Beth Mead, forward for Arsenal and this year’s Women’s Euros Golden Boot winner, has been named BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year 2022. Football fans worldwide vote for the BBC World Service’s yearly prize.

After being selected by a media panel with Chelsea’s Sam Kerr, Wolfsburg’s Alexandra Popp, Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas, and Lyon’s Wendie Renard, the Arsenal and England women star player won the popular vote.

The award is among the most betted awards on online betting platforms. After winning the Golden Boot at women’s Euro, the odds were mostly in Mead’s favour. This was the eighth time the awards were given out. However, this time around, online channels had the most traffic. This was partly due to the no deposit bonus codes offered by various websites to betting enthusiasts.  

“I don’t believe I’ve entirely absorbed it yet; clearly, it’s a great honour for me, gratitude and thank you to everyone who voted,” Mead said after receiving the award.

“I wouldn’t have gotten these without my teammates during the season at Arsenal and all through the season for the international squad,” Mead said in a statement to the BBC to thank them.

“Sometimes you may be fairly fortunate with the people that you have around you, and they’ve backed me and given me the courage to put in the games that I did and actually come up with this,” 

Sam Kerr of Chelsea and Australia, Alexia Putellas of Barcelona and Spain, Wendie Renard of France’s Olympique Lyonnais, and Alexandra Popp of Germany’s VfL Wolfsburg were also nominees. Mead was chosen as the winner of this year’s award from a shortlist of some of the biggest names in women’s football.

She was presented with the award while at training, with former England star and teammate Ellen White on hand to do the honours.

Ellen White, the record-holder for goals scored for England, said of Beth: “I think she can go on to achieve many goals for England; the sky is the limit for her.

“I think it’s great, and it speaks well for the England squad. What she’s done in her career, her progress, and the fact that she’s so focused on her performance, and what she’s doing here at Arsenal.”

Final words

It is clear that Beth Mead is a very talented footballer and has proven herself to be the great player in the world. She deserved this award, and we are sure she will continue to have a great career.