Jordan Henderson explained his pride at following in the footsteps of Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard after he was named the FWA Footballer of the Year.
Henderson saw off strong competition from Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford as well as Anfield team-mates, Virgil Van Dijk and Sadio Mane to claim the oldest individual award in world football.
The Liverpool captain skippered the Reds to a first league title in 30 years this term to cap off a remarkable year that also saw him lift the Champions League, Super Cup and the Reds' first-ever Club World Cup in December.
In total, the England international made 30 appearances for Klopp's champions, captaining them throughout a season that saw them win the Premier League title in a record-quick time of just 31 games.
Henderson has been the driving force in Liverpool's midfield as Jurgen Klopp and his players and capped off his own season by lifting the Reds' 19th league title at Anfield on Wednesday night, despite missing the game against Chelsea with a knee injury.
Henderson is also one of the favourites for the PFA version of the FWA award, with the country's football writers deeming the Reds star to be the standout player across the campaign by giving him more than a quarter of the votes.
And the 30-year-old has given a nod to past winners Suarez and Gerrard and Mohamed Salah in his acceptance speech which was published on the FWA website on Friday morning.
“I’d like to say how appreciative I am of the support of those who voted for me and the Football Writers’ Association in general," Henderson said.
"You only have to look at the past winners of it, a number of whom I’ve been blessed to play with here at Liverpool, like Stevie, Luis and Mo to know how prestigious it is.
“But as grateful as I am I don’t feel like I can accept this on my own. I don’t feel like anything I’ve achieved this season or in fact during my whole career has been done on my own.
"I owe a lot to so many different people – but none more so than my current teammates – who have just been incredible and deserve this every bit as much as I do.
“We’ve only achieved what we’ve achieved because every single member of our squad has been brilliant. And not just in matches. Not just in producing the moments that make the headlines and the back pages but every day in training.
“The players who’ve started the most games for us this season have been as good as they have been because of our culture and our environment at Melwood. No one individual is responsible for that – it’s a collective effort and that’s how I view accepting this honour.
“I accept it on behalf of this whole squad, because without them I’m not in a position to be receiving this honour. These lads have made me a better player – a better leader and a better person.
“If anything I hope those who voted for me did so partly to recognise the entire team’s contribution.
"Individual awards are nice and they are special and I will cherish this one. But an individual award without the collective achievement wouldn’t mean anywhere as much to me – if anything at all.”
*Show you support for the champions by filling in our interactive Liverpool title map.
