PFA Players' Player of the Year


The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English football. The award has been presented since the 1973–74 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Professional Footballers' Association. The current holder is Virgil van Dijk, who won the award on 28 April 2019.
The first winner of the award was Leeds United defender Norman Hunter. As of 2019, only Mark Hughes, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale have won the award on two occasions, and only Henry and Ronaldo have won the award in consecutive seasons. Of the five, only Shearer won his two awards playing for different teams. Although there is a separate PFA Young Player of the Year award for players under the age of 23, young players remain eligible to win the senior award, and on three occasions the same player has won both awards for a season, Andy Gray in 1976–77, Ronaldo in 2006–07 and Bale in 2012–13.
Every spring, each member of the association votes for two players. A shortlist of nominees is published in April and the winner of the award, along with the winners of the PFA's other annual awards, is announced at a gala event in London a few days later. The award is regarded by the players themselves as extremely prestigious, with Teddy Sheringham describing it in 2001 as "the biggest personal award you can get in the game", and John Terry stating in 2005 that he considered it "the ultimate accolade to be voted for by your fellow professionals whom you play against week-in and week-out".

Winners

The award has been presented on 46 occasions as of 2019, with 41 different winners. 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 Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award, the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award, the PFA Young Player of the Year award, and the Football Supporters’ Federation Player of the Year award.
was the first player to win the Player of the Year award twice.
was the first player to win the award in two consecutive seasons.
was the first player to win all four major awards in the same year.
YearPlayerClubAlso wonNotes
1973–74Leeds United
1974–75Derby County
1975–76Tottenham Hotspur
1976–77Aston VillaYPY
1977–78Nottingham Forest
1978–79Arsenal
1979–80LiverpoolFWA
1980–81Ipswich Town
1981–82Southampton
1982–83LiverpoolFWA
1983–84LiverpoolFWA
1984–85Everton
1985–86EvertonFWA
1986–87Tottenham HotspurFWA
1987–88LiverpoolFWA
1988–89Manchester United
1989–90Aston Villa
1990–91 Manchester United
1991–92Manchester United
1992–93Aston Villa
1993–94Manchester United
1994–95Blackburn Rovers
1995–96Newcastle United
1996–97 Newcastle United
1997–98ArsenalFWA
1998–99Tottenham HotspurFWA
1999–2000Manchester UnitedFWA
2000–01Manchester UnitedFWA
2001–02Manchester UnitedFPY
2002–03ArsenalFWA, FPY
2003–04 ArsenalFWA, FPY
2004–05Chelsea
2005–06Liverpool
2006–07Manchester UnitedFWA, FPY, YPY
2007–08 Manchester UnitedFWA, FPY
2008–09Manchester United
2009–10Manchester UnitedFWA, FPY
2010–11Tottenham Hotspur
2011–12ArsenalFWA, FPY
2012–13 Tottenham HotspurFWA, YPY
2013–14LiverpoolFWA, FPY, FSF
2014–15ChelseaFWA
2015–16Leicester CityFPY
2016–17ChelseaFWA
2017–18LiverpoolFWA, FPY, FSF
2018–19LiverpoolFSF

Breakdown of winners

By country

CountryNumber of winsWinning years
England
18
1973–74, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10
Wales
6
1983–84, 1988–89, 1990–91, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13
France
5
1993–94, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2016–17
Netherlands
4
1997–98, 2001–02, 2011–12, 2018–19
Scotland
3
1976–77, 1980–81, 1982–83
Republic of Ireland
3
1978–79, 1992–93, 1999–2000
Portugal
2
2006–07, 2007–08
Northern Ireland
1
1975–76
Uruguay
1
2013–14
Belgium
1
2014–15
Algeria
1
2015–16
Egypt
1
2017–18

By club