SPFA Players' Player of the Year

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 Steven Davis of Rangers. As of 2010, 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]

Winners

The award has been presented on 32 occasions as of 2009, with two players sharing the award on one occasion.^[9] There have been 32 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.

Scott Brown (right) was the 2009 winner.

Season	Nat	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]
2008–09	SCO !	Brown, ScottScott Brown	Celtic		[17]
2009–10	NIR !	Davis, StevenSteven Davis	Rangers		[18]

Breakdown of winners

Winners by country

Country	Number of wins	Winning seasons
Scotland	18	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, 2008–09
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
Northern Ireland	1	2009–10
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

Winners by club

See also

• SFWA Footballer of the Year
• PFA Players' Player of the Year
• FWA Footballer of the Year
• PFAI Players' Player of the Year

References