Tōko Koga has been shortlisted for Women’s Player of the Year at the 2026 Football Supporters’ Association Awards, and she is the only one of the six nominees who doesn’t play for Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United.
That tells you the company she is in. Arsenal have two names on the list, Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey, while Chelsea‘s Lauren James, Manchester City’s Bunny Shaw and Manchester United’s Jessica Park complete the shortlist.
The winner is picked by supporters. Voting is open until 12 noon on Monday 16 November, and the award will be presented at the FSA Awards ceremony in London on Monday 30 November.
Why has Koga been shortlisted?
Because her first season in English football went about as well as a debut campaign can. Koga joined Spurs Women from Feyenoord and finished last term in the Barclays Women’s Super League Team of the Season. She was named in the PFA Team of the Year for 2025/26 as well, and Spurs fans voted her the club’s Adult Supporters’ Player of the Season.
She also saved one of her best moments for the last day. Koga scored a late winner as Spurs beat Brighton 2-1 in the WSL finale, and afterwards she described it as “my best goal ever”.
There was silverware on the international stage too. Koga scored twice as Japan reached the semi-finals of the Asian Cup in March, and Japan went on to win the tournament.
Has she kept it up this season?
The club say her impressive form has carried on into 2026/27, and she is back at the heart of things after a rough patch for the team. Koga was one of seven players Martin Ho brought back into the side for last Sunday’s trip to Birmingham City, and Spurs ended a run of three straight WSL defeats with a 4-1 win at St Andrew’s, the day Drew Spence became the WSL’s all-time appearance record holder.
Her reliability matters even more now. Alice Sombath has been ruled out with an ACL injury, which leaves Ho with one fewer senior option to rotate in a season that already runs across the WSL and the Players Cup.
Can Koga beat Russo, James and Shaw?
On paper it’s a tall order. Russo, James and Shaw are forwards who score the goals that go viral, and Arsenal, Chelsea, City and United all bring bigger voting bases than Spurs to a public poll. Defenders also tend to have it harder in fan votes, because the best of what they do is the chance that never happens.
That is exactly why Koga’s place on the list says so much. Nobody nominates a defender from outside the usual title contenders as a token gesture. She is there because supporters across the country have noticed her.
It has been a good week for the women’s side of the club in general. Spence broke the appearance record on Sunday, and 18-year-old academy goalkeeper Sophie Jackson signed her first professional contract on Tuesday.
Verdict: Koga has earned the Spurs vote
Whether or not she wins on 30 November, the shortlist already puts Koga alongside five of the biggest names in the women’s game. For a defender who only arrived from Feyenoord last season, that is a remarkable rise.
If Spurs fans get behind her the way they did for the club’s own player of the season award, she has a real chance of turning a brilliant first year into the biggest individual honour of her time in north London.
