Ella Toone: Why I voted Man Utd star for FWA Women's Footballer of the Year
Manchester United’s Ella Toone got my vote for the 2021/22 FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year and I’d like to tell you why.
Chelsea forward Sam Kerr has topped the poll to scoop this season's FWA prize, which was first created for female players in 2017/18, 70 years after the male equivalent began.
For me personally, Toone has captured the imagination in a way that others haven’t over the last eight months, arguably because she has improved more than her peers during that time and achieved more, relative to initial expectations when the season began.
There was a lot at stake for Toone and Manchester United this season in what threatened to be a transitional year following the sudden departure of Casey Stoney in May and the lengthy wait to appoint Marc Skinner as a successor. They could so easily have fallen away, yet Toone’s incredible form has been a key reason why they have remained in the top three race.
The club bade farewell to five forwards last summer and only brought one in, leaving room for Toone to grow into a much more senior role, despite turning 22 the day before the opening game.
Her talent was already no secret. She had played a major role in 2018/19 when United were promoted from the Women’s Championship and went on to score the winner against Arsenal in November 2020 – the first time the club had beaten one of the WSL’s established big three in a league match. She had also already made her senior England debut in February 2021.
But it is the way that Toone has gone from being a good WSL player to now one of the best in the league over the course of the campaign that is most impressive and worthy of recognition. Still so young, her potential to get even better in the next few years is frightening.
‘Tooney’ – she only goes by Ella in training when she’s in trouble – has quickly become the face of Manchester United Women. Come summer, she could also be one of England’s superstars when Euro 2022 gets underway on home soil and the Lionesses are beamed into millions of homes, having already been a regular starter for new national team boss Sarina Wiegman all season.
She grew up idolising Cristiano Ronaldo and copying his tricks. But once United settled into a degree of rhythm a couple of months into the season, Toone found her home as the team’s creative spark in the ‘number 10’ role. She has the vision and ability to pick a key pass, particularly striking up an excellent understanding with teammate Alessia Russo, or is equally willing to make runs beyond the forwards herself, either through the middle or into wide channels.
Overall, she has been a joy to watch.
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More tangibly, what is has done is given Toone 14 goal involvements in 20 WSL appearances. Her eight assists is the leading mark in the league at this late stage of the season, ahead of any other player. It is outstanding form to be carrying into a major international tournament that could soon catapult her to a whole new level, both on and off the pitch.
Toone remains something of a diamond in the rough, but United boss Skinner likes that about her.
“She’s got loads of rough edges that I don’t want to file down too much because she has the quality and wonderful ability to make things happen,” he remarked after Toone’s 100th landmark appearance for the club, which came this season.
“We’re on a learning curve that she has to go through. I’m just happy as a coach that I get to experience that with her.”
United assistant coach Martin Ho also equally waxed lyrical recently about what it’s like to work with Toone and the journey she has been on.
“She’s influential and had a real quick rise. From when she came to the club in 2018, she’s moved on and progressed really nicely,” Ho said this month. “If someone is achieving 100 appearances in four seasons – she’s on 13 for the Lionesses with 10 goals – she’s a massive part of what we do.
“It’s down to her how far she wants to go,” he added.
“In the last two-and-a-half years I’ve worked with her, she’s [been] a breath of fresh air. She wants to listen, applies what you ask, does the important things off the pitch, [and] constantly tries to develop aspects of her game she knows need to be better.”
Sam Kerr might have been a more obvious choice for 2021/22 PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year, while Vivianne Miedema and Lauren Hemp completed the final top three. But when it comes to impact within a single club and a league-leading breakout year for a home-grown English player going into a major tournament on home soil, my obvious choice was Toone.
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