Professional Footballers Australia (the PFA) is proud to announce Leticia McKenna has been voted the 2026 Austraffic PFA Young Women’s Footballer of the Year, following an outstanding season for Melbourne City and the Matildas.
The prestigious player-voted award honours the best performing player – who is 23 years old and under – who had the best season at club and international level according to their peers.
McKenna received the highest number of votes from her fellow peers, ahead of Charlize Rule, Isabel Gomez, Pia Vlok, Talia Younis and Willa Pearson.
The award seals a sensational year for the midfielder who played a starring role en-route to City winning the A-League Women double (Premiership and Championship) and to the AFC Women’s Champions League semi-finals.
McKenna starred for City in midfield, making 28 appearances and scoring seven goals in all competitions which included an important strike in the semi-final first-leg against Melbourne Victory and in the Grand Final win over Wellington Phoenix.
Off the back of her fantastic performances at club level, McKenna earned a first-ever call up to the Matildas for the FIFA Series in April, scoring on debut in a win over Malawi.
As a result of these performances, McKenna’s peers voted her into the PFA A-League Women Team of the Season and was selected for the A-League Women’s All-Star Match against powerhouses Chelsea.
McKenna has since signed for Women’s Super League 2 side Nottingham Forest for a record-breaking outgoing A-League Women transfer fee
“It’s a massive privilege to receive this award,” McKenna said. “To be [voted] by your peers is something incredibly special. And I’m very, very grateful to receive this award.
“To go up against and play alongside a lot of these players [who voted] is massive in itself, and the award means a lot to me.
“There’s so many people that have helped me this season gone: family, staff members, coaches, teammates. It’s just massive and I’m very privileged to receive it.”
McKenna becomes the sixth player to win the award since its inception in 2017, following in the footsteps of Matildas Ellie Carpenter, Mary Fowler, Charlotte Grant, Karly Roestbakken and Alex Chidiac.
PFA Young Women’s Footballer of the Year winners:
Leticia McKenna (2026), Mary Fowler (2025, 2024, 2022), Charlotte Grant (2023), Ellie Carpenter (2021, 2020), Karly Roestbakken (2019), Alex Chidiac (2018, 2017)
About the Austraffic PFA Footballer of the Year Awards
The Austraffic PFA Footballer of the Year Awards have been awarded annually since 2009, when former Socceroo Tim Cahill won the inaugural PFA Men’s Footballer of the Year. The PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year was introduced the following season, which was won by Servet Uzunlar in 2010.
About Austraffic
Founded in 1983 (as Australasian Traffic Surveys), Austraffic has undertaken thousands of traffic, transport and pedestrian studies in all states and territories of Australia and New Zealand. Austraffic’s systems and expertise delivers quality data that meets the customer’s needs. Their offices are located throughout Australia, and their traffic engineering and information technology specialists assist customers with the design, analysis and presentation of surveys. For more information visit austraffic.com.au
