Brisbane Roar striker Besart Berisha has capped off his fine season by taking the Football Media Association Player of the Year award on Friday.
Brisbane Roar striker Besart Berisha has capped off his fine season by taking the Football Media Association Player of the Year award on Friday.
The 26-year-old has scored a record 19 goals in the regular season for the reigning champions following his move from German second Division club Arminia Bielefeld at the start of the season.
The Albania international spent eight years in Germany and will head into a Grand Final in his maiden season in Australia when the Roar meet Perth Glory on Sunday.
Berisha was awarded the Hyundai A-League’s Golden Boot Award a fortnight ago and has become a fan favourite at Brisbane for his sharp finishing skills.
“It’s a testament to Besart’s skills that he fitted in so well to the Brisbane Roar team,” FMA president Ray Gatt said.
“Many of us in (media) thought Brisbane Roar would suffer because of some of the departures from its premiership winning side from last season, but Ange Postecoglou and the players proved us wrong.
“And none more so than Besart who took over where last year’s Golden Boot winner, Kosta Barbarouses, left off.
“Not only is Besart a proven goal scorer, but he has a good football brain. He has the ability to exploit space, he consistently puts himself in goal scoring opportunities, and that makes him a very dangerous attacking weapon.”
Berisha recently signed a two-year contract extension at Brisbane and becomes the latest winner of the award, voted on by all FMA members to the most outstanding player of the season, following previous winners Matt McKay (2011) and Carlos Hernandez (2010).
Completing this year’s top five were his team-mate Thomas Broich (Brisbane), Paul Ifill (Wellington Phoenix), Harry Kewell (Melbourne Victory) and Mat Ryan (Central Coast Mariners).
