The England midfielder, who turned 29 on Saturday, was honoured
at a gala dinner in London on Friday night by the Football Writers'
Association after he topped the poll of journalists ahead of
Manchester United duo Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney to win the
prestigious accolade.
Gerrard scored 24 goals, 16 of which came in the Premier League
as he led the Reds' challenge to eventual champions United.
Although Liverpool were unable to sustain their title drive,
Gerrard pledged to continuing working towards making the Anfield
club the best around once more.
"The coaches at Liverpool and England are always driving me on,
trying to improve me as a player. I am 29 on Saturday and I still
feel I can get better,'' he said.
"I am still learning every single day in training, working on
parts of my game, am still very hungry and ambitious. There is
still a lot to achieve for me personally, for Liverpool and
England, so hopefully next year is going to be a lot bigger for me
trophy wise.''
Gerrard added: "The night has blew me away to be honest, I did
not realise it was such a big event with so many people here. I
would love nothing better than to come back here and share this
evening with you again, so I will certainly try my best to be here
next year.''
However, the Reds captain was quick to pay tribute to all the
people who had helped him earn such an accolade.
"I would not be standing here without my family, my wife and a
few close friends are here tonight, and I have to say a big thank
you to them,'' he said. "Also my club manager, Rafael Benitez, who
has a lot of belief in me.
"He has pushed me further forwards into a role I am absolutely
loving at the moment - every time I go out, I feel so confident. It
is great to be here to receive an individual award, but without my
team-mates, I would not be able to be here.
"They have been fantastic this season and I am proud to be the
captain of such a great team. Although this is an individual award,
I would much rather be in a London hotel now preparing with my
team-mates for the FA Cup final.
"Now, however, I believe we are moving forwards and are capable
of challenging for major honours.''
Gerrard insists the best is yet to come. The toast to the FWA
was made by England manager Fabio Capello.
The Italian coach paid tribute to Gerrard, who is set to play an
integral role in the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against
Kazakhstan and Andorra.
Capello said: "Steve, you have played a fantastic season, and
scored a lot of goals. Now, please, just two more to help us
towards South Africa.''
Gerrard pledged to help lead the side towards the finals next
summer.
He said: "The new manager has come in and changed things. I can
honestly say it is a good time to be an England player. I have got
a lot of belief in the England manager and his coaching staff.
"I think it is going to be an exciting year and hopefully we can
get [World Cup] qualification sorted as quickly as possible. Then
hopefully we can do better than we have done in previous years for
England.''
Chairman of the FWA, Steve Bates, chief football writer for
The People, paid tribute to the 2009 Footballer of The
Year, an award which has been running since 1948.
"Steven is without doubt an outstanding player of his generation
and an inspiration to his club Liverpool and a prized asset of
England manager Fabio Capello,'' he said.
"It speaks volumes that Steven beat off competition from five of
Manchester United's big names, following their season of fine
achievement, to be named by our members as Footballer of the Year -
and deservedly so.''