Steven Gerrard has opened a debate over the Footballer of the Year Award by revealing his surprise that he won it!
The Liverpool midfielder beat off intense competition from Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs to be named the Football Writers' Association player of the season, which is still regarded as the most prestigious individual prize.
Gerrard joins legends such as Sir Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney, Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush in the roll of honour, and he admitted he was "amazed and proud".
But the Liverpool skipper claimed he was "shocked" at his victory ahead of Giggs and Rooney who have helped steer Manchester United to the verge of another Premier League and Champions League double.
And he revealed he thought he was being wound up when he received the call to tell him the good news.
"I got a phone call from Liverpool's Director of Communications, Ian Cotton, and was debating whether or not to take the call because I wondered what was wrong!" joked Gerrard. "I thought I might have been in the papers for the wrong reasons! But when I did take the call and he delivered the good news it was a great feeling for me, and a great surprise.
"I am truly delighted but still a little bit shocked. When you look at the quality of the players there are in this league, it's a great privilege.
"You look at what Manchester United have done, of course, and the players they have, and the players other teams have.
"The quality is getting better and better each year so to win this award is a great achievement." Giggs won the PFA player of the year award, but many judges predicted that either Rooney or Nemanja Vidic would win the ultimate prize, because of United's success.
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But Gerrard has shown himself to be indispensable to the Liverpool cause and his manager Rafa Benitez believes it is just reward for the 28-year-old.
"Steven is a great professional and a great example to everyone - both on and off the pitch, and that is important," Benitez said.
"He has scored 23 goals for us already this season and it is clear he has had another fantastic year, and given the quality of the competition, it is fantastic for him.
"But the first thing he said when he won was thanks to the staff and thanks to his team-mates and it shows how much Steven is part of a team, and how modest he is." Gerrard said: "It's made even more special because I am following in the footsteps of Liverpool players like John Barnes, Steve Nicol and Kenny Dalglish, who were heroes of mine," he admitted.
"Then, further back, players like Ian Callaghan and Terry McDermott who were heroes to my dad and so many other Liverpool fans.
"But I've had fantastic help along the way from everyone at this club - the manager, the coaching staff and my teammates.
Individual awards are great but you don't win them without great help from those people." Gerrard's team-mate Xabi Alonso, meanwhile, has reiterated his desire to stay at Anfield, despite fresh rumours linking him with a move to Arsenal, Juventus or Manchester City.
The Spanish midfielder said: "A lot of things have changed for me during my five years here, and now I'm looking forward to my sixth season as a Liverpool player."
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