Chelsea striker Pernille Harder has been voted Women's Player of the Year by a panel of women's football experts from 27 countries around the world.
With no Ballon d'Or Feminin being awarded this year, FourFourTwo have stepped in to the gap, organising the vote for the 2020 Awards issue of the magazine.
In an exclusive interview with the January 2021 issue of FourFourTwo, out in shops on Friday, December 11 and available to pre-order now, Harder said she was "very proud" of winning the award.
She follows in the footsteps of US national team captain Megan Rapinoe, who we crowned Player of the Year for 2019.
"I’m happy that I’m at this point in my career now, that I’ve reached this level," Harder told FFT. "Now it’s about sustaining that. But if I stop for just a minute and think about what I’ve achieved, I’m very proud."
Harder, 28, landed a move to Women's Super League side Chelsea this September, with a world-record fee thought to be in the region of £300,000. She spent most of 2020 at Wolfsburg, where she won four consecutive Bundesliga titles.
Harder has 199 career club goals from 230 appearances, and 64 goals for Denmark from 123 caps.
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WOW. 🎯@PernilleMHarder finds top bins. 🗑What a finish!#BarclaysFAWSL pic.twitter.com/CFOSvMrxXpNovember 8, 2020
Harder was the Frauen Bundesliga's top scorer in 2019/20, netting 27 goals in just 21 games, as Wolfsburg lifted the title. They also made it to the Women's Champions League, but were beaten 3-1 by Lyon.
At Chelsea, she has teamed up with long-term partner – and Blues captain Magdalena Eriksson.
The two shot to worldwide attention in 2019 at the World Cup. Despite Denmark not qualifying for the tournament, Harder travelled to France to support Eriksson's Sweden, and a photo of the couple kissing went viral.
As well as record-breaking footballer, Harder is also a vocal advocate of LGBT rights, and says that after the now-famous photograph, she "had messages from young children, but also older women who explained they didn’t have any role models when they were young, so never came out and were living with their husband and kids".
You can find the entire interview, plus the full breakdown of our Players of the Year lists for men and women, in the new issue of FourFourTwo, out on Friday – you can pre-order it here with free delivery by selection 'January 2021' from the drop-down list.
While you’re here, subscribe to FourFourTwo and save 48% – available until Christmas. It’s the perfect gift idea for anybody who loves football (including yourself)!
