Zambia’s Barbra Banda has been named BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year after winning the most votes from the BBC Sport website’s readers.
Banda, who plays for Zambia and Orlando Pride, earned the accolade following standout performances, including scoring 13 goals in the 2024 NWSL season and a hat-trick at the Paris Olympics.
She also led Orlando Pride to their first-ever championship, scoring the decisive goal in the final. Banda thanked her supporters, including her family, Zambia’s national team, and Orlando Pride.
“My aim always is to score because I love scoring,” said Banda. “But it all starts from practice, having good training sessions and good talks with the coaches and teammates.
“It has not been easy, but I think hard work and consistency have really helped.”
The Zambia captain, who came 12th in the 2024 Women’s Ballon d’Or, is a former professional boxer who won all of her five bouts before switching focus to football.
“Growing up in Zambia has never been easy, especially as a young girl. It is so difficult for us to get into sports like football,” she said.
“Parents never used to believe that women could play football, so it was a challenge.
“My mum was not in support of it, but when women’s football started being recognised in Zambia, she came to understand and let me do what I love doing most.”
Pride head coach Seb Hines told BBC Sport: “It is great to see Barbra getting acknowledged for what she has done, not only for our club but for African football.
“She is super humble and a good person and that means a lot to us to have good people in our team.
“She is a team player and, for all the accolades that she has won and all the goal-scoring records that she has, she puts the team first.”
