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 Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

. The award has been presented since the 1947–48 season, with the inaugural winner being

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

winger Stanley Matthews. The latest winner of the award as of 2021–22 is

Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly ( ar, محمد صلاح حامد محروس غالي, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Liverpool and captains the Egyp ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. Nine players have won the award on more than one occasion, with

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best player ...

having won the award on the most occasions, with three wins in four seasons. The winner is selected by a vote amongst the members of the

Football Writers' Association The Football Writers' Association (FWA) is an association of football journalists and correspondents writing for English newspapers and agencies. It presents the Footballer of the Year Award, the oldest and most distinguished award given in the d ...

(FWA), which comprises around 400 football journalists based throughout

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The award was instigated at the suggestion of Charles Buchan, a former professional footballer turned journalist and one of the Association's founders.

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. 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), Fans' Player of the Year award (FPY), the Young Player of the Year award (YPY), the Premier League Player of the Season award (PPS),, the Football Supporter Association Player of the Year (FSA), and the Football Supporters' Federation Player of the Year award (FSF). Dennis Bergkamp cropped

Breakdown of winners

By country

‡ — two winners

Winners by club

References

External links