Croatian Footballer of the Year

The Croatian Footballer of the Year (Croatian: Nogometaš godine) is the most prestigious annual association football award in Croatia. It is awarded by the newspaper Večernji list to the best Croatian football player in the preceding year regardless of the league they play in, based on a points system which measures their performances for club and country. The award is usually presented in a ceremony hosted by the Croatian Football Federation.

The award was established in 1972 and until 1990 the award was given to the best Yugoslav player in the preceding year. Since 1991 and the breakup of Yugoslavia the award is given to best Croatian players. Davor Šuker holds the record for most wins with six awards won between 1992 and 1998, followed by Luka Modrić with four wins in 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2014,^[1][2] and by Dado Pršo with three consecutive wins from 2003 to 2005.^[1]

In 1995 a separate award named Hope of the Year (Nada godine) was introduced, given to the best Croatian young player.^[3] As of 2014 only Ivica Olić and Luka Modrić have won both the Hope of the Year and Footballer of the Year awards.

List of winners

Yugoslav Footballer of the Year (1972–90)

† denotes shared wins

Year	Yugoslav Footballer of the Year
	Player (Wins)	Age	Pos.	Club
1972	Bajević, DušanDušan Bajević (1)	24	FW	Velež
1973	Marić, EnverEnver Marić (1)	25	GK	Velež
1974	Katalinski, JosipJosip Katalinski (1)	26	DF	Željezničar
1975	Buljan, IvanIvan Buljan (1)	26	DF	Hajduk Split
1976	SurjakIvica Šurjak (1)	23	MF	Hajduk Split
1977	Mužinić, DraženDražen Mužinić (1)	24	MF	Hajduk Split
1978	Džoni, VilsonVilson Džoni (1) †	28	DF	Dinamo Zagreb
	Stojković, NenadNenad Stojković (1) †	22	DF	Partizan
1979	Sušić, SafetSafet Sušić (1) †	24	MF	FK Sarajevo
	Zajec, VelimirVelimir Zajec (1) †	23	MF	Dinamo Zagreb
1980	Petrović, VladimirVladimir Petrović (1)	25	MF	Red Star
1981	Vujović, ZlatkoZlatko Vujović (1)	23	FW	Hajduk Split
1982	Gudelj, IvanIvan Gudelj (1)	22	MF	Hajduk Split
1983	Simović, ZoranZoran Simović (1)	29	GK	Hajduk Split
1984	Zajec, VelimirVelimir Zajec (2)	28	MF	Panathinaikos
1985	Slišković, BlažBlaž Slišković (1)	26	MF	Hajduk Split
1986	Tuce, SemirSemir Tuce (1)	22	MF	Velež
1987	Mlinarić, MarkoMarko Mlinarić (1)	27	MF	Dinamo Zagreb
1988	Stojković, DraganDragan Stojković (1)	23	MF	Red Star
1989	Stojković, DraganDragan Stojković (2)	24	MF	Red Star
1990	Prosinečki, RobertRobert Prosinečki (1)	21	MF	Red Star

Croatian Footballer of the Year (1991–present)

Year	Croatian Footballer of the Year				Hope of the Year
	Player (Wins)	Age	Pos.	Club	Player	Age	Pos.	Club
1991	Boban, ZvonimirZvonimir Boban (1)	23	MF	Milan	& —
1992	SukerDavor Šuker (1)	25	FW	Sevilla	& —
1993	Bokšić, AlenAlen Bokšić (1)	23	FW	Lazio	& —
1994	SukerDavor Šuker (2)	27	FW	Sevilla	& —
1995	SukerDavor Šuker (3)	28	FW	Sevilla	SimicDario Šimić	20	DF	Croatia Zagreb
1996	SukerDavor Šuker (4)	29	FW	Real Madrid	Vučko, JuricaJurica Vučko	20	FW	Hajduk Split
1997	Prosinečki, RobertRobert Prosinečki (2) †	28	MF	Croatia Zagreb	Marić, SilvioSilvio Marić	22	MF	Croatia Zagreb
	SukerDavor Šuker (5) †	30	FW	Real Madrid
1998	SukerDavor Šuker (6)	31	FW	Real Madrid	Vranješ, JuricaJurica Vranješ	18	MF	Osijek
1999	Boban, ZvonimirZvonimir Boban (2)	31	MF	Milan	SokotaTomo Šokota	22	FW	Croatia Zagreb
2000	Bjelica, NenadNenad Bjelica (1)	29	MF	Osijek	Lovrek, KrunoslavKrunoslav Lovrek	21	FW	NK Zagreb
2001	Tudor, IgorIgor Tudor (1)	23	DF	Juventus	Olić, IvicaIvica Olić	22	FW	NK Zagreb
2002	Pletikosa, StipeStipe Pletikosa (1)	23	GK	Hajduk Split	Kranjčar, NikoNiko Kranjčar	18	MF	Dinamo Zagreb
2003	Pršo, DadoDado Pršo (1)	29	FW	Monaco	Ljubojević, GoranGoran Ljubojević	20	FW	Osijek
2004	Pršo, DadoDado Pršo (2)	30	FW	Rangers	Modrić, LukaLuka Modrić	19	MF	Inter Zaprešić
2005	Pršo, DadoDado Pršo (3)	31	FW	Rangers	Benko, LeonLeon Benko	22	FW	Varteks
2006	Eduardo (1)	23	FW	Dinamo Zagreb	Rukavina, AnteAnte Rukavina	20	FW	Šibenik
2007	Modrić, LukaLuka Modrić (1)	22	MF	Dinamo Zagreb	Kalinić, NikolaNikola Kalinić	19	FW	Hajduk Split
2008	Modrić, LukaLuka Modrić (2)	23	MF	Tottenham Hotspur	Tomasov, MarinMarin Tomasov	21	MF	Zadar
2009	Olić, IvicaIvica Olić (1)	30	FW	Bayern Munich	Badelj, MilanMilan Badelj	20	MF	Dinamo Zagreb
2010	Olić, IvicaIvica Olić (2)	31	FW	Bayern Munich	Vrsaljko, ŠimeŠime Vrsaljko	18	DF	Dinamo Zagreb
2011	Modrić, LukaLuka Modrić (3)	26	MF	Tottenham Hotspur	Kovačić, MateoMateo Kovačić	17	MF	Dinamo Zagreb
2012	Mandžukić, MarioMario Mandžukić (1)	26	FW	Bayern Munich	Andrijašević, FrankoFranko Andrijašević	21	MF	Hajduk Split
2013	Mandžukić, MarioMario Mandžukić (2)	27	FW	Bayern Munich	Rebić, AnteAnte Rebić	20	FW	Fiorentina
2014	Modrić, LukaLuka Modrić (4)	29	MF	Real Madrid	Jedvaj, TinTin Jedvaj	19	DF	Bayer Leverkusen
2015	Rakitić, IvanIvan Rakitić	27	MF	Barcelona	Ćorić, AnteAnte Ćorić	18	MF	Dinamo Zagreb

Notes on club name changes:

• Dinamo Zagreb changed their name to "HAŠK Građanski" in June 1991 and then again in February 1993 to "Croatia Zagreb". They reverted to "Dinamo Zagreb" in February 2000.
• Present-day NK Varaždin was called "Varteks" from 1958 until June 2010.

Multiple winners

Players in bold are still active. Wins marked with asterisk (*) denote wins in Yugoslav competition before 1991.

Wins	Player	Winning years	Clubs
6	Davor Šuker	1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998	Sevilla, Real Madrid
4	Luka Modrić	2007, 2008, 2011, 2014	Dinamo Zagreb, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid
3	Dado Pršo	2003, 2004, 2005	AS Monaco, Rangers
2	Velimir Zajec	1979*, 1984*	Dinamo Zagreb, Panathinaikos
2	Dragan Stojković	1988*, 1989*	Red Star
2	Robert Prosinečki	1990*, 1997	Red Star, Dinamo Zagreb
2	Zvonimir Boban	1991, 1999	Milan
2	Ivica Olić	2009, 2010	Bayern Munich
2	Mario Mandžukić	2012, 2013	Bayern Munich

See also

• Sportske novosti Yellow Shirt award, for the HNL footballer of the year, given by the Croatian sport newspaper Sportske novosti, chosen by sport journalists.
• Prva HNL Player of the Year, given by the Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija, chosen by sport journalists.
• Prva HNL Best Player of the Year, given by the Croatian web site Tportal, chosen by captains of league clubs.

References

1. Puric, Bojan (2 January 2005). ""Vecernji list" Player of the Year". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
2. "VL Player of the Year 2014". Vecernji List. 27 December 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
3. Flak, Igor; Jurišić, Predrag (31 December 2010). "U Bayernu će se još jednom klanjati Ivici Oliću" (in Croatian). Večernji list. Retrieved 4 May 2011.

External links

• Complete list of winners 1972–2010