Ipswich Town F.C. Player of the Year

For a list of all Ipswich Town players with a Wikipedia article, see the Ipswich Town F.C. players category, and for the current first-team squad, see Ipswich Town F.C.: Current squad.
Four men standing on a grass football pitch. The man second from left, wearing a grey top, white shorts and white socks, is holding a trophy above his head. Spectators wearing blue or black tops are visible in the background.
Fabian Wilnis, winner for the 2005–06 season, with the trophy.

The Ipswich Town Player of the Year award is voted for annually by Ipswich Town's supporters in recognition of the best overall performance by an individual player throughout the football season. Towards the end of each season, fans are invited to cast their votes for this award. They do this by submitting a paper slip to the club's Portman Road offices, with the winner being the player who polls the most votes. The recipient is awarded a rosebowl trophy, presented on the pitch before one of the last home games of the season.[1]

The inaugural award was made to Kevin Beattie in 1973 and he retained it the following season. Since then three other players have won the award on more than one occasion. Terry Butcher and Matt Holland have received the honour twice while John Wark has been presented with the award on a record four occasions. Only one winner has gone on to manage the club full-time, George Burley,[2] who won in 1977, although John Wark did act as joint caretaker-manager of the club with Paul Goddard for three matches in 1994.[3]

Winners

* Ipswich Town Hall of Fame Inductee[4][5][6]

Player name in bold represents players still on the playing staff of the club.

SeasonLevel[nb 1]Name[1]Position[nb 2] NationalityInternational
caps[nb 3]		Notes
1973 1 Kevin Beattie* Defender  England 9[nb 4][7]
1974 1 Kevin Beattie* Defender  England 9[nb 5][7][8]
1975 1 Colin Viljoen Midfielder  England 2[nb 6]
1976 1 Allan Hunter* Defender  Northern Ireland 53 [nb 7][9]
1977 1 George Burley* Defender  Scotland 11 [10]
1978 1 Mick Mills* Defender  England 42[7]
1979 1 Arnold Mühren* Midfielder  Netherlands 23[nb 8][11]
1980 1 Frans Thijssen* Midfielder  Netherlands 14[12]
1981 1 Paul Cooper Goalkeeper  England —
1982 1 Alan Brazil Striker  Scotland 13 [13]
1983 1 Paul Mariner Striker  England 35 [7]
1984 1 Trevor Putney Midfielder  England —
1985 1 Terry Butcher Defender  England 77[7]
1986 1 Terry Butcher Defender  England 77[nb 5][7]
1987 2 Romeo Zondervan Midfielder  Netherlands 6[nb 9][14]
1988 2 Frank Yallop Defender  Canada 52 [nb 10][15]
1989 2 John Wark* Midfielder  Scotland 29 [16]
1990 2 Wark, JohnJohn Wark* Midfielder  Scotland 29 [nb 5][16]
1991 2 Linighan, DavidDavid Linighan Defender  England —
1992 2 Wark, JohnJohn Wark* Midfielder  Scotland 29[nb 11][16]
1993 1 Stockwell, MickMick Stockwell Midfielder  England —
1994 1 Wark, JohnJohn Wark* Midfielder  Scotland 29 [nb 12][16]
1995 1 Forrest, CraigCraig Forrest Goalkeeper  Canada 56[17]
1996 2 Milton, SimonSimon Milton Midfielder  England —
1997 2 Taricco, MauricioMauricio Taricco Defender  Argentina —[nb 13]
1998 2 Holland, MattMatt Holland Midfielder  Ireland 49[18]
1999 2 Clapham, JamieJamie Clapham Defender  England —
2000 2 Scowcroft, JamesJames Scowcroft Striker  England —
2001 1 Stewart, MarcusMarcus Stewart Striker  England —[19]
2002 1 Venus, MarkMark Venus Defender  England —
2003 2 Holland, MattMatt Holland Midfielder  Ireland 49[nb 5][18]
2004 2 Westlake, IanIan Westlake Midfielder  England —
2005 2 Kuqi, ShefkiShefki Kuqi Striker  Finland 62[20]
2006 2 Wilnis, FabianFabian Wilnis Defender  Netherlands —
2007 2 Legwinski, SylvainSylvain Legwinski Midfielder  France —
2008 2 Walters, JonathanJonathan Walters Striker  Ireland 25 [21]
2009 2 Wright, RichardRichard Wright Goalkeeper  England 2
2010 2 Gareth McAuley Defender  Northern Ireland 47
2011 2 Jimmy Bullard Midfielder  England —
2012 2 Aaron Cresswell Defender  England —[22]
2013 2 Tommy Smith Defender  New Zealand 22[23]
2014 2 Christophe Berra Defender  Scotland 28
2015 2 Daryl Murphy Striker  Ireland 14[24]|-

Wins by playing position

Position[nb 14] Number of
winners[nb 15]
Goalkeeper 3
Defender 17
Midfielder 16
Striker 7

Wins by nationality

Nationality Number of
winners[nb 15]
 Argentina 1
 Canada 2
 England 20
 Finland 1
 France 1
 Ireland 4
 Netherlands 4
 New Zealand 1
 Northern Ireland 2
 Scotland 7

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The official "Level" of competition in the structure of the English league system.
  2. ↑ For a full description of positions see Football Positions.
  3. ↑ If blank, uncapped at full international level.
  4. ↑ Beattie was the inaugural winner of the award.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Second award.
  6. ↑ Viljoen was born in South Africa.
  7. ↑ Hunter was the first non-English winner.
  8. ↑ Mühren became the first winner from outside the United Kingdom.
  9. ↑ Zondervan was born in Suriname.
  10. ↑ Yallop was born in England.
  11. ↑ Third award.
  12. ↑ Fourth award.
  13. ↑ Taricco was the first non-European winner.
  14. ↑ Stockwell and Zondervan have been classed as midfielders.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Multiple winners are counted multiple times.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hayes, Dean (2006). The who's Who of Ipswich Town. Breedon Books. p. 183. ISBN 1-85983-515-5.
  2. ↑ "George Burley's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  3. ↑ "Wark/Goddard managerial statistics". Pride of Anglia. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  4. ↑ "Ipswich Town Hall of Fame inaugural members". Ipswich Town F.C. 10 August 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
  5. ↑ "Ipswich Town Hall of Fame members from 29th reunion dinner". Evening Star. 29 March 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  6. ↑ Davis, Derek (21 March 2009). "Hall of Fame honours for five more Town greats". Green'Un (East Anglian Daily Times).
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "All time England Caps". The Football Association. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  8. ↑ "Young Player of the Year 1974–2007". Professional Football's Association. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2007. Beattie was named PFA Young Player of the Year in 1974.
  9. ↑ "Allan Hunter – international career". Pride of Anglia. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  10. ↑ "George Burley profile". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  11. ↑ "Arnold Mühren profile". KNVB.nl. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  12. ↑ "Frans Thijssen profile". KNVB.nl. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  13. ↑ "Alan Brazil profile". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  14. ↑ "Romeo Zondervan international profile". Pride of Anglia. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  15. ↑ "Frank Yallop profile". Canada Soccer. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 "John Wark profile". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  17. ↑ "Craig Forrest profile". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Matt Holland career statistics". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  19. ↑ "2000–2001 Top Scorers". 4TheGame. Retrieved 29 October 2007. Stewart was the second highest scorer in the Premier League in the 2000–01 season, and the highest English-born scorer that season.
  20. ↑ "Shefki Kuqi career statistics". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
  21. ↑ "Walters completes clean sweep of awards". East Anglian Daily Times. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
  22. ↑ "Aaron Cresswell wins Supporters Player of the Year". East Anglian Daily Times. 22 Apr 2012. Retrieved 22 Apr 2012.
  23. ↑ "Tommy Smith the Ipswich fans' player of year". stuff.co.nz. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  24. ↑ "Murphy wins player of year". twtd.co.uk. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 11 Apr 2015.