As was widely expected, the MFA’s Footballer of the Year award this year will go to a Valletta FC or a Hibernians FC player.

When the short-list was made, the five players named were Jonathan Caruana, Denni Rocha dos Santos and William Barbosa – all of Valletta - as well as Clayton Failla and Andrew Cohen of Hibernians.

Valletta FC were crowned champions for the 20th time in their history while Hibernians won the FA Trophy and finished runners-up in the League.

What was surprising, however, was that no journalist has voted when the shortlist was announced as there was a misunderstanding. This is quite unfortunate because it is felt that journalists should have a big say in such awards. Most journalists, if not all, who should have voted, were not informed of the day when the meeting to make the short-list had to be held!

The name of the winner of the award will be announced during the MFA Awards ceremony to be held on Wednesday 4 July.