The ''Rugby League World'' Golden Boot Award is a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

award handed out annually for achievements in rugby league by ''

Rugby League World ''Rugby League World'' is a dedicated rugby league magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the weekly newspaper ''Rugby Leaguer & League Express'' and the annual ''G ...

'' magazine. The ''Golden Boot'' is given, usually in December after the conclusion of all the year's matches, to the player adjudged to be the best in the world, as determined by a ballot of international media representatives. The

Rugby League International Federation The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. Previously known as the ''Rugby League Imperial Board'', the '' International Rugby League Board'' and latterly the ''Rugby League Internat ...

(RLIF) announced that the 2018 awards will be extended to include a Golden Boot for the best international female player. The inaugural award was won by

Isabelle Kelly Isabelle Maree Kelly (born 20 September 1996) is an Australian rugby league footballer who plays for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL Women's Premiership and the Central Coast Roosters in the NSWRL Women's Premiership. Primarily a , she is an Au ...

, the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

History

The award was founded in early 1985 by the British magazine ''Open Rugby'' and was awarded to

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the sp ...

for his performances throughout 1984. Lewis and the other pre-1990 winners were initially recognised for the years that they collected the award, not for the year of their performances, but this was changed by

magazine in 2010. No award was made between 1990 and 1998 due to organisational difficulties, the award was resurrected in its original format in 1999 when ''Open Rugby'' changed ownership to become ''

Magazine'', which retained ownership of the ''Golden Boot''. Andrew Johns collected the award in 1999 and again in 2001, becoming the first player to win it twice.

Darren Lockyer Darren James Lockyer (born 24 March 1977) is an Australian television commentator and former professional rugby league footballer. Lockyer was an Australian international and Queensland State representative captain, who played his entire profes ...

repeated that feat, winning in 2003 and 2006 becoming the first player to win twice while playing in different positions. It was presented during the

RLIF Awards The RLIF Awards are the Rugby League International Federation's annual major international sporting award for rugby league. Since 2004 the awards ceremony recognises the best referee, coach, developing nations player, international newcomer, captai ...

in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2007, the RLIF did not organise any awards. To fill the gap, Rugby League World magazine asked its Golden Boot panel to come up with winners in the existing categories used by the RLIF. In 2011, Rugby League World magazine began to award retrospective Golden Boots to fill in "the missing years" starting with

Garry Schofield Garry Edward Schofield OBE (born 1 July 1965) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and is a member of the British Rugby League Hall of Fame. At the time of his retirement he was the most ...

who was adjudged to have won the 1990 Golden Boot. Schofield was due to receive the award at the time, until the sponsors, Adidas, withdrew their backing.

Winners - Men

*¹ The 1987 Golden Boot was shared by two winners *² Retrospective award made in 2011

By nationality

By position

By club

NOTE: Clubs shared the award in 1984, 1985 and 1988

Multiple winners

Winners - Women

By nationality

By position

By club

References

External links

Rugby League World Magazine
{{International Rugby League Rugby league trophies and awards

History

Winners - Men

By nationality

By position

By club

Multiple winners

Winners - Women

By nationality

By position

By club

See also

References

External links