Virgil van Dijk claims Football Supporters' Association award

Cape Town - Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk has been named the Football Supporters' Association men's player of the year for 2019.

More than 340 000 votes were cast by fans, with Van Dijk beating Manchester City's Raheem Sterling into second place.

The other nominees were Van Dijk's Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane, Tottenham's Son Heung-min, Leicester striker Jamie Vardy and Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Van Dijk is the fourth Liverpool player to win the award in the last seven years, following Mohamed Salah, Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez.

"I'm very grateful to get this trophy. It means a lot to me," Van Dijk said.

Arsenal's Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema was named women's player of the year.

The 23-year-old, whose goals helped the Netherlands to the World Cup final in the summer, has scored 26 goals in just 16 starts for Arsenal this season.

- TeamTalk Media