The accolades could keep coming for former City goalkeeper Patrick Beach following a remarkable 12 months for Club and country.
Fresh from making his Ligue 1 debut for Troyes over the weekend, marking the occasion with a clean sheet in a scoreless draw against Paris FC, Beach has now been recognised as a nominee for one of Professional Footballers Australia’s top individual honours.
The 23-year-old is in the running for the Harry Kewell Medal, awarded to Australia’s best-performing young Men’s footballer and voted on by his fellow professionals.
It comes after a memorable 2025/26 campaign that saw Beach further establish himself as one of Australia’s brightest young goalkeepers during his final season in City colours.
He kept 12 clean sheets across all competitions for City before taking his form onto the biggest stage of all with the Socceroos at the FIFA World Cup.
Beach started all four of Australia’s matches at the tournament, keeping clean sheets against Türkiye and Paraguay as the Socceroos progressed to the knockout stages for just the third time.
His performances quickly captured the imagination of a nation back home, even resulting in St Kilda Beach temporarily becoming Patrick Beach, before a permanent move to French Ligue 1 club Troyes followed in July.
And if his first taste of French football is anything to go by, he hasn’t missed a beat.
Beach started between the posts for Troyes in their Ligue 1 opener against Paris FC on Saturday, keeping another clean sheet to begin the latest chapter of his career.
Should he add the Harry Kewell Medal to his list of achievements, Beach would become the fourth player to receive the honour following a standout season at Melbourne City.
Academy graduates Daniel Arzani (2018), Connor Metcalfe (2021) and Jordan Bos (2023) have all previously taken home the prestigious award.
There could even be one of those familiar City faces standing in Beach’s way.
Now plying his trade with Feyenoord in the Netherlands, Bos has again been recognised as a nominee for the Harry Kewell Medal, while the former City star is also in contention for the PFA Men’s Footballer of the Year.
From City’s Championship-winning goalkeeper to Socceroos World Cup breakout star and now Ligue 1, it’s been quite the 12 months for Beach.
And there could still be another accolade to add to the collection!
