The European Golden Shoe, formerly known as the European Golden Boot, is an association football award presented each season to the leading goalscorer in league matches from the top division of every European national league. From its inception in the 1967–68 season the award, originally called Soulier d'Or, which translates from French as Golden Shoe or Boot, was given by L'Équipe magazine to the top goalscorer in all European leagues that season.
Following a protest from the Cyprus FA where a player allegedly scored 40 goals, L'Équipe decided to make the competition unofficial until 1996; however, co-sponsors Adidas continued to present the award.[1] The top scorer for the 1990–91 season, Darko Pančev, did not receive his award until 2006.[2] It was reinstated in 1996 with different regulations. Since then, European Sports Magazines have awarded the Golden Shoe based on a points system that allows players in tougher leagues to win even if they score fewer goals than a player in a weaker league. With this modification goals are ranked differently between the leagues.
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Between 1968 and 1991, the European Golden Boot, as it was then known, was given to the highest goalscorer in any European league. This was regardless of the toughness of the league in which the top scorer played and the number of games in which the player had taken part. During this period Eusébio, Gerd Müller, Dudu Georgescu and Fernando Gomes each won the Golden Boot twice.[3]
Originally, no allowance was made for the relative strengths of the leagues in which the players competed. Following a protest from the Cyprus FA, which claimed that a Cypriot player with 40 goals should have received the award (though the official top scorers for the season are both listed with 19 goals), L'Équipe issued no awards between 1991 and 1996; however, sponsors Adidas continued to present an award.[1] For the 1996–97 season, when European Sports Magazines (ESM), of which L'Équipe is a member, decided on a points system weighted according to the relative strength of each of Europe's leagues.
The winners in the interim were:
| Season | Country | Player | Club | League | Goals | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–92 | Scotland | Ally McCoist | Rangers | Scottish Premier Division | 34 | [5][6] |
| 1992–93 | Scotland | Ally McCoist | Rangers | Scottish Premier Division | 34 | [5][6] |
| 1993–94 | Wales | David Taylor | Porthmadog | League of Wales | 43 | [5] |
| 1994–95 | Armenia | Arsen Avetisyan | Homenetmen | Armenian Premier League | 39 | [5] |
| 1995–96 | Georgia | Zviad Endeladze | Margveti | Georgian Umaglesi Liga | 40 | [5] |
Since the 1996–97 season, European Sports Magazines have awarded the Golden Shoe based on a points system that allows players in tougher leagues to win even if they score fewer goals than a player in a weaker league.
The weightings are determined by the league's ranking on the UEFA coefficients, which in turn depend on the results of each league's clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons. Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the UEFA coefficients list are multiplied by a factor of two, and goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 are multiplied by 1.5.[5] Thus, goals scored in Serie A, the top Italian football league, will count for more than those scored in the weaker Welsh Premier League, its Welsh equivalent.[3]
Nine players have won the European Golden Shoe twice. Gerd Müller was the first player to win two Golden Shoes in 1969–70 and 1971–72. Cristiano Ronaldo, and Diego Forlán are the only players still active and playing in Europe that can win a third European Golden Shoe. Ally McCoist (1991–92, 1992–93) and Thierry Henry (2003–04 and 2004–05) are the only players to win in consecutive years.[11] Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Real Madrid, Diego Forlán (Villarreal and Atlético Madrid) and Mário Jardel (Porto and Sporting CP) are the only players who win the trophy with two different clubs. Cristiano Ronaldo is the first and only player to have won the trophy in two different leagues, with Manchester United in English Premier League and with Real Madrid in Spanish La Liga.
| Rank | Player | Country | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eusébio | Portugal | 2 | 1967–68, 1972–73 |
| 1 | Gerd Müller | Germany | 2 | 1969–70, 1971–72 |
| 1 | Dudu Georgescu | Romania | 2 | 1974–75, 1976–77 |
| 1 | Fernando Gomes | Portugal | 2 | 1982–83, 1984–85 |
| 1 | Ally McCoist | Scotland | 2 | 1991–92, 1992–93 |
| 1 | Mário Jardel | Brazil | 2 | 1998–99, 2001–02 |
| 1 | Thierry Henry | France | 2 | 2003–04, 2004–05 |
| 1 | Diego Forlán | Uruguay | 2 | 2004–05, 2008–09 |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 2 | 2007–08, 2010–11 |
| Team | Country | Total | Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dinamo București | Romania | 4 | 3 |
| Porto | Portugal | 3 | 2 |
| Sporting CP | Portugal | 2 | 2 |
| CSKA Sofia | Bulgaria | 2 | 2 |
| Barcelona | Spain | 2 | 2 |
| Ajax | Netherlands | 2 | 2 |
| Real Madrid | Spain | 2 | 2 |
| Benfica | Portugal | 2 | 1 |
| Bayern Munich | Germany | 2 | 1 |
| Rangers | Scotland | 2 | 1 |
| Arsenal | England | 2 | 1 |
| Marseille | France | 1 | 1 |
| Omonia Nicosia | Cyprus | 1 | 1 |
| Rapid Wien | Austria | 1 | 1 |
| AZ | Netherlands | 1 | 1 |
| Lierse | Belgium | 1 | 1 |
| Botev Plovdiv | Bulgaria | 1 | 1 |
| Liverpool | England | 1 | 1 |
| Austria Wien | Austria | 1 | 1 |
| Galatasaray | Turkey | 1 | 1 |
| Crvena Zvezda | Yugoslavia | 1 | 1 |
| Porthmadog | Wales | 1 | 1 |
| Homenetmen Beirut | Armenia | 1 | 1 |
| Zestafoni | Georgia | 1 | 1 |
| Vitesse | Netherlands | 1 | 1 |
| Sunderland | England | 1 | 1 |
| Celtic | Scotland | 1 | 1 |
| Deportivo La Coruña | Spain | 1 | 1 |
| Villarreal | Spain | 1 | 1 |
| Fiorentina | Italy | 1 | 1 |
| Roma | Italy | 1 | 1 |
| Manchester United | England | 1 | 1 |
| Atlético Madrid | Spain | 1 | 1 |
| Country | Total | Players |
|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 6 | 3 |
| Netherlands | 4 | 4 |
| Romania | 4 | 3 |
| Bulgaria | 3 | 3 |
| Brazil | 3 | 2 |
| Argentina | 2 | 2 |
| Austria | 2 | 2 |
| Wales | 2 | 2 |
| Italy | 2 | 2 |
| France | 2 | 1 |
| Uruguay | 2 | 1 |
| Germany | 2 | 1 |
| Scotland | 2 | 1 |
| Yugoslavia | 1 | 1 |
| Cyprus | 1 | 1 |
| Belgium | 1 | 1 |
| Turkey | 1 | 1 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1 |
| Macedonia | 1 | 1 |
| Armenia | 1 | 1 |
| Georgia | 1 | 1 |
| Greece | 1 | 1 |
| England | 1 | 1 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1 |
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