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The PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year (often called the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Scottish Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in
Scottish football
Association football is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of ...
. The award has been presented since the 1977–78 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland
The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repl ...
(PFA Scotland). The award was formerly known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year, but was renamed after the SPFA became affiliated with the (English) Professional Footballers' Association
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales.
Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sports trade union, with approximately 5,000 current members each seaso ...
and rebranded PFA Scotland
The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repl ...
.
The first winner of the award was Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
striker Derek Johnstone
Derek Joseph Johnstone (born 4 November 1953) is a Scottish former football player and manager.
Johnstone played mainly for Rangers winning 14 major trophies during his career. He also had a spell at Chelsea and a brief stint in management wit ...
, and the first non-Scottish winner was Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
Theo Snelders
Theodorus Antonius Gerardus Snelders (born 7 December 1963) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper.
Club career
Snelders was born in Westervoort, Gelderland ...
eleven years later. Although there is a separate PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year
The PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year, formerly known as the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year, is named at the end of every Scottish football season. The members of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland vote on which of its ...
award, young players remain eligible to win the senior award, and in the 2005–06 season Shaun Maloney
Shaun Richard Maloney (born 24 January 1983) is a Scottish association football, football coach, and former player. He was most recently the manager of club Wigan Athletic. Maloney played for Celtic F.C., Celtic, Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, ...
became the first player to win both awards in the same season, a feat repeated by Aiden McGeady
Aiden John McGeady (born 4 April 1986) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer. He was born in Scotland, and represented the Republic of Ireland national football team, Republic of Ireland national team from 2004 until 2 ...
two years later.
A shortlist of nominees is published in April and the winner of the award, along with the winners of PFA Scotland's other annual awards, is announced at a gala event in Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
a few days later. The award is regarded by the players themselves as extremely prestigious, with John Hartson
John Hartson (born 5 April 1975) is a Welsh former professional footballer, coach and sports television pundit for S4C, Sky Sports, Premier Sports TV and TNT Sports.
As a player he was a striker, notably for Scottish club Celtic where his ti ...
commenting in 2005 that "the award means a lot because it's voted by your fellow professionals" and Shaun Maloney
Shaun Richard Maloney (born 24 January 1983) is a Scottish association football, football coach, and former player. He was most recently the manager of club Wigan Athletic. Maloney played for Celtic F.C., Celtic, Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, ...
stating in 2006 that "there is no better accolade than to be voted for by your peers and it does mean a lot to me". In 2007 the SPFA was replaced by a new body, PFA Scotland, but the new organisation's awards are considered to be a direct continuation of the SPFA awards.
Winners
The award has been presented on 47 occasions as of 2025, with two players sharing the award on one occasion (2004–05). There have been 46 different winners, withScott Brown Scott Brown may refer to:
Sportsmen
*Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State
*Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds
*Scott Brown (footballer, born ...
and Henrik Larsson
Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...
being the only players to have won the award more than once. The table also indicates where the winning player also won one or more of the other major "player of the year" awards in Scottish football, namely the Scottish Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year Footballer of the Year may refer to:
Association football World
* FIFA World Player of the Year (1991–2009)
* FIFA Ballon d'Or (2010–2015)
* The Best FIFA Men's Player (since 2016)
Other
* African Footballer of the Year
* Asian Footballer o ...
award (SFWA), and the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year
The PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year, formerly known as the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year, is named at the end of every Scottish football season. The members of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland vote on which of its ...
award (SYPY).
Breakdown of winners
Winners by country
Winners by club
See also
*PFA Scotland Team of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland Team of the Year (often called the PFA Scotland Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the four national tiers of the Scottish foo ...
*PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year
The PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year, formerly known as the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year, is named at the end of every Scottish football season. The members of the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland vote on which of its ...
*SFWA Footballer of the Year
The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the se ...
*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 ...
*FWA Footballer of the Year
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 ...
*PFAI Players' Player of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Irish Player of the Year) award is given to the footballer the Lea ...
* Rex Kingsley Footballer of the Year
References
{{featured list Scottish football trophies and awards Awards established in 1978 Footballers in Scotland 1978 establishments in Scotland Annual events in Scotland Annual sporting events in the United KingdomScotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
Association football player non-biographical articles