Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year

Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year
The trophy is a scaled-down replica of this statue of Sir Matt Busby outside Old Trafford
Sport	Association football
History
First award	1988
Editions	33 (as of 2020)
First winner	Brian McClair
Most wins	David de Gea (4 times)
Most recent	Bruno Fernandes

The Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, previously known as the MUFC Members Player of the Year (1988–1995), is an award presented to the Manchester United fans' player of the season. It is named after former Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby, who managed the club in two spells, from 1945 to 1969 and from 1970 to 1971. The award was renamed in his honour in 1996, following his death in 1994, and a new trophy was commissioned – a scaled-down replica of the statue of Busby at the east end of Old Trafford.

The first winner of the award was Brian McClair in 1988, who also became the first player to win it twice, having also won it in 1992. Since then, seven other players have won the award more than once, of which five have won it in consecutive seasons: Roy Keane (1999, 2000), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002, 2003), Cristiano Ronaldo (2007, 2008), David de Gea (2014, 2015, 2016), and Bruno Fernandes (2020, 2021). Ronaldo's 2008 win made him the first player to receive the award three times, having also won in 2004. De Gea won the award in 2016 for the third consecutive year, becoming the second player after Ronaldo to do so, and the first in three consecutive seasons. After Ander Herrera won the award in 2017, David de Gea became the first player to win it four times, in 2018.

Voting takes place towards the end of each season, usually in April, and is open to anyone who has an account on the club's official website. Voting was originally done by post until the 1994–95 season, when a phone voting system was introduced.^[1] Postal voting forms were included in the club magazine, Inside United, and before that, voting was open only to members of the official supporters' club, who would receive a voting form in the post at the end of the season. Until the establishment of the official supporters' club, a separate award had been given by the members of its predecessor, the independent Manchester United Supporters Club.

Other end-of-season awards given by Manchester United include the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year Award, the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year Award, the Players' Player of the Year Award, and the Goal of the Season Award. Of these, the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year Award and the Players' Player of the Year Award are voted for by the players. The prizes for all five awards are given at an annual awards night, which is held near the end of the league season and broadcast live on the club's television channel, MUTV. A list of winners of the youth awards can be seen here.

Winners[]

Brian McClair won the inaugural award in 1988.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the only outfield player to have won the award three times

David de Gea holds the record for most wins and was the first to win the award for three consecutive seasons

Players in bold are still playing for Manchester United

Season	Name	Nationality	Position	Notes	Ref.
1987–88	Brian McClair	Scotland	Forward		[2]
1988–89	Bryan Robson	England	Midfielder	First English winner
1989–90	Gary Pallister	England	Defender		[2]
1990–91	Mark Hughes	Wales	Forward	First Academy graduate to win award	[3]
1991–92	Brian McClair	Scotland	Forward	First player to win the award on two occasions
1992–93	Paul Ince	England	Midfielder
1993–94	Eric Cantona	France	Forward	First winner from outside the United Kingdom
1994–95	Andrei Kanchelskis	Russia	Midfielder
1995–96	Eric Cantona	France	Forward
1996–97	David Beckham	England	Midfielder
1997–98	Ryan Giggs	Wales	Midfielder		[4]
1998–99	Roy Keane	Republic of Ireland	Midfielder
1999–2000	Roy Keane	Republic of Ireland	Midfielder	First player to win the award in consecutive years
2000–01	Teddy Sheringham	England	Forward		[5]
2001–02	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Netherlands	Forward		[2]
2002–03	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Netherlands	Forward
2003–04	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Midfielder		[2]
2004–05	Gabriel Heinze	Argentina	Defender	First winner from outside Europe	[2]
2005–06	Wayne Rooney	England	Forward		[5]
2006–07	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Midfielder		[6]
2007–08	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Midfielder	First player to win the award on three occasions	[5][7]
2008–09	Nemanja Vidić	Serbia	Defender		[8]
2009–10	Wayne Rooney	England	Forward		[5]
2010–11	Javier Hernández	Mexico	Forward	First winner from North America	[2]
2011–12	Antonio Valencia	Ecuador	Midfielder		[9]
2012–13	Robin van Persie	Netherlands	Forward		[10]
2013–14	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First goalkeeper to win the award	[11]
2014–15	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper		[12]
2015–16	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First player to win the award in three consecutive years
2016–17	Ander Herrera	Spain	Midfielder
2017–18	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First player to win the award on four occasions	[13]
2018–19	Luke Shaw	England	Defender		[14]
2019–20	Bruno Fernandes	Portugal	Midfielder		[15]
2020–21	Bruno Fernandes	Portugal	Midfielder		[16]

Wins by player[]

Winner	Total wins	Year(s)
David de Gea	4	2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Cristiano Ronaldo	3	2004, 2007, 2008
Brian McClair	2	1988, 1992
Eric Cantona	2	1994, 1996
Roy Keane	2	1999, 2000
Ruud van Nistelrooy	2	2002, 2003
Wayne Rooney	2	2006, 2010
Bruno Fernandes	2	2020, 2021
Bryan Robson	1	1989
Gary Pallister	1	1990
Mark Hughes	1	1991
Paul Ince	1	1993
Andrei Kanchelskis	1	1995
David Beckham	1	1997
Ryan Giggs	1	1998
Teddy Sheringham	1	2001
Gabriel Heinze	1	2005
Nemanja Vidić	1	2009
Javier Hernández	1	2011
Antonio Valencia	1	2012
Robin van Persie	1	2013
Ander Herrera	1	2017
Luke Shaw	1	2019

Wins by playing position[]

Wins by nationality[]

Nationality	Number of winners
England	8
Spain	5
Portugal	5
Netherlands	3
France	2
Republic of Ireland	2
Scotland	2
Wales	2
Argentina	1
Russia	1
Serbia	1
Mexico	1
Ecuador	1

References[]

External links[]

• Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year Award at MUFCInfo.com