Manchester City’s Ellen White nominated for Ballon d’Or Féminin

Man City’s derby hero Ellen White is nominated for one of Women’s football’s most prestigious individual prize
Ellen White is Manchester City’s representative in the Women’s Ballon d’Or. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)Ellen White is Manchester City’s representative in the Women’s Ballon d’Or. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Ellen White is Manchester City’s representative in the Women’s Ballon d’Or. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

Manchester City’s Ellen White has been nominated on the 20-women shortlist for the Women's Ballon d'Or.

The award, run by France Football, is back for its third edition after being launched in 2018. Last year there was no winner awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed many domestic seasons.

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Among the nominees is White, who will be hopeful of bettering her performance of ninth from the 2019 Ballon d'Or Féminin.

The 32-year-old scored 15 goals in 32 games for the Citizens last season, though ended up trophy-less in the 2020/21 campaign after falling just short to Chelsea in the Women's Super League. She did lift the 2019/20 FA Women's Cup however after the competition overlapped the current campaign.

As well as her form for City, she excelled for England winning the England Women’s Player of the Year after winning a fans vote. White scored a hat-trick at the start of the year for the Three Lions and then scored six goals for Team GB at this summer's Tokyo Olympic Games, helping them reach the quarter-finals.

White was also on the score sheet for her club on Saturday, coming off the bench to rescue a point, having initially led through Khadija Shaw's first-half header.

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Whilst City are represented, Megan Rapinoe - the last winner of the award - has not been included in the shortlist this time around, but White's international teammate Fran Kirby is on there.

Seven of the 20 nominees play their football in the Women's League whilst all but two play their domestic football in Europe with former City midfielder Sam Mewis one of the exceptions.

Mewis joined Gareth Taylor's side from North Carolina Courage last season and played 32 times, scoring 16 goals, before returning to the NWSL, she earned a bronze medal at the Olympics this summer.

The winner of the prestigious trophy will be announced on 29 November at Paris' Theatre du Chatelet.

Women’s Ballon d’Or nominees

  • Alexia Putellas: (Barcelona, Spain)
  • Ashley Lawrence (PSG, Canada)
  • Christiane Endler (Lyon, Chile)
  • Christine Sinclair (Portland Thorns, Canada)
  • Ellen White (Man City, England)
  • Fran Kirby (Chelsea, England)
  • Irene Paredes (Barcelona, Spain)
  • Jennifer Hermoso (Barcelona, Spain)
  • Jessie Fleming (Chelsea, Canada)
  • Kadidiatou Diani (PSG, France)
  • Lieke Martens (Barcelona, Netherlands)
  • Magdalena Eriksson (Chelsea, Sweden)
  • Marie-Antoinette Katoto (PSG, France)
  • Pernille Harder (Chelsea, Denmark)
  • Sam Kerr (Chelsea, Australia)
  • Samantha Mewis (North Carolina Courage, USA)
  • Sandra Panos (Barcelona, Spain)
  • Stina Blackstenius (Hacken, Sweden)
  • Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal, Netherlands)
  • Wendie Renard (Lyon, France)