FWA Footballer of the Year
The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football.[1] The award has been presented since the 1947–48 season, with the inaugural winner being Blackpool winger Stanley Matthews. The latest winner of the award as of 2021–22 is Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. Nine players have won the award on more than one occasion, with Thierry Henry having won the award on the most occasions, with three wins in four seasons.
Sport | Association football |
---|---|
Competition | All levels of English football |
Country | England and Wales |
Presented by | FWA |
History | |
First award | 1947–48 |
Editions | 75 |
First winner | Stanley Matthews |
Most wins | Thierry Henry (3 awards) |
Most recent | Mohamed Salah |
Website | footballwriters |
The winner is selected by a vote amongst the members of the Football Writers' Association (FWA), which comprises around 400 football journalists based throughout England.[2] The award was instigated at the suggestion of Charles Buchan, a former professional footballer turned journalist and one of the Association's founders.[3]
Winners
The award has been presented on 75 occasions as of 2022, to 66 players. On one occasion two players shared the award for a season.[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] the Young Player of the Year award (YPY),[6][7][9] the Premier League Player of the Season award (PPS),[10], the Football Supporter Association Player of the Year (FSA), and the Football Supporters' Federation Player of the Year award (FSF).[11]
Breakdown of winners
By country
Country | Number of wins | Winning years |
---|---|---|
England | 38 | 1947–48, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69‡, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20 |
Scotland | 9 | 1964–65, 1968–69‡, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1988–89, 1990–91 |
France | 7 | 1995–96, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2016–17 |
Northern Ireland | 4 | 1957–58, 1960–61, 1967–68, 1972–73 |
Netherlands | 3 | 1980–81, 1997–98, 2011–12 |
Wales | 3 | 1983–84, 1984–85, 2012–13 |
Portugal | 3 | 2006–07, 2007–08, 2020–21 |
Egypt | 2 | 2017–18, 2021–22 |
West Germany / Germany | 2 | 1955–56, 1994–95 |
Republic of Ireland | 2 | 1948–49, 1999–2000 |
Italy | 1 | 1996–97 |
Uruguay | 1 | 2013–14 |
Belgium | 1 | 2014–15 |
‡ — two winners
Winners by club
Club | Number of wins | Winning years |
---|---|---|
Liverpool | 15 | 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2021–22 |
Tottenham Hotspur | 9 | 1957–58, 1960–61, 1972–73, 1981–82, 1986–87, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1998–99, 2012–13 |
Manchester United | 9 | 1948–49, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1995–96, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10 |
Arsenal | 8 | 1949–50, 1970–71, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2011–12 |
Manchester City | 5 | 1954–55, 1955–56, 1968–69‡, 2018–19, 2020–21 |
Leeds United | 4 | 1964–65, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1990–91 |
Chelsea | 4 | 1996–97, 2004–05, 2014–15, 2016–17 |
Everton | 2 | 1984–85, 1985–86 |
Stoke City | 2 | 1962–63, 1971–72 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2 | 1951–52, 1959–60 |
Preston North End | 2 | 1953–54, 1956–57 |
Blackpool | 2 | 1947–48, 1950–51 |
West Ham United | 2 | 1963–64, 2010–11 |
Leicester City | 1 | 2015–16 |
Blackburn Rovers | 1 | 1993–94 |
Sheffield Wednesday | 1 | 1992–93 |
Ipswich Town | 1 | 1980–81 |
Nottingham Forest | 1 | 1977–78 |
Fulham | 1 | 1974–75 |
Derby County | 1 | 1968–69‡ |
Burnley | 1 | 1961–62 |
Luton Town | 1 | 1958–59 |
Bolton Wanderers | 1 | 1952–53 |
See also
- PFA Players' Player of the Year
- SPFA Players' Player of the Year
- SFWA Footballer of the Year
- PFAI Players' Player of the Year
- Premier League Player of the Season
References
- "England Player Honours – Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year". England Football Online. 19 June 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
- "About the FWA". Football Writers' Association. Archived from the original on 8 April 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
- "FWA Footballer of the Year Award". Football Writers' Association. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
- "England – Players Awards". RSSSF. 4 October 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
- "Only here for the peers". BBC Sport. 20 April 2001. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
- "Gerrard named player of the year". BBC Sport. 23 April 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
- "Ronaldo secures PFA awards double". BBC Sport. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
- "PFA's Official Fan's Player of the Year: Previous Winners". The Professional Footballers' Association. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved 14 March 2008.
- Frank Keogh (20 April 2001). "Too much too young?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
- "Premier League Awards, View Season–by-Season Stats". Premier League.com. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- "The FSF Awards in association with William Hill (Monday 16 Dec)". Football Supporters' Federation. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- First winner of the award from outside the United Kingdom.
- First player to win the award twice.
- First player to win the award with two clubs.
- Also won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award in 1976 to become the first player to win both awards.
- First player to win both PFA and FWA awards in the same season.
- First player to win the award in two consecutive seasons.
- "Lampard scoops award from writers". BBC Sport. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
- First player to win the award three times.
- First player to win five awards in the same season.
- "Steven Gerrard wins Footballer of the Year award". The Times. London. 13 May 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2009.
- "Wayne Rooney nets writers' player of the year award". BBC Sport. 30 April 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- "West Ham's Scott Parker wins Football Writers' award". BBC Sport. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
- "Arsenal's Robin van Persie named FWA Footballer of the Year". BBC Sport. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- "Bale named FWA Footballer of the Year". Football Writers' Association. 2 May 2013. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- "Luis Suárez wins Football Writers' Association Player of the Year award". The Guardian. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- "Eden Hazard wins Football Writers' Association Player of the Year award". Sky Sports. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
- "Jamie Vardy named Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year 2015/16". Sky Sports. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
- "N'Golo Kante wins Football Writers' Association award". BBC Sport. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
- "Mohamed Salah named writers' Footballer of the Year". BBC Sport. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- "Virgil van Dijk and Vivianne Miedema win PFA Player of the Year awards". BBC Sport. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
- "Jordan Henderson wins football writers' award". Daily Mirror. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- "Ruben Dias: Manchester City Defender named FWA Footballer of the Year". Sky Sports. 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- "Mohamed Salah named Football Writers' Association Men's Footballer of the Year for 2021/22". Sky Sports. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.