Van Dijk and Miedema make it a Dutch double at English PFA awards

Dutch footballers have claimed two of the most prestigious prizes in English football at the PFA Player of the Year Awards.

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was named Premier League player of the year, while Vivianne Miedema won the equivalent award for the Women’s Super League.

Earlier in the day Miedema scored in the 4-0 win for Arsenal that clinched the league title against Brighton.

Both awards were decided by the votes of current players from a shortlist drawn up by former professional footballers and analysts.

Breda-born Van Dijk, 27, joined Liverpool in January 2018 from Southampton for €84.5 million and has become a rock at the heart of his club’s defence, as well as scoring five goals this season. He also scored the crucial equaliser for the Netherlands against Germany in November that put Oranje through to the semi-finals of the Nations League.

Miedema, 22, from Hoogeveen, is a member of the Dutch women’s team that won the European Championship in 2017. She scored twice in the final against Denmark and the winner in the semi-final against England. After the tournament she moved from Bayern Munich to Arsenal, for whom she has scored 37 goals in 44 appearances.

I think it’s the highest honour you can get as a player to get voted player of the year by the players you play against every week.’