Daniel Penha and Chloe Logarzo dominated the Western United gala night, picking up six awards between last Wednesday.
Penha was awarded the A-League Men’s player of the season for his outstanding campaign and also won the golden boot, fans’ goal of the season and club person of the season honours.
Penha was sensational from start to finish, leading the vote strongly ahead of Angus Thurgate in second and Ben Garuccio in third. Tomoki Imai and Matthew Grimaldi rounded out the top five.
Logarzo was the clear front-runner among both the coaches and the fans, claiming the top gong of A-League Women’s player of the season as well as the fans’ player of the season.
Both Penha (seven goals, three assists) and Logarzo (nine goals, three assists) were incredible on the pitch and also left their mark off the pitch over the course of the season, making them worthy winners and role models at Western United.
Elsewhere, Western United’s next generation was recognised with Alana Cerne and Matthew Grimaldi claiming the young player of the season silverware for the women’s and men’s sides, respectively.
Cerne furthered her development after winning the same award last season, playing every single minute of the 2023-24 campaign at the back, while Grimaldi shone in his first ever professional campaign with five goals, becoming an instant fan-favourite.
Tom Heward-Belle endeared himself to the Western United supporters in his first season at the club and took out the fans’ player of the season award.
Hannah Keane became the first Western United player to score double figures and win the golden boot in consecutive seasons with 10 goals to add to her 14 from last season.
After joining Western United in the off-season, Grace Maher made an instant impact in her new home and was recognised by her peers, coaches and club staff as the club person of the season in the A-League Women’s side.
It’s been a big week for United’s men’s side with the club revealing the departures of several player.
Captain Josh Risdon was the biggest name.
“My time here has been great. I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve been here from the very start and to see where this club has come in such a short space of time is incredible,” he said.
“To playing at different venues, training out at Georgies [Caroline Springs George Cross] at the start to finally being at our home in Tarneit and slowly everything’s getting built around us.
“I just want to say thank you to all my teammates who I’ve been with throughout these five years. everyone at the club staff, everyone from high up all the way down to community staff and in particular our football department.”
Steven Lustica, Jacob Tratt, Connor O’Toole and Nikita Rukavytsya are the others on the move.
