Tallinn’s Estonia Concert Hall hosted the traditional annual Estonian Football Awards gala today, where the country’s top footballing figures of 2025 were officially honored. The evening’s main awards went to national team goalkeeper Karl Jakob Hein and defender Siret Räämet, who were named Estonia’s Men’s and Women’s Footballers of the Year respectively.
For the first time in his career, Karl Jakob Hein was voted Estonia’s Footballer of the Year. The 23-year-old goalkeeper, currently playing for Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga, won the vote convincingly.
Hein collected 61 first-place votes from 82 respondents, finishing with a total of 214 points. He comfortably outpaced fellow Estonia internationals playing abroad:
- Maksim Paskotši (Gent, Belgium) finished second with 121 points and 11 first-place votes,
- Mattias Käit (Thun, Switzerland) placed third with 80 points and four first-place votes.
In total, five different players received first-place votes, with Rauno Sappinen (Flora Tallinn) and Karol Mets (St. Pauli, Germany) also earning top selections for at least one time. Overall, 13 different players appeared on at least one ballot.
Hein spent the first half of the year with Real Valladolid in La Liga. Despite the club’s relegation, Hein stood out as one of Valladolid’s most consistent performers. This season he is again on loan from Arsenal, this time at Werder Bremen, where he is currently serving as the club’s second-choice goalkeeper.
At international level, Hein remained a cornerstone of the Estonian national team in 2025, appearing in nine of the team’s ten matches during the calendar year.
The award for Estonia’s Women’s Footballer of the Year went to Siret Räämet, a defender for both the national team and LASK Linz in the Austrian top division.
The 25-year-old earlier this year joined LASK Linz, where she has already established herself as a key figure in the club’s defensive line. A product of Flora’s academy, Räämet has also contributed three goals for her English club side during the season.
Räämet dominated the voting, receiving 16 first-place votes out of a possible 24, winning the award convincingly ahead of Vlada Kubaassova (Ferencváros, Hungary) and goalkeeper Katarina Elisabeth Käpa.
While Käpa finished third in the senior women’s vote, she did not leave empty-handed, being named Estonia’s Women’s Young Player of the Year for 2025.
In the men’s young player category, the vote was exceptionally tight. Patrik Kristal of the 1. FC Köln organization edged out Marten-Chris Paalberg from Premium Liiga surprise package Pärnu JK Vaprus. Both players finished with 26 points, but Kristal claimed the award thanks to one additional first-place vote.
The Manager of the Year award went to Konstantin Vassiljev, who enjoyed a remarkable debut season as head coach of FC Flora Tallinn, guiding the club to the Estonian championship title in his first year on the touchline.
Flora striker Rauno Sappinen was named Premium Liiga Player of the Year after finishing as the league’s top scorer with 21 goals and helping Flora secure yet another league title.
The award for Goal of the Year went to Ivans Patrikejevs for his spectacular overhead kick against JK Tallinna Kalev. The Latvian midfielder spent the season on loan at Nõmme Kalju from FK Liepāja, making 33 league appearances, scoring eight goals, and providing five assists.
Source: jalgpall.ee
