Steph Catley and Holly McNamara receive nominations at the AFC Annual Awards

Steph Catley and Holly McNamara have received nominations at the AFC Annual Awards, with Catley nominated for AFC Asian International Player of the Year, while McNamara is nominated for the AFC Women's Player of the Year.

The award ceremony, set to take place on October 18th, will see the Player of the Year, International Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Futsal Player of the Year, and Youth Player of the Year presented.

Catley is nominated for the AFC Asian International Player of the Year, which was first introduced last year, and her international teammate Ellie Carpenter claimed it in the inaugural year. 

The nomination for the defender comes off the back of her first-ever nomination for the Ballon d'Or, following a stand-out season for Arsenal, where she helped the club claim the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Catley is nominated alongside the Japanese duo of Maika Hamano and Yui Hasegawa, with all three plying their trade in the WSL. 

McNamara's nomination for Player of the Year comes off the back of her return from an ACL injury in December 2024. Despite missing the start of the season, the forward still claimed the Golden Boot for the 2024/25 season with 15 goals. 

The forward made her return to international football at the start of 2025 during the SheBelieves Cup against Japan, marking 1,119 days between her last international appearance during the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup. McNamara scored her first senior goal for her country during the CommBank Matildas' 3-0 win over Slovenia in Perth in June. 

Holly joins an illustrious group of Australians who have been nominated for the award, with Kate Gill, Melissa Barbieri, Katrina Gorry, Caitlin Foord, Sam Kerr and Cortnee Vine all receiving nominations since the award was first presented.

McNamara is nominated alongside China PR's Wang Shuang and Japan's Hana Takahashi.