Andre Ayew displaying his BBC African Footballer of the Year award

Andre Ayew says winning the BBC African Footballer of the Year award is as a result as a collective team effort with the national team, the Black Stars.

The 22-year-old who received the chunk of voted to succeed compatriot Asamoah Gyan who won the award last year ahead of Cameroonian Samuel Eto’O, Seydou Keita of Mali and the Ivorian duo of Yaya Toure and Gervinho.

And though annexing an individual accolade, the Marsielle kingpin insists it was through the contribution of teammates in the Black Stars.

“This is a great award for me and personally it is something very important as a player to achieve this award and I was very proud and honoured to have recieved this award,” he told GHANAsoccernet.com.

“I would like to thank all my people in Ghana and all over the world who believed in me and supported me throughout my career.

“Most importantly I don’t want to forget my colleagues at the Black Stars because without them it would have been difficult to get this award.”

After making an impact on the international stage in 2010, when he impressed observers at both the Africa Cup of Nations and Fifa World Cup, 2011 marked a year when Andre Ayew became a key figure at club level.

He finished the 2010-11 campaign as a regular starter for Marseille for the first time in his career, with his goal tally of 11 aiding his cause.

At the start of this season, he struck a hat-trick to help Marseille win the French Super League – and has since contested all but one of his side’s 17 league games, scoring six times.

Injury ruled him out of Marseille’s opening Champions League group game but the Ghanaian has gone on to miss just one minute of European action since then, as the 1993 champions reached the knockout stages.

At international level, Ayew also played a key role in ensuring that the Black Stars qualified for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations with an unbeaten record and is expected to play an integral part in the Black Stars quest to win its fifth African title at Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.