The Football Supporters' Association (FSA) Awards 2025 celebrated the best in football, with The Independent's Miguel Delaney and Adam Clery of The Adam Clery Football Channel landing top prizes. The awards ceremony, held in central London on Monday evening, recognized contributions both on and off the pitch.
Miguel Delaney, Chief Football Writer for The Independent, was awarded the Writer of the Year award. Delaney has also launched a newsletter called Miguel Delaney: Inside Football, which provides fans with exclusive insights. He was nominated for sports journalist of the year at the British Journalism Awards and football journalist of the year at the Football Supporters' Association awards in 2019. In May 2025, Delaney's book States of Play was named Football Book of the Year at the British Sports Book Awards.
Adam Clery, who leads Independent Studio's The Adam Clery Football Channel, was recognized with the Social Media of the Year award. The YouTube channel has over 182,000 subscribers and offers weekly tactical analysis and insights on the Premier League. Clery also produces The Adam Clery Football Column, a weekly newsletter focusing on the "absurdities and oddities" of football.
In the player awards, Arsenal players dominated, with Declan Rice winning Men's Player of the Year and Alessia Russo taking home the Women's Player of the Year award. Rice is the first Arsenal player to win the award since Alexis Sanchez in 2015. Russo joins Beth Mead, Frida Maanum and Sari van Veenendaal as Arsenal players who have received the women's award.
Rice expressed his gratitude, stating, "It's a massive privilege to receive the FSA Player of the Year Award, seeing the players I'm up against". He acknowledged the supporters, adding, "To be recognised by the supporters, to vote for me to win, it's really, really special so I can't thank them enough". Russo also thanked the fans for their votes and reflected on the team's recent successes, including winning the Champions League and Euros.
Other notable winners at the FSA Awards 2025 included Lucy Ward (Pundit of the Year) and Peter Drury (Commentator of the Year). Hanworth Villa's Sam Merson won Goal of the Year for his stunning volley. The Athletic won Men's Football Media of the Year, while The Guardian secured a double in the podcast categories, with Football Weekly and Women's Football Weekly both taking home awards.
Tom Greatrex, chair of the FSA, emphasized the importance of the awards in recognizing contributions across all levels of football. "The FSA Awards also highlight work across the pyramid at supporters' groups, clubs, and in the media that might otherwise go unnoticed," Greatrex said. "There is so much good work going on out there and it's a fantastic achievement to win or even be shortlisted".
The FSA Awards, now in their 15th year, are the largest supporter-led awards in the country, with over 400,000 votes cast. The awards celebrate the best in football, recognizing players, media outlets, and fan initiatives.
