The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young 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 ...

. As of 2021, players must have been aged 21 or under as of 1 July immediately preceding the start of the season; in the past the age limit has been 23, which led to criticism in the media over whether a player who was 24 years old at the end of the season could really be considered "young" in footballing terms. 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 A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

, the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

(PFA). The first winner of the award was

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

defender Kevin Beattie. The current holder is Phil Foden, who won the award on 9 June 2022. Although the award is open to players at all levels, all winners to date have played in the highest division of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

. In 2018 Ryan Sessegnon of

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

became the first player from outside the top division of English football to be nominated for the award. As of 2022, only

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his entire professional career for Manchester United and briefly served as ...

Robbie Fowler Robert Bernard Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English football manager and former player, who most recently managed East Bengal in the Indian Super League. As a player, he was a striker, and is the eighth-highest goalscorer in the history ...

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

Dele Alli Bamidele Jermaine Alli ( ; born 11 April 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Beşiktaş, on loan from Premier League club Everton. Born and raised in Milton Keynes, he joined the youth s ...

and Phil Foden have won the award on more than one occasion. Only seven players from outside the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

have won the trophy, compared with fifteen winners of the main

PFA Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

award. Although they have their own dedicated award, players aged 23 or under at the start of the season remain eligible to win the Players' Player of the Year award, and on three occasions the same player has won both awards for a season. 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. The players themselves consider the award to be highly prestigious, because the winner is chosen by his fellow professionals.

Winners

The award has been presented on 49 occasions as of 2022, to 44 players. 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

award (PPY), the Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award (FWA), the Premier League Player of the Season award (PPS), the Premier League Young Player of the Season award (PYPS), and the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award (FPY). Cskamu 17

Breakdown of winners

By country

By club

References

External links

The official website of the Professional Footballers' Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfa Young Player Of The Year English football trophies and awards Association football young player of the year awards Awards established in 1974 Youth football in England Rookie player awards