OPINION: Ronwen Williams deserves the footballer of the season award

It’s that time of the season where the conversation over who deserves to be crowned the new PSL Footballer of the Season is starting to pick up steam. A few names have been thrown around on social media. As expected, fans tend to be biased and look at players from their favourite teams when debating who should be the footballer of the season.

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Fortunately, the prestigious award is voted for by the 16 DStv Premiership head coaches who are not allowed to nominate or vote for players from their own teams. The criteria is straightforward, the individual needs to have done exceptionally well in the league and all domestic cup competitions.

As with most things, expect fans to be divided when the PSL reveals the nominees for the coveted prize. In my opinion, Ronwen Williams has been outstanding for Mamelodi Sundowns this season and probably deserves the individual award.

The Brazilians might have lost the MTN8 final against Orlando Pirates but what counts in Williams’ favour is that he has already won the league. No one can argue that the league championship is without a doubt the toughest trophy to win.

There’s no luck involved in winning the league because it’s a 30-game marathon where you play your opponents home and away. The same can’t be said about cup competitions. We have seen in the past teams reach cup finals only to be relegated at the end of the season.

To put Williams’ league form into context, in 19 league games, the Sundowns goalkeeper has only conceded six goals and kept 14 clean sheets. He has five games left to match his record of 18 clean sheets from the previous season.

Earlier in this campaign, the 32-year-old went for nine consecutive games without being breached to set Sundowns on their way to what has so far been a record-breaking season for the South African champions.

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Not only is Williams a safe pair of hands whenever he’s called upon, he is also a ball playing goalkeeper who starts off his team’s attacks. A lot of Sundowns’ build-up play goes through the calm shot stopper who also has an accurate right foot and can pick out a pass even under pressure.

In fact, he is probably Masandawana’s secret weapon and gives them an extra man on the field with his bravery with the ball at his feet. You’d be hard pressed to find another goalkeeper in the PSL with his abilities.  

No arguments

The former SuperSport United man will also contest the Nedbank Cup final against Pirates at the Mbombela Stadium on June 1. Should he help the Tshwane giants lift the season-ending competition, there can be no arguments on who deserves to unseat Teboho Mokoena as the new king of South African football at the end of the season.

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There are honourable mentions such as Iqraam Rayners Stellenbosch and Patrick Maswanganyi of the Buccaneers who have also raised their game to new heights this season. Lucas Ribeiro has also been outstanding in his maiden season in the PSL.