SFWA Footballer of the Year
SFWA Footballer of the Year | |
---|---|
Awarded for | The outstanding player in each given Scottish football season |
Country | Scotland |
Presented by | Scottish Football Writers' Association |
First awarded | 1965 |
Last awarded | 2021 |
Footballer of the Year | Steven Davis |
Most awards | Seven players (2) |
The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish football.[1] The award has been presented since the 1964–65 season, and the winner is selected by a vote amongst the members of the Scottish Football Writers' Association (SFWA), which comprises over 100 football journalists based throughout Scotland.[2] The first winner was Celtic's Billy McNeill, and the first non-Scottish winner was Mark Hateley of Rangers in 1994. Seven players have won the award on more than one occasion, the most recent being Leigh Griffiths, who won his second award in the 2015–16 season.[3]
The award was instigated in 1965, eight years after the association was founded, and committee member Allan Herron was charged with obtaining the permission of the Scottish Football Association to make the first award. Each member of the association casts one vote and also nominates a runner-up. In the event of a tie for first place the number of runner-up votes is taken into consideration.[2] Although it is the older of the two awards, the SFWA award is considered by the players themselves to be of secondary importance to the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year because the winner of the PFA Scotland award is chosen by his fellow professionals.[4]
List of winners[]
The award has been presented on 57 occasions as of 2021, with 49 different individual players winning. Seven different players (John Greig, Sandy Jardine, Brian Laudrup, Henrik Larsson, Barry Ferguson, Craig Gordon and Leigh Griffiths) have won the award twice, and on one occasion the award was presented collectively to the Scotland national squad.[5] The table also indicates where the winning player also won the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award (SPFA).[6] In 2012–13, Leigh Griffiths became the first player to win the SFWA award and the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year award in the same season.[7]
Season | Player | Club | Also won | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964–65 | SCO | Billy McNeill | Celtic | [8] | |
1965–66 | SCO | John Greig | Rangers | [8] | |
1966–67 | SCO | Ronnie Simpson | Celtic | [8] | |
1967–68 | SCO | Gordon Wallace | Raith Rovers | [8] | |
1968–69 | SCO | Bobby Murdoch | Celtic | [8] | |
1969–70 | SCO | Pat Stanton | Hibernian | [8] | |
1970–71 | SCO | Martin Buchan | Aberdeen | [8] | |
1971–72 | SCO | Dave Smith | Rangers | [8] | |
1972–73 | SCO | George Connelly | Celtic | [8] | |
1973–74 | SCO | Scotland World Cup squad | N/A | [8] | |
1974–75 | SCO | Sandy Jardine | Rangers | [8] | |
1975–76 | SCO | John Greig | Rangers | [note 1][8] | |
1976–77 | SCO | Danny McGrain | Celtic | [8] | |
1977–78 | SCO | Derek Johnstone | Rangers | SPFA | [note 2][8] |
1978–79 | SCO | Andy Ritchie | Morton | [8] | |
1979–80 | SCO | Gordon Strachan | Aberdeen | [8] | |
1980–81 | SCO | Alan Rough | Partick Thistle | [8] | |
1981–82 | SCO | Paul Sturrock | Dundee United | [8] | |
1982–83 | SCO | Charlie Nicholas | Celtic | SPFA | [8] |
1983–84 | SCO | Willie Miller | Aberdeen | SPFA | [9] |
1984–85 | SCO | Hamish McAlpine | Dundee United | [8] | |
1985–86 | SCO | Sandy Jardine | Heart of Midlothian | [note 3][8] | |
1986–87 | SCO | Brian McClair | Celtic | SPFA | [8] |
1987–88 | SCO | Paul McStay | Celtic | SPFA | [10] |
1988–89 | SCO | Richard Gough | Rangers | [8] | |
1989–90 | SCO | Alex McLeish | Aberdeen | [8] | |
1990–91 | SCO | Maurice Malpas | Dundee United | [8] | |
1991–92 | SCO | Ally McCoist | Rangers | SPFA | [8] |
1992–93 | SCO | Andy Goram | Rangers | SPFA | [8] |
1993–94 | ENG | Mark Hateley | Rangers | SPFA | [note 4][8] |
1994–95 | DEN | Brian Laudrup | Rangers | SPFA | [note 5][8] |
1995–96 | ENG | Paul Gascoigne | Rangers | SPFA | [8] |
1996–97 | DEN | Brian Laudrup | Rangers | [8] | |
1997–98 | SCO | Craig Burley | Celtic | [8] | |
1998–99 | SWE | Henrik Larsson | Celtic | SPFA | [8] |
1999–00 | SCO | Barry Ferguson | Rangers | [8] | |
2000–01 | SWE | Henrik Larsson | Celtic | SPFA | [8] |
2001–02 | SCO | Paul Lambert | Celtic | [8] | |
2002–03 | SCO | Barry Ferguson | Rangers | SPFA | [8] |
2003–04 | SCO | Jackie McNamara | Celtic | [8] | |
2004–05 | WAL | John Hartson | Celtic | SPFA | [note 6][8] |
2005–06 | SCO | Craig Gordon | Heart of Midlothian | [8] | |
2006–07 | JPN | Shunsuke Nakamura | Celtic | SPFA | [note 7][8] |
2007–08 | ESP | Carlos Cuéllar | Rangers | [8] | |
2008–09 | SCO | Gary Caldwell | Celtic | [11][8] | |
2009–10 | SCO | David Weir | Rangers | [12][8] | |
2010–11 | HON | Emilio Izaguirre | Celtic | SPFA | [13][8] |
2011–12 | SCO | Charlie Mulgrew | Celtic | SPFA | [14][8] |
2012–13 | SCO | Leigh Griffiths | Hibernian | [7][8] | |
2013–14 | SCO | Kris Commons | Celtic | SPFA | [15][8] |
2014–15 | SCO | Craig Gordon | Celtic | [16][8] | |
2015–16 | SCO | Leigh Griffiths | Celtic | SPFA | [3] |
2016–17 | ENG | Scott Sinclair | Celtic | SPFA | [17] |
2017–18 | SCO | Scott Brown | Celtic | SPFA | [8] |
2018–19 | SCO | James Forrest | Celtic | SPFA | [8] |
2019–20 | FRA | Odsonne Edouard | Celtic | [18][19] | |
2020–21 | NIR | Steven Davis | Rangers | [20][21] |
Breakdown of winners[]
Winners by country[]
Country | Number of wins | Winning seasons |
---|---|---|
Scotland | 44 |
1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19 |
England | 3 |
1993–94, 1995–96, 2016–17 |
Sweden | 2 |
1998–99, 2000–01 |
Denmark | 2 |
1994–95, 1996–97 |
Northern Ireland | 1 |
2020–21 |
France | 1 |
2019–20 |
Spain | 1 |
2007–08 |
Japan | 1 |
2006–07 |
Wales | 1 |
2004–05 |
Honduras | 1 |
2010–11 |
Winners by club[]
Club | Number of wins | Winning seasons |
---|---|---|
Celtic | 25 |
1964–65, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20 |
Rangers | 17 |
1965–66, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2020–21 |
Aberdeen | 4 |
1970–71, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1989–90 |
Dundee United | 3 |
1981–82, 1984–85, 1990–91 |
Heart of Midlothian | 2 |
1985–86, 2005–06 |
Hibernian | 2 |
1969–70, 2012–13 |
Partick Thistle | 1 |
1980–81 |
Morton | 1 |
1978–79 |
Scotland | 1 |
1973–74 |
Raith Rovers | 1 |
1967–68 |
See also[]
- PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year
- PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year
- PFA Scotland Team of the Year
- PFA Players' Player of the Year
- FWA Footballer of the Year
- PFAI Players' Player of the Year
- Rex Kingsley Footballer of the Year
- SFWA International Player of the Year
- SFWA Manager of the Year
- SFWA Young Player of the Year
Notes[]
- ^ First player to win the award twice.
- ^ First player to win SFWA and SPFA awards in the same season.
- ^ First player to win the award twice with two different clubs.
- ^ First non-Scottish winner.
- ^ First winner from outside the British Isles
- ^ Hartson shared the SPFA award with Fernando Ricksen.
- ^ First winner from outside Europe.
References[]
- ^ Neil Cameron (10 April 2008). "I Would Have Voted For Ranger Alan Hutton As Best Player, Reveals Shunsuke Nakamura". Daily Record. Scotland. Retrieved 29 February 2008.
We all have opinions about who is the season's best player and a year ago it was Nakamura who came out on top in voting for both the PFA and Football Writers' award.
- ^ a b Jim Black. "Fifty years of passion and prose". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Mullen, Scott (9 May 2016). "Leigh Griffiths named SFWA Player of the Year for second time – and looks for a third". Evening Times. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ Stuart Lovell (7 April 2008). "Why Aiden should run away with player prize". The Scotsman. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
- ^ "Scotland – Player of the Year". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
- ^ Barnes, Stuart (2007). News of the World Football Annual 2007–08. Invincible Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-00-725555-9.
- ^ a b Forsyth, Roddy (17 May 2013). "Hibs striker Leigh Griffiths nets another accolade". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay Brown, Alan (3 December 2015). "Scotland – Player of the Year". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
- ^ Paul, Ian (11 May 1984). "McStay up for two awards". Glasgow Herald. p. 9. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- ^ "A word in your ear – from one law man to another". Glasgow Herald. 2 May 1988. p. 9. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- ^ "Celtic ace Gary Caldwell scoops football writers award". Sunday Mail. 10 May 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
- ^ Halliday, Stephen (8 May 2010). "Walter Smith hails player of the year David Weir as 'best professional I have worked with' award". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ^ "More awards for Izaguirre, Goodwillie and Paatelainen". BBC Sport. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
- ^ "Charlie Mulgrew caps fine season by being named Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year". The Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- ^ Smith, Andrew (11 May 2014). "Kris Commons voted writers' player of the year". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 11 May 2014.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Halliday, Stephen (20 May 2015). "Craig Gordon named writers' Player of the Year". The Scotsman. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ^ "Celtic: Scott Sinclair named player of the year by football writers". BBC Sport. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- ^ "Shankland, Edouard, McGregor & Morelos in writers' award frame". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ "King Eddy is our top man". SFWA. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ "Rangers quartet nominated for player of the year award". STV Sport. STV. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "Davis crowned Player of the Year". SFWA. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- Association football player of the year awards
- Scottish football trophies and awards
- Awards established in 1964
- 1964 establishments in Scotland
- Annual events in Scotland
- Annual sporting events in the United Kingdom