A-League Men Young Footballer of the Year

This article is about the best young player award in the Australian premier men's association football league. For the equivalent award in the women's league of the same name, see A-League Women Young Footballer of the Year.

The A-League Men Young Footballer of the Year is an annual association football award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who has been judged to have had the best season of any young player in the A-League Men. It is currently called the NAB Young Footballer of the Year for sponsorship purposes.^[1] The award has been presented since the 2005–06 season and the winner is chosen by a panel of experts and media representatives.^[1] In 2014, the age for eligibility was lifted from 21 to 23.^[2] The first winner of the award was Perth Glory midfielder Nick Ward.

Marco Rojas is the only player to win the award while winning the Johnny Warren Medal in the same season.

As of 2017, Mathew Ryan and Jamie Maclaren are the only players to have won the award on more than one occasion. Marco Rojas and Alex Paulsen are the only non-Australian winners of the trophy. Players aged 23 or under at the start of the season remain eligible to win the Johnny Warren Medal, and in 2013 Rojas won both awards.

Since 2009, one player has been awarded a nomination for the award each month of the season, with the eventual winner then selected from the nominees.

In 2024, the award was awarded to two players for the first time, with Nestory Irankunda and Paulsen tying.

Winners

Adrian Leijer was the second-ever recipient of the award.

The award has been presented on 19 occasions as of 2024, with 18 different winners.^[3]

Key

Player (X)	Name of the player and number of times they had won the award at that point (if more than one)
§	Denotes the club were A-League premiers in the same season

A-League Young Footballer of the Year winners

Season	Player	Nationality	Club	Ref(s)
2005–06	Nick Ward	Australia	Perth Glory	[4]
2006–07	Adrian Leijer	Australia	Melbourne Victory§	[5]
2007–08	Bruce Djite	Australia	Adelaide United	[6]
2008–09	Scott Jamieson	Australia	Adelaide United	[7]
2009–10	Tommy Oar	Australia	Brisbane Roar	[8]
2010–11	Mathew Ryan	Australia	Central Coast Mariners	[9]
2011–12	Mathew Ryan (2)	Australia	Central Coast Mariners§	[10]
2012–13	Marco Rojas	New Zealand	Melbourne Victory	[11]
2013–14	Adam Taggart	Australia	Newcastle Jets	[12]
2014–15	James Jeggo	Australia	Adelaide United	[13]
2015–16	Jamie Maclaren	Australia	Brisbane Roar	[14]
2016–17	Jamie Maclaren (2)	Australia	Brisbane Roar	[15]
2017–18	Daniel Arzani	Australia	Melbourne City	[16]
2018–19	Chris Ikonomidis	Australia	Perth Glory§	[17]
2019–20	Riley McGree	Australia	Adelaide United	[18]
2020–21	Joel King	Australia	Sydney FC	[19]
2021–22	Angus Thurgate	Australia	Newcastle Jets	[20]
2022–23	Jordan Bos	Australia	Melbourne City§	[21]
2023–24	Nestory Irankunda Alex Paulsen	Australia  New Zealand	Adelaide United Wellington Phoenix	[22]

Breakdown of winners

By nationality

Country	Total
Australia	18
New Zealand	2

By club

Club	Total
Adelaide United	5
Brisbane Roar	3
Central Coast Mariners	2
Melbourne City	2
Melbourne Victory	2
Newcastle Jets	2
Perth Glory	2
Sydney FC	1
Wellington Phoenix	1

See also

• Johnny Warren Medal
• A-League Golden Boot

References

1. "Hyundai A-League Awards". Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
2. "NAB Young Footballer of the Year candidates named". A-League. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
3. "Our History". A-League. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
4. "'If I had my time again, I probably would've taken their advice'". Goal.com. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
5. Bernard, Grantley (28 February 2007). "Jet blocks Victory clean sweep". Herald Sun.
6. "A-League 2008 Awards Night". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 February 2008.
7. Lynch, Michael (3 February 2009). "Melbourne's season not reflected in awards". WAtoday.
8. "Tommy tops young talent". Brisbane Roar. 17 February 2010. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
9. "Flores takes top gong". The World Game. 6 March 2011.
10. "Ryan, Arnold honoured at Hyundai A-League Awards". Central Coast Mariners. 11 April 2012.
11. "Marco Rojas wins Johnny Warren Medal". Football Federation Australia. 15 April 2013. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
12. Gardiner, James (28 April 2014). "Adam Taggart wins 2014 Young Player of the Year, Golden Boot award: photos". The Newcastle Herald. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
13. "Jeggo named NAB Young Footballer of the Year". Football Federation Australia. 11 May 2015.
14. "Glory star Castro wins Johnny Warren medal". Football Federation Australia. 26 April 2016.
15. "Milos Ninkovic wins Johnny Warren Medal". The World Game. SBS. 1 May 2017.
16. Smithies, Tom (30 April 2018). "Dolan Warren Awards: Mierzejewski wins Johnny Warren; Kerr, Polkinghorn split the Dolan". The Daily Telegraph.
17. "Wellington Phoenix's Roy Krishna adds Johnny Warren Medal to A-League Golden Boot". Stuff.co.nz. 13 May 2019.
18. "The big winners from the Dolan Warren Awards 2020". A-League. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
19. "Dolan Warren Awards: Joel King named Young Footballer of the Year". A-League. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
20. Lewis, Samantha (26 May 2022). "Fiona Worts and Jake Brimmer take out A-Leagues' top gongs at 2021/22 Dolan Warren Awards". ABC News.
21. Monteverde, Marco (1 June 2023). "Adelaide United captain Craig Goodwin secures Johnny Warren Medal after stellar season". news.com.au.
22. Monteverde, Marco (25 May 2024). "Central Coast Mariners midfielder Josh Nisbet wins Johnny Warren Medal". news.com.au. The young footballer of the year award was shared between Bayern Munich-bound prodigy Nestory Irankunda and Phoenix gloveman Alex Paulsen