PFA Player of the Year

On Sunday the 24th of April, the PFA awards ceremony will take place in London. Most of the best players from the Premier League will be there, including managers, coaches, and all the nominees for the Player of the Year Award. Who will win what? Who are the nominees? Which players will be named in the Premier League Team of the Season? Who will replace Chelsea's Eden Hazard as the PFA's Player of the Year?

"I'm very happy. One day I want to be the best and what I did this season is play very well."  Chelsea's Eden Hazard, PFA Player of the Year 2015.

What is the PFA?

The PFA is the Professional Footballers' Association, which is a trade union which looks after the working conditions and rights of professional footballers in England and Wales. The PFA is the oldest professional sport's union in the world. The PFA currently has over 4,000 members who play, or have played in all four professional divisions in the English league. The PFA awards have been going for over 40 years. Each member of the PFA votes for a player, which means the awards are highly valued because other professional footballers vote for the winners. Players cannot vote for players at the same club. The voting takes place in March so the winning players don't always come from the team that wins the League! 

"It is better to be voted by the players - they know everything about football."  Eden Hazard, last year's Player of the Year.

Who are the nominees?

Six players have been nominated for the Player of the Year Award and it's the current Premier League leaders, Leicester City, who lead the way with three nominees. Three nominations are a strong reflection of Leicester City's amazing and improbable season. The Foxes have already qualified for next season's Champions League and have a seven point advantage over Tottenham Hotspur, with just five matches Premier League matches remaining. Riyad Mahrez has 16 goals and 11 assists this season, and combined, this is more than any player in the Premier League. Harry Kane is the leading goalscorer at the moment, with 22 goals, but Jamie Vardy is just one goal behind the Spurs player in the race for this season's golden boot. N'golo Kante has also had an amazing season in Leicester's midfield. West Ham's Dimitri Payet has scored some amazing free kicks and has been the most important player in West Ham's fine season. Arsenal's Mesut Özil has more assists (18) than any other Premier League player.

What other awards are there?

The Team of the Season will be selected at the ceremony and there will also be awards announced for the Women's Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year. Chelsea's Ji So-Yun from South Korea is the favourite to win the women's award for the second consecutive year. In the Young Player of the Year category, there are also six nominees. Harry Kane won it last year and might win it again, but he has competition from his Spurs teammate, Dele Alli. 

Who do you think will win? Let us know in our comments section - click on the 'talk and quiz' section below!

Did you know......?

• The PFA Player of the Year Award was first presented in 1973/74. Norman Hunter of Leeds Utd was the winner.
• Only Mark Hughes, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale have won more than once. 
• Only Alan Shearer has won the award for two different teams (Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle Utd).
• Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Andy Gray are the only players to win the Young Player Award and main award in the same season.
• There have been winners from ten different countries.