Inaki Williams wins LaLiga Santander Mid-Season African MVP Award

Record-breaking Athletic Bilbao striker Iñaki Williams has won LaLiga Santander’s Mid Season African MVP Award, after a conclusive vote by a jury of football journalists and fans.

Born in Bilbao with strong African roots, the 28-year-old has spent his entire professional career with Athletic Bilbao, with the pacey forward scoring 80 goals in his 362 appearances for Los Leones (The Lions) since making his LaLiga debut for Athletic as an 18-year-old teenager.

The award is an acknowledgement and celebration of the standout African players campaigning in LaLiga and Williams was a convincing winner following a public vote and the votes submitted by a number of leading sports journalists across the African continent.

Williams made global headlines recently – for not being on the pitch – after his incredible run of 251 consecutive LaLiga games for Athletic Bilbao came to an end when he was forced to miss Athletic’s LaLiga game against RC Celta due to a muscle injury.

His amazing streak started on 7 April 2016 and he set a new record for the most consecutive LaLiga appearances in October 2021 after 203 straight games, eclipsing the 202 made by Real Sociedad’s Juanan Larrañaga.

Williams’ astonishing record ended this past weekend when he missed the RC Celta game, bringing to an end an incredible run of 2,468 days and nearly seven years without missing a league game for Athletic.

“Inaki Williams has long established himself as a fantastic footballer whose name will forever be etched in the LaLiga history books and he is a popular and worthy winner of the LaLiga Santander Mid Season African MVP Award.

The award is a tribute to the huge contribution made by so many world-class African players to LaLiga over the years and also an acknowledgement of the huge growth of LaLiga amongst Africa’s passionate football fans. We warmly congratulate Iñaki for this award and thank everyone who participated in this popular competition,” said Marcos Pelegrin, LaLiga’s Southern Africa Managing Director.