguably, the most popular footballer in the world was within a room full of the most influential (which arguably makes them the most dangerous) public figures in the world.

I’ve personally been struggling with how to approach the subject on either of these two stories. Not because I feel indifferent to either situation, nor did I feel it was the right thing to shy away from such topics.

I struggled with this because I almost felt I was about to preach to the choir. The view around social media, through amazing pieces of work from the likes of Ahmed Shooble and Mayowa Quadri at VERSUS, has shown that there is a clear understanding from the media attacks on Jude Bellingham that there is, whether consciously or not, a negative bias towards Black footballers that dare to speak up.

This was either furthered or stemmed from the words of Ian Wright who, on The Overlap this week, highlighted to his white peers on the show what the media bias looked like.

“It’s something that you’re taught as a Black man when you’re going out there, you just want to do the best you can and keep your head down and be, for want of a better word, a humble f—— slave.” Ian Wright

In that moment, you saw a group of leading figures in football have a honest and candid conversation; with Gary Neville making his own admission of giving Raheem Sterling, in his time as England coach, an “inadequate answer” to Sterling’s concerns over media scrutiny. The readers, listeners and most football fans on social media supported this.

So….where does Cristiano Ronaldo and his White House appearance come into this?

For those unaware, the Portugal captain was invited to the White House by the 45th and 47th President of the United States Donald Trump. Ronaldo hasn’t been one to openly share his political views but recently shared some admiration on Trump.

It is important to note that this is Cristiano’s first visit to the United States in over a decade, his absence linked to a case of sexual assault from 2009. The case was dropped in 2023.

This was linked to talks over a series of deals between the US and Saudi Arabia, headed by President Trump and Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman. He, amongst other things, is the chair of the Public Investment Fund, the wealth fund that owns multiple assets in Saudi Arabia including majority ownership of four Saudi Pro League clubs.

Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, and….Cristiano’s Al-Nassr.

So to make sure everyone gets this, a professional footballer was in a room full of tech bosses, government officials and was in between his “boss” and the most powerful man in the world (and FIFA President Gianni Infantino…). A room that he had absolutely no right in being in.

And yet…the noise was on a reaction to a substitution in Tirana?

It’s traditional media. Of course it is….

Let’s take the Daily Mail as the example. Much has already been said by others of senior reporter Craig Hope’s growingly weird obsession with Bellingham. It may not shock you to know that the reporter has posted 29 posts on X about the England midfielder in a negative light since July 2024. It might not shock that he wrote an op-ed on Jude’s inclusion in the final World Cup squad the same Sunday night of the game… and then another piece around the same discussion the day after.

But within the same news organisation, not one reporter has bothered to write an op-ed on how they felt about an insanely influential man in CR7 being inserted into US-Saudi talks.

This is where I found the right conversation to have. We shouldn’t be asking questions from the subject of the likes of Jude or Cristiano. It’s an approach that has failed to address the real issue when the questions have been framed the same way for decades;

“Should we protect x from further abuse?”

“We need to listen to x about their concerns.”

“Is x in the wrong in this situation?”

You could fit in as many players as you can into “x”; Jude, Cristiano, Rooney, Wright, Sterling, Rashford, Saka, Beckham all those years ago.

It’s time we changed the subject. The question I have stuck in my mind right now?

Where are the sports journalists with a backbone?

How did we get through the week and not see one reputable sports journalist in this country put their backs on the line to speak freely about how they really felt seeing the Jude Bellingham onslaught. Why does every conversation on racial bias and media coverage in our newspapers and programmes default to “Here’s what Ian Wright had to say on the matter”?

How has no one spoke about the shock and disappointment in seeing the boy from Madeira, born out of fire and poverty, find himself relating more to the CEOs of major corporations and companies than to the billions of people around the world who lace up their Mercurials and hit the signature celebration time after time?

Are they non-existent? Or are they silenced?

It seems that the journalists who do get to put their pieces are keen on continuing to stick the knife into the guts of anyone in football who is hell bent on not wanting to keep things status quo.

2025 has seen the likes of Gary Lineker and Gary Neville being shut down for their political views, Villa fans being smeared over tensions relating to the genocide in Gaza, Djed Spence vilified over his Muslim faith….for crying out loud, they were telling an 18 year old phenom to put his phone down and dribble.

I have never felt the vast difference in opinion between the average fan and traditional media more than I have in 2025, but I have always felt the difference somehow. We need to shift the validation of journalists and media voices of the likes of Craig Hope, Simon Jordan and Samuel Lockhurst (a Manchester United reporter who you’d struggle to convince others that he is a United fan…) that seem set on tearing down whoever does not tow the line.

But we know these names and their channels and they are validated. It’s time we put a stop to that and start to champion more journalists and writers like Ahmed Shooble and Mayowa Quadri at VERSUS. And get them along with others in the modern space to take over the traditional.

Because traditional doesn’t work for the football fan anymore.

Thoughts on this article? If you’ve reached this point, drop a comment of your favourite journalists in the game.

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