20-year-old defender Ellie Carpenter has been named as the Westfield W-League Young Footballer of the Year for a history-making third time in a row.
She featured in all fourteen Melbourne City games this season, playing 1,137 minutes in her inaugural W-League campaign with City.
Carpenter spent this season on loan at Melbourne from Portland Thorns in the NWSL, also impressing during her time in the USA across her 35 games there.
She was nominated for the award after a strong January which saw Melbourne win all three of their games in the month.
During January, the full-back was impressive both in defence and going forwards. In the 2019/20 season, she was equal first with four assists and second overall in chances created with 31 in the league.
Move to Lyon
Her form in the W-League and for her national over the past five years has seen Carpenter become one of the most talked-about young players in the world, and it ultimately earned her a move to European giants Olympique Lyon.
Carpenter's move to France was arguably one of the biggest ever by an Australian footballer, both male and female, even when taking Sam Kerr's transfer to Chelsea into account.
Lyon have won the last four UEFA Champions League titles and into the quarter-finals of the competition this year, when it is taking place as a condensed tournament in Spain.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald when her transfer was announced, Carpenter described her move to France as surreal: "Growing up, that's the club I wanted to end up at. For me to be going there now is surreal, and I just can't wait"
Matildas on the move
Carpenter is one of a large number of Matildas players who have chosen to move over from the W-League to European competition this year, with the allure of the Champions League and the best football in the world a large factor:
"It's really exciting with the majority of us Matildas now heading over to Europe. It's just going to make our team that much stronger," she said.
"Pretty much everyone will be in the top leagues over there, at the top teams, playing Champions League. If all of us are training with the best players, at the best clubs, with the best facilities, we're going to have the best chance to be one of the best national teams in the world."