SPFA Players' Player of the Year

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Henrik Larsson is the only player to win the award twice.

The Scottish Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year (often called the SPFA Players' Player of the Year, 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.^[1] 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 Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA).^[2] The first winner of the award was Rangers striker Derek Johnstone, and the first non-Scottish winner was Aberdeen goalkeeper Theo Snelders eleven years later. The current holder is Aiden McGeady of Celtic. As of 2008, only Henrik Larsson has won the award on more than one occasion. Although there is a separate SPFA Young Player of the Year award, young players remain eligible to win the senior award, and in the 2005–06 season Shaun Maloney became the first player to win both awards in the same season, a feat repeated by McGeady two years later.

A shortlist of nominees is published in April and the winner of the award, along with the winners of the SPFA's other annual awards, is announced at a gala event in Glasgow a few days later.^[3] The award is regarded by the players themselves as extremely prestigious, with John Hartson commenting in 2005 that "the award means a lot because it's voted by your fellow professionals"^[4] and Shaun Maloney 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".^[5] In 2007 the SPFA was replaced by a new body, PFA Scotland,^[6] but the new organisation's awards are considered to be a direct continuation of the SPFA awards.^[7]^[8]

1 Winners
2 Breakdown of winners
- 2.1 Winners by country
- 2.2 Winners by club
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Winners

The award has been presented on 31 occasions as of 2008, with two players sharing the award on one occasion.^[9] There have been 31 different winners. 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 award (SFWA),^[10] and the SPFA Young Player of the Year award (SYPY).^[9]

Ally McCoist was the 1992 winner.

Shaun Maloney won the award in 2006.

Shunsuke Nakamura was the 2007 winner.

Season		Player	Club	Also won	Notes
1977–78	SCO	Johnstone, DerekDerek Johnstone	Rangers	SFWA	^[11]
1978–79	SCO	Hegarty, PaulPaul Hegarty	Dundee United
1979–80	SCO	Provan, DavieDavie Provan	Celtic
1980–81	SCO	McGhee, MarkMark McGhee	Aberdeen
1981–82	SCO	Clark, SandySandy Clark	Airdrieonians
1982–83	SCO	Nicholas, CharlieCharlie Nicholas	Celtic	SFWA
1983–84	SCO	Miller, WillieWillie Miller	Aberdeen	SFWA
1984–85	SCO	Duffy, JimJim Duffy	Morton
1985–86	SCO	Gough, RichardRichard Gough	Dundee United
1986–87	SCO	McClair, BrianBrian McClair	Celtic	SFWA
1987–88	SCO	McStay, PaulPaul McStay	Celtic	SFWA
1988–89	NED	Snelders, TheoTheo Snelders	Aberdeen		^[12]
1989–90	SCO	Bett, JimJim Bett	Aberdeen
1990–91	ENG	Elliott, PaulPaul Elliott	Celtic
1991–92	SCO	McCoist, AllyAlly McCoist	Rangers	SFWA
1992–93	SCO	Goram, AndyAndy Goram	Rangers	SFWA
1993–94	ENG	Hateley, MarkMark Hateley	Rangers	SFWA
1994–95	DEN	Laudrup, BrianBrian Laudrup	Rangers	SFWA
1995–96	ENG	Gascoigne, PaulPaul Gascoigne	Rangers	SFWA
1996–97	ITA	Di Canio, PaoloPaolo Di Canio	Celtic
1997–98	SCO	McNamara, JackieJackie McNamara	Celtic
1998–99	SWE	Larsson, HenrikHenrik Larsson	Celtic	SFWA
1999–00	AUS	Viduka, MarkMark Viduka	Celtic		^[13]
2000–01	SWE	Larsson, HenrikHenrik Larsson	Celtic	SFWA	^[14]
2001–02	ITA	Amoruso, LorenzoLorenzo Amoruso	Rangers
2002–03	SCO	Ferguson, BarryBarry Ferguson	Rangers	SFWA
2003–04	ENG	Sutton, ChrisChris Sutton	Celtic
2004–05	NED	Ricksen, FernandoFernando Ricksen (joint winner)	Rangers
2004–05	WAL	Hartson, JohnJohn Hartson (joint winner)	Celtic	SFWA
2005–06	SCO	Maloney, ShaunShaun Maloney	Celtic	SYPY	^[15]
2006–07	JPN	Nakamura, ShunsukeShunsuke Nakamura	Celtic	SFWA
2007–08	IRL	McGeady, AidenAiden McGeady	Celtic	SYPY	^[16]

[edit] Breakdown of winners

[edit] Winners by country

Country	Number of wins	Winning seasons
Scotland	17	1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2005–06
England	4	1990–91, 1993–94, 1995–96, 2003–04
Netherlands	2	1988–89, 2004–05 (one of two winners)
Italy	2	1996–97, 2001–02
Sweden	2	1998–99, 2000–01
Republic of Ireland	1	2007–08
Japan	1	2006–07
Wales	1	2004–05 (one of two winners)
Australia	1	1999–00
Denmark	1	1994–95

[edit] Winners by club

Club	Number of wins	Winning seasons
Celtic	15	1979–80, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1988, 1990–91, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05 (one of two winners), 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
Rangers	9	1977–78, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05 (one of two winners)
Aberdeen	4	1980–81, 1983–84, 1988–89, 1989–90
Dundee United	2	1978–79, 1985–86
Morton	1	1984–85
Airdrieonians	1	1981–82

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Stewart Fisher. "Jackie named player of the year", The Sunday Herald, 2004-05-02. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
^ Amoruso is players' choice. BBC (2002-04-29). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
^ SPFA Player of the Year nominations. The Scottish Premier League. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
^ Hartson and Ricksen share award. BBC (2005-04-25). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
^ Maloney in historic awards double. BBC (2006-05-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
^ Martin Greig (2007-07-05). Fraser Wishart is promising a new kind of players union. The Herald. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
^ McGeady picks up double prize at football awards. The Herald. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. “Celtic winger Aiden McGeady has pulled off an awards double by winning the PFA Scotland Player Of The Year and Young Player Of The Year awards....McGeady follows in the footsteps of former Parkhead team-mate Shaun Maloney, who won both awards in a single season in 2006.”
^ McGeady happy with Hoops. Team Talk. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. “The only other player to have claimed the PFA Scotland double was Shaun Maloney, the Celtic midfielder who went on to carve out a career in the Premier League with Aston Villa.”
^ ^a ^b Barnes, Stuart (2007). News of the World Football Annual 2007/2008. Invincible Press, p63. ISBN 0-0072-5555-9.
^ Barnes, Stuart. News of the World Football Annual 2007/2008, p62.
^ First player to win SPFA and SFWA awards in the same season.
^ First winner of the award from outside the United Kingdom.
^ First winner of the award from outside Europe.
^ First two-time winner of the award.
^ First player to win both SPFA awards in the same season.
^ Graeme Bailey (2008-04-20). McGeady claims PFA double. Sky Sports. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.