The London Football Awards celebrate the best the sport has to offer in the capital, as only clubs and players based in London are eligible, with the latest recipients announced in a ceremony at the Roundhouse in Camden tonight.

This is the second year in a row the panel of football officials, media representatives and former players voted a Blue as FA Women’s Super League Player of the Year, while we have a name from our men’s team on the list of winners for the first time since Tammy Abraham was Premier League and Young Player of the Year in 2019/20.

Mendy has become the second Chelsea player to receive the Goalkeeper of the Year honour at the London Football Awards, following Thibaut Courtois in 2014/15. Mendy was chosen ahead of fellow nominees Dean Bouzanis (Sutton United), Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham United), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur) and Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal).

The Senegalese international has enjoyed a fine second season in England so far, keeping an impressive 15 clean sheets and conceding just 19 goals in his 30 appearances to date in all competitions.

That is in addition to following up our 2021 Champions League triumph by adding the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup trophies to his haul with Chelsea, as well as helping Senegal to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time.

Following on from Fran Kirby’s victory in the same category last year, Kerr received the FA Women’s Super League Player of the Year award.

The Chelsea Women forward is having another excellent campaign for Emma Hayes’ side, finding the back of the net nine times in 11 WSL appearances, making her the league’s current top scorer. That contributes to an impressive record of 18 goals in 22 games in all competitions just past the halfway mark in 2021/22.

The highlights of Kerr’s WSL season so far include a first-half hat-trick as the Blues beat Birmingham City 6-0 at Kingsmeadow.

Conor Gallagher has shone during his season-long loan at Palace. The 22-year-old midfielder, a product of the Chelsea Academy, has eight goals and five assists to his name, and his impact has been recognised with the London Football Awards’ Men’s Young Player of Year.

At the end of the evening, Emma Hayes’ many years of exceptional work and achievement is recognised when she collected the already announced Outstanding Contribution to London Football award, decided by an independent panel of judges. She joined the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, Arsene Wenger, Ian Wright, Glenn Hoddle, Les Ferdinand and Roy Hodgson in collecting that. It is another individual accolade she can add to the Best FIFA Women’s Coach of 2021.

West Ham's Declan Rice and David Moyes won the Premier League Player and the Manager awards respectively, with Tottenham's Jessica Naz collecting the Women's Young Player of the Year.

All the funds raised from tonight’s London Football Awards ceremony go to support the Willow Foundation, a charity formed by ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson and his wife Megs in memory of their daughter, which provides special days for seriously ill young adults.