The Golden Boot and Playmaker Race is On!
With just over half of the WSL season gone, the Golden Boot, and the Playmaker award is still all to play for. The Golden Boot goes to the player who has scored the most goals in a season whereas, the Playmaker award goes to the player who has the most assists in one season.
Last year’s Golden Boot winner was Chelsea striker, Sam Kerr. She is the current back-to-back Golden Boot champion, winning the notorious award in both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 season with 20+ goals, both times round. Kerr sailed past other contenders last season, beating second place, Vivianne Miedema, by 6 goals. The two-time champion in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 season, fell short last year, scoring a total of 14 goals. However, it is not looking like Sam Kerr will win the Golden Boot 3 years in a row, as she only has 6 goals so far this season.
Currently sitting joint top is, Manchester City striker, Khadija Shaw. The Jamaican international, who finished 5th last year, sits at the top of the highest goal scorer sheet so far this season. This is alongside unlikely candidate, Rachel Daly. The England international signed for Aston Villa, after spending 7 seasons with from Houston Dash. She currently sits joint first with Khadija Shaw, who are both on 10 goals so far this season. Neither woman has won this award before, and they will both be searching to get their hands on this trophy at the end of the season.
The competition for the top assister in the WSL this season is very close, with there being only 4 assists in it between the top 8 players at the moment. Last season saw a 3-way tie between; Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Ella Toone who all got 8 assists each. However, with Mead and Miedema both out until the end of the season, it is looking likely that there won’t be a back-to-back winner this time around.
Chelsea midfielder, Guro Reiten, is currently sitting at top spot so far this season, with 9 assists, already beating last year’s record. Last year’s joint winner, Ela Toone, is in second place with 7 assists. The Manchester United midfielder is looking to win the award two years on the trot. However, there are 5 players closely behind with Dali and Battle on 6 assists and Hanson, Kelly, and Zelem on 5. It is looking like this award is going to go right down to the wire.
There is a lot to play for in the remainder of the WSL season and it will be exciting to see who will take home the awards this time around.