Top 100 Women’s Footballers in 2017

Last year we launched the first ever #ORP100, ranking the top 100 women’s footballers from 2016 based on votes from 30 former players, coaches and journalists from around the world. It was the first list of its kind and gained recognition in France, Scandinavia and the USA and this year we’re back with a voting panel double the size of 2016!

In 2017 we welcome back the likes of Boston Breakers boss Matt Beard, England legend Kelly Smith and Martin Sjogren, now the head coach of the Norway national team. We’ve also added European legends Saskia Bartusiak and Marinette Pichon, as well as Canada head coach John Herdman and US legend Kristine Lilly to our panel, plus a more expansive selection of coaches, former players and journalists from South America, Africa and Asia.

Top 100 Women’s Footballers of 2017 – Results

Judging Panel

The full list of judges for 2017 and how the voting works this year can be found below, whilst you can take a look back at 2016’s panel and the final results here.

Europe

Kelly Smith | Former England international and Arsenal legend, England’s top scorer with 46 goals. Won several honours with Arsenal, including the quadruple in 2007.
Marinette Pichon | Former France international who played at the 2003 Women’s World Cup, France’s top scorer with 81 goals in 112 caps.
Martin Sjögren | Current Norway Women’s national team head coach.
Saskia Bartusiak | Former Germany international who won the 2007 Women’s World Cup and played at several more major tournaments, plus winning three UEFA Women’s Champions League titles with 1. FFC Frankfurt.
Pedro Losa | Current Arsenal Women’s manager in the FA Women’s Super League.
Kirsten van de Ven | Former Netherlands international who won 89 caps and won three Damallsvenskan titles for Tyreso FF and FC Rosengard.
Shelley Kerr | Current Scotland Women’s national team head coach.
Anette Börjesson | Former Sweden international who captained her country at the first UEFA European Championships in 1984.
Patrizia Panico | Former Italy international and current Under 16 head coach, Italy’s top scorer with 107 goals in 196 caps and won Serie A ten times as a player.
Lise Klaveness | Former Norway international, represented her country at the 2003 and 2007 Women’s World Cups.
Keith Boanas | Current Watford Ladies manager in the FA Women’s Super League, former head coach of the Estonia Women’s national team.
Christina Ørntoft | Former Denmark international, played at Euro 2013.
Romain Balland | Journalist and TV presenter for Eurosport in France.
Kieran Theivam | Women’s football writer in the UK & USA, editor of Women’s Soccer Zone.
Mariana Cabral | Journalist at Expresso in Portugal.
Adam Barlow | Women’s football writer in the UK and co-editor of the Women’s World Football Show.
Jasmina Schweimler | Women’s football writer in Germany, specifically covering VFL Wolfsburg.
Sophie Lawson | Women’s football writer for VAVEL in the UK.
Rainer Fussgänger | Freelance women’s football writer in Sweden.
Salman Khawaja | Editor of Vrouwen Voetbal Nieuws in the Netherlands.

The Americas

Kristine Lilly | Former USWNT international and legend, USA’s most capped player with 354 appearances, won the 1999 Women’s World Cup and two Olympic gold medals.
John Herdman | Current Canada Women’s national team head coach.
Anson Dorrance | Current North Carolina Tar Heels manager with over 20 NCAA titles to his name, won the first Women’s World Cup in 1991 as head coach of the USA.
Mark Parsons | Current Portland Thorns manager in the NWSL.
Matt Beard | Current Boston Breakers manager in the NWSL, won two FA Women’s Super League titles with Liverpool Ladies in 2013 and 2014.
Vanessa Arauz | Current Ecuador Women’s national team coach, holds the record for the youngest head coach at a Women’s World Cup.
Carolina Morace | Former Italy international legend, current Trinidad & Tobago Women’s national team head coach, former head coach of Italy and Canada.
Natalia Gaitán | Current Colombia Women’s national team international footballer, plays for Valencia in Spain’s La Liga.
Ana Cate | Current Nicaragua Women’s national team international footballer, plays for Icelandic champions Stjarnan.
Jennifer Gordon | Women’s football writer for Equalizer Soccer in the USA.
Carolina Garcia | Women’s football promoter in South America, created the first Women’s Football Congress in Argentina.
Jen Cooper | Founder of Keeper Notes and host of The Mixxed Zone Podcast in the USA.
Harjeet Johal | Women’s football writer for Equalizer Soccer in Canada.
Paolo “Wera” Kuri | Women’s football promoter, helped pioneer the inaugural La Liga Feminil MX in Mexico.
Sandra Prusina | Women’s football writer for SportsNet in Canada.

Asia & Oceania

Alen Stajcic | Current Australia Women’s national team head coach.
Tony Readings | Current New Zealand Women’s national team head coach.
Yukari Kinga | Current Japan international footballer, won the 2011 Women’s World Cup and won several major domestic honours.
Kate Gill | Former Australia international footballer, won several major honours at domestic level.
Sarah Gregorius | Former New Zealand international footballer, played at the 2011 and 2015 Women’s World Cups, plus two Olympic Games.
Caitlin Munoz | Former Australia international footballer, won several W-League titles with Canberra United.
Kelly Lindsey | Current Afghanistan Women’s national team head coach.
Michael Dickey | Current Jordan Women’s national team head coach.
Belinda Wilson | Current Guam Women’s national team head coach.
Kumar Thapa | Current Nepal Women’s national team head coach.
Ann Odong | Women’s footballer writer in Australia and editor of The Women’s Game.
Cheryl Downes | Contributing editor and Melbourne correspondent for The Women’s Game.
Sven Beyrich | Freelance Asian women’s football writer.
Sarah Groube | Freelance women’s football writer in Australia.

Africa

Perpetua Nkwocha | Former Nigeria international with 99 caps, played at four Women’s World Cups, voted African Women’s Player of the Year four times and nominated for FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year in 2005.
Mercy Akide | Former Nigeria international, played at three Women’s World Cups and voted Africa Women’s Player of the Year in 2001.
Desiree Ellis | Current South Africa Women’s national team interim head coach.
Majidah Nantanda | Current Uganda Women’s national team head coach.
Velile Mbuli | Award-winning African football writer in South Africa.
Janine Anthony | Women’s football writer in Nigeria and founder of Ladies March.
Rachel Iseoluwa-Ugiagbe | Freelance women’s football writer in Nigeria.
Abigail Opoku | Women’s football writer for Ladies March in Ghana.
Gracey Chirumanzu | Award-winning football writer in Zimbabwe and founder of The Sports Queen.
Julia Wanjeri | Women’s football writer in Kenya and founder of JWSports1.

How It All Works

Our judges will be sent a list of 200 footballers from around the world and asked to vote for their own individual top 40 footballers of 2016 in November. The period of consideration when it comes to voting will be November 1st 2016 – October 31st 2017.
The top choice of each judge will be awarded 40 points, second choice 39 points, third choice 38 points and so on down to 40. All votes will be added together when voting closes at the start of December to come up with the top 100.
If any two or more players are level on points, the order will be based on how many individual votes each player received. If that still couldn’t split them, they will be based on how many No.1 votes each received.
A player must receive at least five individual votes to make the top 100.

Disclosure

To ensure all our judges have the freedom to vote for who they wish and not bound by personal relationships or club relationships, all votes are anonymous and will remain so.
Judges will appear on the voting sheet as singular numbers and those numbers bear no relation to the person voting i.e. alphabetical order.
The top 100 itself will be posted on the @OffsideRulePod Twitter account between December 11th and December 22nd.