Claudio Braga Wins PFA Scotland Premiership Player of the Year
Claudio Braga won the PFA Scotland Premiership Player of the Year after topping the voting, a reward for the Hearts striker’s 14-goal league return. The 26-year-old has 17 goals in all competitions since arriving from Norwegian second-tier side Aalesund, and his form has helped Hearts lead the way.
Braga tops the PFA vote
Braga emerged from a shortlist that also included Hearts team-mate Lawrence Shankland and Motherwell pair Tawanda Maswanhise and Elijah Just. His award sits at the top of a night that spread across the Scottish game, but the Premiership prize went to the player who produced the clearest scoring output in the division.
Hearts were top of the league when the awards were announced, which gives the result a direct line to the table. Braga’s 14 league goals are the sharpest marker in that rise, while his 17 in all competitions show the contribution has not been limited to one competition.
Hearts figures in the awards
The club’s influence reached beyond the player award. Derek McInnes and Eva Olid were backed by their counterparts in the manager category, and Hearts had another presence on the Premiership shortlist through Shankland. That spread of recognition matches a season in which Hearts have been prominent enough to put multiple names in front of voters.
The award also lands for a player who arrived from a second-tier league and turned that move into immediate production. Braga did not need a long bedding-in period to become central to Hearts’ attack, and the numbers attached to his first season in Scotland explain why the vote went his way.
Other winners at the awards
The night also brought recognition for Glasgow City’s Nicole Kozlova, who collected the SWPL player of the year award after recording nine goals and five assists before a serious knee injury two months ago. Rangers scooped a double in the young player category, on-loan Tottenham winger Mikey Moore won the SPFL award, and 16-year-old May Cruft took the SWPL young player prize.
Lower divisional honors went to St Johnstone winger Josh McPake, Hamilton Academical striker Oli Shaw and East Kilbride forward John Robertson. Braga’s award remained the main prize, though, and it went to the league’s top scorer among the names listed in the voting breakdown.
