Former Hibs Ladies’ midfielder Kim Little has capped an outstanding season by being named the inaugural winner of the prestigious Professional Footballers’ Association Women’s Player of the Year award.
The ceremony is always a star studded affair, with superstars past and present in attendance, and this year, Kim shared the stage with legends such as Sir Alex Ferguson and his 1993 youth team which included David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Paul Scoles. Both the Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards were won by Tottenham Hotspurs’ Gareth Bale.
The Women’s Player of the Year award was presented to Kim by former Arsenal captain and England star Faye White.
The competition was particularly tough this season, and Kim had to beat Arsenal team-mates Jordan Nobbs and Gemma Davison to the prize. The other nominees were Toni Duggan who was third, Jodie Taylor and Jessica Fishlock who finished runner up.
Afterwards, a delighted Kim said: – “It’s a great feeling. Our sport women’s football has come on a lot over the past few years and to appear in an award ceremony such as this with so many male legends is very special. It was great last year at the Olympics which increased the profile of our sport and it was great to be a part of that, especially with it being held in London”
The 22-year-old joined Hibs eight years ago from Buchan Girls, after travelling down from Aberdeen at three times a week for training.
Kim made her debut as a 16 year-old in a Champions League game against Barcelona, and then marked her Scottish Women’s Premier League debut with a hat-trick against Hutchison Vale.
At that time Hibs had by far the strongest squad in the country and Kim helped the club win the SWPL title, the Scottish Cup, the Premier League Cup and competed in the UEFA Champions League twice.
In the 2006/07 league campaign Hibs won every match with Kim scoring a phenomenal 55 goals in just 30 appearances, and she carried on where he had left off the following season, scoring a further 33 goals in 18 appearances, which unsurprisingly caught the attention of the top English clubs, with Arsenal Ladies, the biggest club in the UK and major player on the European scene securing her signature.
Kim made an immediate impact, scoring in a 4-1 victory at the Emirates over London rivals Chelsea, and since then she has helped the north London club win five League titles, two WSL Continental Cups, three FA Cups and one Premier League Cup.
Although only 22, Kim has already been capped 75 times by Scotland and was part of the British Olympic team that reached the quarter-finals of the London 2012 Olympics.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
