Is the Ballon d'Or still a popularity contest? Why can no WSL players win the award still? These are two questions alongside many others that were touted around on social media as a result of Barcelona's Alexia Putellas retaining her crown once more.
Despite missing significant time due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered on the eve of the 2022 European Championships, Putellas (164) edged out Arsenal's Beth Mead (163) by a single point.
Chelsea's Sam Kerr, just like in 2021, finished in the same position of third place with 111 points, 65 points better off this time round compared to the previous year.
Elsewhere, Lionesses star and the winner's new teammate Lucy Bronze and Kerr's Blues teammate Millie Bright finished in the top 20 whilst Mead's partner Vivianne Miedema narrowly finished outside of the top 10 at the expense of the former Man City defender.
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It's not difficult to see why all four current and past WSL players made the top 20. Bright and Bronze had strong campaigns not only under Sarina Wiegman during the European Championships success but also in the 2021/22 campaign with Chelsea and Man City respectively.
Meanwhile, Kerr's 56-goal contributions to Emma Hayes' Blues cause since moving from Chicago Red Stars back in the latter stages of 2019 coupled with her ever-impressive status and talent on the world stage explains her consecutive third-place finishes.
What was slightly surprising was to see Miedema finish outside of the top 10 this year. Ahead of Arsenal's trip to Lyon, the 26-year-old has attained an astonishing 120 goals in all competitions ahead of her 150th outing for the Gunners. On the other hand, her current girlfriend and fellow club teammate Mead was perhaps unlucky to not be the first ever FA WSL star to win the award since its inception back in 2018.
As well as becoming a Euro 2022 winner, a tournament which saw the former Sunderland forward pick up not only the Golden Boot award but also the Player of the Tournament prize, this all culminated in the 27-year-old being chosen as England's overall Player of the Year.
Additionally, having 33 goal contributions for Arsenal in 2022/21 is not a bad way to showcase your talent on the top stage. But there is a theme that should be a worry to the FA WSL- why were all the nominees with the exception of Bronze, from a London club?
As well as having significant monetary backing which has resulted in WSL domination alongside Man City in recent years, the scouting networks of these clubs have allowed such top-class talent to make the cut for the Ballon d'Or shortlists since 2018. Not just Miedema and Mead for Arsenal, but the signing of BK Hacken's Stina Blackstenius is already proving its fruits and could be one that in the long-term, leads to more Ballon d'Or success for the Gunners.
The same could be said with Chelsea and perhaps Lauren James could become a Ballon d'Or contender in the future with her trajectory only on the up. Thankfully, with Man United awakening coupled with the consistent threat of their local neighbours, there is potentially scope to see more diversity in nominations for the global awards in Women's Football from outside the English capital for the forthcoming future.
Maybe an Ella Toone, Alessia Russo, Mary Earps, Lauren Hemp or Chloe Kelly can join Ada Hegerberg, Megan Rapinoe and Alexia Putellas in the winner's hall of fame.
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