leo scienza is now part of a new fan vote as voting opens for the 2025/26 Southern Daily Echo Saints Player of the Year award. Supporters have until Monday, May 11, at 7pm to choose who takes the season prize. The current holder is Mateus Fernandes, who won last season at a canter.
Mateus Fernandes holds the title
Fernandes’ win gives this year’s ballot a clear reference point. The award is not just a name on a roll of honour; it is the supporters’ season-end judgment on who mattered most, and the deadline leaves no room for a late rethink.
Three current Saints players have already won the award before. Alex McCarthy, Oriol Romeu and Flynn Downes are all previous winners, and Downes took it in 2023/24. That puts experienced names back into the frame before the vote closes.
Saints and the play-offs
The vote lands while Southampton are still playing for promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs. Tonda Eckert’s side face Middlesbrough in the semi-finals, and Southampton have not beaten them this season.
The league campaign gives the ballot some weight. Saints finished with 80 points and head into the play-offs unbeaten in 19 league games. That form means the award is being decided with one part of the season already settled and another still live.
Monday, May 11 at 7pm
The practical step for supporters is simple. Vote before Monday, May 11, at 7pm if they want their choice counted. The unresolved part is the outcome itself, and the result will show whether last season’s pattern repeats or whether one of the other familiar names takes the 2025/26 honour.
