Some questioned whether Arsenal fans had hijacked the online poll.
Facebook hosted its inaugural Football Awards in a glitzy ceremony held at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London on May 26, 2015.
The Awards celebrated the best of the English Premier League (EPL) for the 2014/15 season.
The surprising big winners of the night were Arsenal, who won 5 out of the 8 prizes on offer, including ‘Best Premier League Club of the Year’ and ‘Manager of the Year’.
But since both Chelsea and Jose Mourinho were crowned with these two titles in the league, many are intrigued as to how Arsenal have managed to come out on top in Facebook’s Awards.
With over 1 million football fans voting on the social networking site, some even questioned whether Arsenal fans, also known as ‘Gooners’, hijacked the online poll in order to secure a majority of votes.
Rumours of an online ‘Arsenal attack’ began to surface on Twitter as non-Arsenal fans became vocal with their suspicions:
if arsenal are good at one thing its voting for our boys to get awards they don’t deserve #afc #coyg
— Arthur (@ajboulding) May 26, 2015
Did any just see the Facebook Football Awards on BT Sport? Funniest thing thing I’ve seen in a while. Another Arsenal fan vote hijack
— lankyguy (@lankyguyblog) May 26, 2015
Nevertheless, Arsenal fans will no doubt welcome any awards for their team with open arms.
Alexis Sanchez was named ‘Player of the Year’. Along with a number of other winners, he opted to accept his prize by video.
Having just won the PFA Fans’ Player of the Season, Sanchez is a worthy winner, having netted 16 goals in his debut season in the EPL with Arsenal.
The Chiliean also picked up ‘Content of the Year’ for displaying impressive pre-match warm up dribbling skills at the Emirates Stadium.
The ‘Young Player of the Year’ award went to Harry Kane. Gooners won’t be happy seeing their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspurs snatching this one away from them.
Kane is, however, a worthy winner, having scored a flurry of goals this season.
Arsenal, despite finishing third in the EPL behind Manchester City and Chelsea, won ‘Best Premier League Club of the Year’.
Naturally, their manager Arsene Wenger walked away with ‘Manager of the Year’ award. He accepted his accolade via video from Ian Wright in a crash helmet.
Wenger is on course to win back-to-back FA Cup trophies to fill his 10-year EPL void, if his side beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup final on May 30, 2015.
Watch Arsene Wenger receive his ‘Manager of the Year’ award from Ian Wright here:
Here is the full list of the inaugural Facebook Football Awards 2015:
Player of the Year
Alexis Sanchez
Young Player of the Year
Harry Kane
Best Premier League Club of the Year
Arsenal
Manager of the Year
Arsene Wenger
Content of the Year
Sanchez Skills (Arsenal)
Mirror Football Fan of the Year
Frenso Gooners (Arsenal)
Facebook Club Performance of the Year
Sunderland
Facebook Player Performance of the Year
David Silva
Voting was cast on a level playing field, so whether Gooners were guilty of hijacking the votes or not, the other EPL fans only have themselves to blame for the result.
We shall see if this will serve as a confidence boost for Arsenal to take on Aston Villa in the FA Cup Final. Congratulations to all of the winners!
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