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Women's Ballon d'Or: Alexia Putellas wins award for being best female footballer in 2021

Last updated on .From the section Women's Footballcomments337

Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas won the Women's Ballon d'Or, awarded to the best female footballer in 2021.

Putellas, 27, scored as Barca beat Chelsea 4-0 to secure their first Champions League crown.

She ended the 2020-21 season as the highest-scoring midfielder in Europe with 26 goals in all competitions and was also named Uefa's Women's Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year.

Team-mate Jennifer Hermoso came second, with Chelsea striker Sam Kerr third.

Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema was fourth, while the Chelsea trio of Pernille Harder, Jessie Fleming and Fran Kirby were seventh, ninth and 10th respectively.

"I'm sure I won't be the last Barcelona player to win the prize. This is just the beginning," said Putellas, who was one of five Barca players nominated for the award.

Former England midfielder Karen Carney, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club, praised Putellas.

"She has been brilliant for Barcelona," said Carney.

"She has been phenomenal playing that attacking midfield role. She is so key to Barcelona - and she can get a goal or thread a pass."

Alexia Putellas
Alexia Putellas captained Barcelona to their first Champions League success as they beat Chelsea 4-0 in the final

Women's Ballon D'Or

  1. Alexia Putellas (Barcelona / Spain, midfielder)
  2. Jennifer Hermoso (Barcelona / Spain, forward)
  3. Sam Kerr (Chelsea / Australia, forward)
  4. Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal / Netherlands, forward)
  5. Lieke Martens (Barcelona / Netherlands, midfielder)
  6. Christine Sinclair (Portland Thorns / Canada, forward)
  7. Pernille Harder (Chelsea / Denmark, midfielder)
  8. Ashley Lawrence (Paris St-Germain / Canada, defender)
  9. Jessie Fleming (Chelsea / Canada, midfielder)
  10. Fran Kirby (Chelsea / England, forward)
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337 comments

  • Comment posted by MidlandsJohn, at 23:20 29 Nov 2021

    IMO the big problem with MSM coverage of women's football is the ridiculous hyperbole.

    Be more truthful - the game is more professional but still far to go, strength in depth worldwide not there, quality at top level needs improving - and people wouldn't mind.

    But instead, we get the constant narrative of "amazing" football played by "superstars" and anyone who doesn't agree is "misogynist".

    • Reply posted by mark, at 00:05 30 Nov 2021

      mark replied:
      John, you seem to not have practiced what you preach mate. Ridiculous hyperbole is definitely something we both agree is a negative, but then:
      "But instead, we get the constant narrative of "amazing" football played by "superstars" and anyone who doesn't agree is "misogynist"."

      Isn't this the type of hyperbole that we both dislike??

  • Comment posted by robin, at 22:39 29 Nov 2021

    It’s a shame there isn’t a separate section for Women’s football
    The BBC reports are all over the place
    Same with the results

  • Comment posted by JS72, at 22:44 29 Nov 2021

    You can actually tell how terminally rubbish a sport is by the amount of TV coverage it gets on the BBC - basically because no one else wants it, its the same reason they think Eastenders is still current.

    • Reply posted by mark, at 00:02 30 Nov 2021

      mark replied:
      Premier League, Euros, World Cup, Six Nations and Olympic Games are terminally rubbish sports that nobody else wants?

  • Comment posted by Wut, at 22:25 29 Nov 2021

    I had absolutely no idea there was a woman's Ballon d'Or, did anyone else?

    • Reply posted by Hywel, at 22:28 29 Nov 2021

      Hywel replied:
      no

  • Comment posted by llareggub, at 22:23 29 Nov 2021

    Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal / Netherlands) .. best female striker in WSL and the Olympics .. played in a below par Arsenal team last year and was still sensational .. she gets my vote!

    • Reply posted by Billy McFlipFlops, at 23:22 29 Nov 2021

      Billy McFlipFlops replied:
      Best female striker in WSL? Erm, aren't all the strikers in WSL female?

  • Comment posted by Luciano 666, at 23:07 29 Nov 2021

    This comment section is full of people who get easily offended. Half the comments have been removed.

  • Comment posted by Torys Nicked Dads Pension, at 06:14 30 Nov 2021

    Is there a single comment on HYS from another female supporting another female for winning this award? There is visible lack of interest which mimics the almost completely empty stadiums the women play the game in. The interest in this award and female game largely stays among other female players. There is huge lack of interest. I applaud the attempts to kick start some life into the sport but hm

    • Reply posted by thenestofvipers, at 07:59 30 Nov 2021

      thenestofvipers replied:
      Gender shouldnt come into it...surely the objective is to be all inclusive. Watching a womens game, knowing it isnt the pinnacle of how the game can be played is a reason people dont watch. Theres not a lot of following for lesser formulas in motor racing, but a lot for f1 simply because you know you are watching the best of the best drivers. Football is the same

  • Comment posted by Level-Select, at 07:26 30 Nov 2021

    Just had a look at the fixtures for Sunday as I know they are a few ties. Genuinely missed it first time round as the men's games where hid away below the women's league cup and fa cup fixtures.
    I won't be the only one who this has happened to. Surely the fixtures should be in order of popularity to be us the licence payers?

    • Reply posted by TheMiller, at 09:11 30 Nov 2021

      TheMiller replied:
      Get with the times, the BBC have taken an editorial decision to prioritise the WSL above the EFL, SFL and National League. I wouldn't mind if no one actually cared about the EFL, but it's the 5th most watched league in the world. The WSL charges £2 per ticket and still only averages under 2k fans per game. Compare that to League 2 - £18 per ticket and 5k average. Shocking value on my license fee.

  • Comment posted by Mandrake, at 08:03 30 Nov 2021

    Why are there 2 separate articles dedicated to the Women's Ballon d'Or?

    Also, why can't we comment on the men's Ballon d'Or? Winning it 7 times is a huge achievement, yet it's been relegated in favour of this story.

    Is this what diversity looks like?

    • Reply posted by Annette, at 08:09 30 Nov 2021

      Annette replied:
      No, this is what I’ll informed and poorly read looks like. Take a look again and you just might see what you’re looking for.

  • Comment posted by Nigel, at 22:27 29 Nov 2021

    Not sure what Christine Sinclair has to do to get the respect she deserves. Olympic Gold, beats Abby Wambach’s all time highest International goals record in 2021 (…and yes, that’s for male or female players), wins silverware with her club team… strikes me she had a pretty stellar year by anyones standard.

    • Reply posted by Sky Daddy, at 22:56 29 Nov 2021

      Sky Daddy replied:
      Who’s Christine Sinclair?

  • Comment posted by Nercei, at 22:54 29 Nov 2021

    Any chance we can just congratulate her instead of piling in... nope, apparently not 🙄

    • Reply posted by Maya Normusbutt, at 08:12 30 Nov 2021

      Maya Normusbutt replied:
      Congratulate who?

  • Comment posted by Dom, at 22:37 29 Nov 2021

    Well done Alexia

    And a marked improvement by the BBC to stop trying to mix men's and women's football for clickbait.

    • Reply posted by Celts, at 02:39 30 Nov 2021

      Celts replied:
      Yes, funny how when they mixed the mens and womens football into 1 article people complained.

      But now there's separate articles, and people still complain.

      Almost as if these cavemen simply can't stand seeing women doing something that doesn't involve cooking and cleaning....

  • Comment posted by Jacob Stein, at 06:53 30 Nov 2021

    The man utd tea lady is probably more well known and has had a bigger impact on the game

    • Reply posted by Sami, at 07:27 30 Nov 2021

      Sami replied:
      What's her name?

  • Comment posted by markyp1965, at 22:47 29 Nov 2021

    Would have made a change to see comments congratulating a footballer on winning the top individual award, but no, instead it’s the predictable, negative and generally dismissive comments that the women’s game attracts.
    I just hope you don’t have daughters or sisters who show an interest in playing the game, as your attitude will destroy their aspirations.

    • Reply posted by Lozinger, at 23:00 29 Nov 2021

      Lozinger replied:
      i want my daughter to play football, but the jedi mind trick of "messi and putellas win ballons dor" of earlier headline is just cringe. my wife loves football... mens football. we both appreciate the women's game for what it is, bit its this forced and cringeworthy false equivalence that people find disingenuous.

  • Comment posted by RMC 1964, at 22:33 29 Nov 2021

    Jackie Groenen should have won it.

    • Reply posted by Celts, at 02:56 30 Nov 2021

      Celts replied:
      How predictable that we have the first BBC HYS on womens football in months, and there are already brain dead cave men, complaining about how "womens football is being shoved down our throats".

      Why even click on the article if you don't care about the story?

      Or are you just that sad, that you come here to make yourself feel superior by mocking womens sport?

  • Comment posted by Col, at 06:44 30 Nov 2021

    Well done to all the footballers in the top ten, but what happened to all the US players?

  • Comment posted by Scopex sid, at 00:56 30 Nov 2021

    Well deserved, she had an incredible year, shame the men's award being given to the wrong person discredited the whole process.

  • Comment posted by thenestofvipers, at 08:58 30 Nov 2021

    a lot of comments stating the low turn out of fans, general lack of interest etc. This should not be surprise surely? I liken it to watching a tribute act at your local pub, sure the musics the same and the players are competent enough, but deep down you know you would rather be watching the original line up

  • Comment posted by twinprime, at 08:14 30 Nov 2021

    I hope they didn't have a best goalkeeper award - because quite simply there isn't one.

    If there is one thing that highlights the poor standard of women's football it is the abysmal level of the goalkeeping.

    So many goals in the women's game are the result of a Keystone Kops approach to goalkeeping.

  • Comment posted by ODM, at 07:45 30 Nov 2021

    Women's football eh? When did this start?

    • Reply posted by Annette, at 08:10 30 Nov 2021

      Annette replied:
      Pre WW1, but don’t feel like you need to join the 21st century too soon, protect your eyes from the light.

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