Barbra Banda wins BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award
Banda scored 4 goals for Zambia at this summer’s Paris Olympics, including a first-half hat trick against Australia, and became the African player with the most goals in Olympic history with 10 goals.
Although she only joined in March, she scored 13 goals for the Pride during the 2024 NWSL regular season.
Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati finished second in the voting, while United States and Portland Thorns forward Sofia Smith finished third.
Norway and Barcelona winger Caroline Graham-Hansen and United States and San Diego Wave defender Naomi Gilma are also on the shortlist.
In March, Banda joined the Pride from Chinese club Shanghai Victory for $740,000 (£581,000), becoming the second most expensive women’s signing in history, behind Zambian teammate Racheal Kundananji ).
“My goal is always to score because I love scoring,” Banda said. “But it all starts with practice, good drills and good conversations with coaches and teammates.
“It’s not easy, but I think hard work and persistence really helps.”
The Zambian captain, who finished 12th in the 2024 Women’s Ballon d’Or, is a former professional boxer who won all five of her matches before turning her attention to football.
“Growing up in Zambia was never easy, especially as a young girl. It was very difficult for us to be exposed to a sport like football,” she said.
“My parents never believed that women could play football, so it was a challenge.
“My mum wasn’t supportive, but when women’s football started to gain recognition in Zambia, she started to understand and let me do what I loved most.”
Pride head coach Seb Hines told BBC Sport: “It’s great to see Barbara being recognized for what she does, not just for our club but for African football as well.
“She’s very humble and a good person, which means a lot to us having great people on our team.
“She was a team player and even though she won all the accolades and set all the goalscoring records, she put the team first.”
