Football Writers' Association

The choice to create the Football Writers' Association (FWA) was made on 22 September 1947 by journalists, Charles Buchan (News Chronicle), Frank Coles (Daily Telegraph), Roy Peskett (Daily Mail), and Archie Quick while aboard a boat in the middle of the English Channel that was returning from a football match in which England beat Belgium 5–2. Ivan Sharpe of the Sunday Chronicle was appointed chairman a month later, a position he held for the first six years of the FWA's existence and eight times in all in his long career. The men formalized a few of the newborn association's rules and regulations within one month. Some of the rules initially created were that membership to the FWA would be invitation only and that they would exclusively send invitations to "working journalists who are accredited football correspondents for newspapers and agencies". It was also determined that the Football Writers' Association's headquarters would be in London, England and the membership fee would be five guineas for the first year of membership with a recurring annual payment of two guineas each year after. Furthermore, the men had decided that there would be a vote held annually for all members that would decide the recipient of the prestigious Footballer of the Year Award, which is still today the oldest and most distinguished award given in the domestic game. The award was originally presented at the annual dinner, which was held on the night before the FA Cup Final, but was later changed to the Thursday preceding every FA Cup Final. To mark the FWA's 70th anniversary newly created Life Members of the association will now receive the Ivan Sharpe Life Membership Award, while in 2018, the FWA announced it was awarding a Woman's Footballer of the Year award in recognition of the growth of the woman's game in this country. ed[1]

The FWA has experienced steady growth since its inception in 1947. Membership has grown to about four-hundred members. Changes in modern journalism have welcomed a more diverse range of members. In recent years, the association has modernized itself by changing the voting process for Footballer of the Year by making online voting available to its members as well as incorporating social media into its revamped web site. The Football Writers' Association continues to recruit new members openly in the same manner as was created by its founders in 1947.[1] On 24 April 2019, beIN Sports senior sports correspondent Carrie Brown was announced as the first female chair of the FWA.[2]

Charles Buchan, one of the founding fathers of the FWA, had originally suggested that there be an award presented "to the professional player who by precept and example is considered by a ballot of members to be the footballer of the year." The award is the oldest and is considered to be the most prestigious award in British football. The award is presented annually. The first player to receive the award was Sir Stanley Matthews in 1948.[3] In 2018 the FWA introduced their award for the Woman Footballer of the Year in recognition of the growth of the woman's game.

Winners

The award has been presented on 71 occasions as of 2018, with 63 different winners. On one occasion two players shared the award for a season (1968–69).[4] The table also indicates where the winning player also won one or more of the other major "player of the year" awards in English football, namely the Professional Footballers' Association's Players' Player of the Year award (PPY),[5][6][7] Fans' Player of the Year award (FPY),[8] and Young Player of the Year award (YPY).[6][7][9]

Neville Southall's 1985 win was the last time a goalkeeper received the award.

Dennis Bergkamp won the award in the 1997–98 season.

Thierry Henry was the first player to win the award in two consecutive seasons.

Cristiano Ronaldo also won the award consecutively, in the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons.

Wayne Rooney gained the award in the 2009–10 season.

Year		Player	Club	Also won	Notes
1947–48		Stanley Matthews	Blackpool
1948–49		Johnny Carey	Manchester United		[10]
1949–50		Joe Mercer	Arsenal
1950–51		Harry Johnston	Blackpool
1951–52		Billy Wright	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1952–53		Nat Lofthouse	Bolton Wanderers
1953–54		Tom Finney	Preston North End
1954–55		Don Revie	Manchester City
1955–56		Bert Trautmann	Manchester City
1956–57		Tom Finney	Preston North End		[11]
1957–58		Danny Blanchflower	Tottenham Hotspur
1958–59		Syd Owen	Luton Town
1959–60		Bill Slater	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1960–61		Danny Blanchflower	Tottenham Hotspur
1961–62		Jimmy Adamson	Burnley
1962–63		Stanley Matthews	Stoke City		[12]
1963–64		Bobby Moore	West Ham United
1964–65		Bobby Collins	Leeds United
1965–66		Bobby Charlton	Manchester United
1966–67		Jack Charlton	Leeds United
1967–68		George Best	Manchester United
1968–69		Tony Book (joint winner)	Manchester City
		Dave Mackay (joint winner)	Derby County
1969–70		Billy Bremner	Leeds United
1970–71		Frank McLintock	Arsenal
1971–72		Gordon Banks	Stoke City
1972–73		Pat Jennings	Tottenham Hotspur		[13]
1973–74		Ian Callaghan	Liverpool
1974–75		Alan Mullery	Fulham
1975–76		Kevin Keegan	Liverpool
1976–77		Emlyn Hughes	Liverpool
1977–78		Kenny Burns	Nottingham Forest
1978–79		Kenny Dalglish	Liverpool
1979–80		Terry McDermott	Liverpool	PPY	[14]
1980–81		Frans Thijssen	Ipswich Town
1981–82		Steve Perryman	Tottenham Hotspur
1982–83		Kenny Dalglish	Liverpool	PPY
1983–84		Ian Rush	Liverpool	PPY
1984–85		Neville Southall	Everton
1985–86		Gary Lineker	Everton	PPY
1986–87		Clive Allen	Tottenham Hotspur	PPY
1987–88		John Barnes	Liverpool	PPY
1988–89		Steve Nicol	Liverpool
1989–90		John Barnes	Liverpool
1990–91		Gordon Strachan	Leeds United
1991–92		Gary Lineker	Tottenham Hotspur
1992–93		Chris Waddle	Sheffield Wednesday
1993–94		Alan Shearer	Blackburn Rovers
1994–95		Jürgen Klinsmann	Tottenham Hotspur
1995–96		Eric Cantona	Manchester United
1996–97		Gianfranco Zola	Chelsea
1997–98		Dennis Bergkamp	Arsenal	PPY
1998–99		David Ginola	Tottenham Hotspur	PPY
1999–00		Roy Keane	Manchester United	PPY
2000–01		Teddy Sheringham	Manchester United	PPY
2001–02		Robert Pires	Arsenal
2002–03		Thierry Henry	Arsenal	PPY, FPY
2003–04		Thierry Henry	Arsenal	PPY, FPY	[15]
2004–05		Frank Lampard	Chelsea	FPY	[16]
2005–06		Thierry Henry	Arsenal		[17]
2006–07		Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	PPY, FPY, YPY	[18]
2007–08		Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	PPY, FPY
2008–09		Steven Gerrard	Liverpool	FPY	[19]
2009–10		Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	PPY	[20]
2010–11		Scott Parker	West Ham United		[21]
2011–12		Robin van Persie	Arsenal	PPY, FPY	[22]
2012–13		Gareth Bale	Tottenham Hotspur	PPY, YPY	[23]
2013–14		Luis Suárez	Liverpool	PPY	[24]
2014–15		Eden Hazard	Chelsea	PPY	[25]
2015–16		Jamie Vardy	Leicester City		[26]
2016–17		N'Golo Kanté	Chelsea	PPY	[27]
2017–18		Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	PPY	[28]
2018–19		Raheem Sterling	Manchester City		[29]
2019–20		Jordan Henderson	Liverpool		[30]
2020–21		Rúben Dias	Manchester City		[31]
2021–22		Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	PPY, FPY	[32]

In 2018, the FWA introduced their award for the Woman Footballer of the Year in recognition of the growth of the women's game.

Inaugural winner Fran Kirby

The award has been presented on one occasion as of 2018, with one winner. The table also indicates where the winning player also won one or more of the other major "player of the year" awards in English football, namely the PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year award (PPY),[33] and the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year award (YPY).[6][7][9]

Year		Player	Club	Also won	Notes
2017–18		Fran Kirby	Chelsea	PPY	Inaugural winner of award[34]
2018–19		Nikita Parris	Manchester City		[35]
2019–20		Vivianne Miedema	Arsenal		First non-English winner[36][37]
2020–21		Fran Kirby	Chelsea	PPY	Two-time winner of award[38]
2021–22		Sam Kerr	Chelsea	PPY	[39]

The Football Writers' Association Tribute Award is presented annually every January at the Savoy Hotel to the individual that the committee believes to have contributed to the national game in a significant way. The award was first given in 1983 to Ron Greenwood.[3]

• Welsh Football Writers Association
• Scottish Football Writers' Association
• Ice Hockey Journalists UK
• Professional Footballers' Association

• Official website (archived 13 December 2007)