Ben Woodburn Wins Welsh FA Award

The win for Ben Woodburn put a fitting cap on dream calendar year that saw the 17-year-old supplant Michael Owen as the youngest ever Liverpool goal scorer on his competitive debut before emphatically announcing himself on the international stage with a string of match-winning performances for Wales.

Elsewhere, right back Chris Gunter ended Gareth Bale’s six-year reign as Welsh Player of the Year after moving into second behind Gary Speed with 81 international caps; while ex-Red, Joe Allen aka Wee Joe aka Welsh Xavi aka H.R. Paperstacks scooped the award for fan’s player of the year.

For young Woodburn, it was a fine first team debut season that earned plaudits across the continent: making the shortlist for the European Golden Boy award alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Ante Coric (hey!) and Ousmane Dembélé, while kindling the customary murmurings of appreciation from the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The Welshman has again started the 2017-18 campaign brightly, scoring two goals in preseason and looking a right fit in the senior squad. Competitive appearances, on the other hand, have been hard to come by so far this season, with the dynamic winger being limited to a single appearance from the bench in the recently-exited League Cup.

However, with Liverpool contending across four three competitions, and playing under the watch of such a renown developer of young talent as manager Jürgen Klopp, Woodburn will be waiting to seize his chances and come good on bags of promise.