SFWA Footballer of the Year

Henrik Larsson has won the award twice.

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 season in Scottish football.^[1] The award has been presented since the 1964–65 season, and the winner is selected by a vote amongst the members of the Scottish Football Writers' Association (SFWA), which comprises over 100 football journalists based throughout Scotland.^[2] The first winner was Celtic's Billy McNeill, and the first non-Scottish winner was Mark Hateley of Rangers in 1994. Six players have won the award on more than one occasion, the most recent being Craig Gordon, who won his second award in the 2014–15 season.

The award was instigated in 1965, eight years after the association was founded, and committee member Allan Herron was charged with obtaining the permission of the Scottish Football Association to make the first award. Each member of the association casts one vote and also nominates a runner-up. In the event of a tie for first place the number of runner-up votes is taken into consideration.^[2] Although it is the older of the two awards, the SFWA award is considered by the players themselves to be of secondary importance to the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year because the winner of the PFA Scotland award is chosen by his fellow professionals.^[3]

List of winners

The award has been presented on 50 occasions as of 2014, with 44 different individual players winning. On one occasion the award was presented collectively to the Scotland national squad.^[4] The table also indicates where the winning player also won the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award (SPFA).^[5] In 2012–13, Leigh Griffiths became the first player to win the SFWA award and the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year award in the same season.^[6]

Brian McClair won the award in 1987.

Ally McCoist was the 1992 winner.

Shunsuke Nakamura was the 2007 winner.

Season		Player	Club	Also won	Notes
1964–65	SCO	McNeill, BillyBilly McNeill	Celtic
1965–66	SCO	Greig, JohnJohn Greig	Rangers
1966–67	SCO	Simpson, RonnieRonnie Simpson	Celtic
1967–68	SCO	Wallace, GordonGordon Wallace	Raith Rovers
1968–69	SCO	Murdoch, BobbyBobby Murdoch	Celtic
1969–70	SCO	Stanton, PatPat Stanton	Hibernian
1970–71	SCO	Buchan, MartinMartin Buchan	Aberdeen
1971–72	SCO	Smith, DaveDave Smith	Rangers
1972–73	SCO	Connelly, GeorgeGeorge Connelly	Celtic
1973–74	SCO	Scotland World Cup squad
1974–75	SCO	Jardine, SandySandy Jardine	Rangers
1975–76	SCO	Greig, JohnJohn Greig	Rangers		[note 1]
1976–77	SCO	McGrain, DannyDanny McGrain	Celtic
1977–78	SCO	Johnstone, DerekDerek Johnstone	Rangers	SPFA	[note 2]
1978–79	SCO	Ritchie, AndyAndy Ritchie	Morton
1979–80	SCO	Strachan, GordonGordon Strachan	Aberdeen
1980–81	SCO	Rough, AlanAlan Rough	Partick Thistle
1981–82	SCO	Sturrock, PaulPaul Sturrock	Dundee United
1982–83	SCO	Nicholas, CharlieCharlie Nicholas	Celtic	SPFA
1983–84	SCO	Miller, WillieWillie Miller	Aberdeen	SPFA
1984–85	SCO	McAlpine, HamishHamish McAlpine	Dundee United
1985–86	SCO	Jardine, SandySandy Jardine	Heart of Midlothian		[note 3]
1986–87	SCO	McClair, BrianBrian McClair	Celtic	SPFA
1987–88	SCO	McStay, PaulPaul McStay	Celtic	SPFA
1988–89	SCO	Gough, RichardRichard Gough	Rangers
1989–90	SCO	McLeish, AlexAlex McLeish	Aberdeen
1990–91	SCO	Malpas, MauriceMaurice Malpas	Dundee United
1991–92	SCO	McCoist, AllyAlly McCoist	Rangers	SPFA
1992–93	SCO	Goram, AndyAndy Goram	Rangers	SPFA
1993–94	ENG	Hateley, MarkMark Hateley	Rangers	SPFA	[note 4]
1994–95	DEN	Laudrup, BrianBrian Laudrup	Rangers	SPFA	[note 5]
1995–96	ENG	Gascoigne, PaulPaul Gascoigne	Rangers	SPFA
1996–97	DEN	Laudrup, BrianBrian Laudrup	Rangers
1997–98	SCO	Burley, CraigCraig Burley	Celtic
1998–99	SWE	Larsson, HenrikHenrik Larsson	Celtic	SPFA
1999–00	SCO	Ferguson, BarryBarry Ferguson	Rangers
2000–01	SWE	Larsson, HenrikHenrik Larsson	Celtic	SPFA
2001–02	SCO	Lambert, PaulPaul Lambert	Celtic
2002–03	SCO	Ferguson, BarryBarry Ferguson	Rangers	SPFA
2003–04	SCO	McNamara, JackieJackie McNamara	Celtic
2004–05	WAL	Hartson, JohnJohn Hartson	Celtic	SPFA	[note 6]
2005–06	SCO	Gordon, CraigCraig Gordon	Heart of Midlothian
2006–07	JPN	Nakamura, ShunsukeShunsuke Nakamura	Celtic	SPFA	[note 7]
2007–08	ESP	Cuéllar, CarlosCarlos Cuéllar	Rangers
2008–09	SCO	Caldwell, GaryGary Caldwell	Celtic		[7]
2009–10	SCO	Weir, DavidDavid Weir	Rangers		[8]
2010–11	HON	Izaguirre, EmilioEmilio Izaguirre	Celtic	SPFA	[9]
2011–12	SCO	Mulgrew, CharlieCharlie Mulgrew	Celtic	SPFA	[10]
2012–13	SCO	Griffiths, LeighLeigh Griffiths	Hibernian		[6]
2013–14	SCO	Commons, KrisKris Commons	Celtic	SPFA	[11]
2014–15	SCO	Gordon, CraigCraig Gordon	Celtic		[12]

Breakdown of winners

Winners by country

Country	Number of wins	Winning seasons
Scotland	41	1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
Sweden	2	1998–99, 2000–01
Denmark	2	1994–95, 1996–97
England	2	1993–94, 1995–96
Spain	1	2007–08
Japan	1	2006–07
Wales	1	2004–05
Honduras	1	2010–11

Winners by club

Club	Number of wins	Winning seasons
Celtic	20	1964–65, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15
Rangers	16	1965–66, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2007–08, 2009–10
Aberdeen	4	1970–71, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1989–90
Dundee United	3	1981–82, 1984–85, 1990–91
Heart of Midlothian	2	1985–86, 2005–06
Hibernian	2	1969–70, 2012–13
Partick Thistle	1	1980–81
Morton	1	1978–79
Scotland	1	1973–74
Raith Rovers	1	1967–68

See also

• PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year
• PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year
• PFA Scotland Team of the Year
• PFA Players' Player of the Year
• FWA Footballer of the Year
• PFAI Players' Player of the Year
• Rex Kingsley Footballer of the Year

Notes

1. First player to win the award twice.
2. First player to win SFWA and SPFA awards in the same season.
3. First player to win the award twice with two different clubs.
4. First non-Scottish winner.
5. First winner from outside the British Isles
6. Hartson shared the SPFA award with Fernando Ricksen.
7. First winner from outside Europe.

References

1. Neil Cameron (2008-04-10). "I Would Have Voted For Ranger Alan Hutton As Best Player, Reveals Shunsuke Nakamura". The Daily Record. Retrieved 2008-02-29. We all have opinions about who is the season's best player and a year ago it was Nakamura who came out on top in voting for both the PFA and Football Writers' award.
2. Jim Black. "Fifty years of passion and prose". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
3. Stuart Lovell (2008-04-07). "Why Aiden should run away with player prize". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
4. "Scotland – Player of the Year". RSSSF. 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
5. Barnes, Stuart (2007). News of the World Football Annual 2007–08. Invincible Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-00-725555-9.
6. Forsyth, Roddy (17 May 2013). "Hibs striker Leigh Griffiths nets another accolade". Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
7. "Celtic ace Gary Caldwell scoops football writers award". Sunday Mail. 2009-05-10. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
8. Halliday, Stephen (2010-05-08). "Walter Smith hails player of the year David Weir as 'best professional I have worked with' award". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
9. "More awards for Izaguirre, Goodwillie and Paatelainen". BBC Sport. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
10. "Charlie Mulgrew caps fine season by being named Scottish Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year". Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
11. Smith, Andrew (11 May 2014). "Kris Commons voted writers’ player of the year". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 11 May 2014.
12. Halliday, Stephen (20 May 2015). "Craig Gordon named writers’ Player of the Year". The Scotsman. Retrieved 20 May 2015.