PFA Young Player of the Year

This article is about the men's award. For the women's award, see PFA Women's Young Player of the Year.

The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football. As of 2021, players must have been aged 21 or under as of 1 July immediately preceding the start of the season;^[1] in the past the age limit has been 23, which led to criticism in the media over whether a player who was 24 years old at the end of the season could really be considered "young" in footballing terms.^[2][3] The award has been presented since the 1973–74 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA). The first winner of the award was Ipswich Town defender Kevin Beattie. The current holder is Chelsea player Cole Palmer, who won the award on 20 August 2024.^[4]

PFA Young Player of the Year

2024 winner Cole Palmer
Sport	Association football
Competition	All levels of English football
Country	England and Wales
Presented by	PFA
History
First award	1973–74
Editions	50
First winner	Kevin Beattie
Most recent	Cole Palmer (2024)
Website	Official website

Although the award is open to players at all levels,^[2] all winners to date have played in the highest division of the English football league system. In 2018 Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham became the first player from outside the top division of English football to be nominated for the award.^[5] As of 2024, only Ryan Giggs, Robbie Fowler, Wayne Rooney, Dele Alli and Phil Foden have won the award on more than one occasion. Only seven players from outside the United Kingdom have won the trophy,^[6] compared with fifteen winners of the main PFA Players' Player of the Year award. Although they have their own dedicated award, players aged 21 or under at the start of the season remain eligible to win the Players' Player of the Year award, and on three occasions the same player has won both awards for a season.

A shortlist of nominees is published in April and the winner of the award, along with the winners of the PFA's other annual awards, is announced at a gala event in London.^[7] The players themselves consider the award to be highly prestigious, because the winner is chosen by his fellow professionals.^[8]

Winners

The award has been presented on 51 occasions as of 2024, to 46 players.^[9][10][11] The table also indicates where the winning player also won one or more of the other major "player of the year" awards in English football, namely the PFA Players' Player of the Year award (PPY),^[10][11][12] the Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award (FWA),^[13] the Premier League Player of the Season award (PPS),^[14] the Premier League Young Player of the Season award (PYPS), and the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award (FPY).^[15]

Ryan Giggs was the first player to win the award twice.

Robbie Fowler was the second two-time winner.

Steven Gerrard was the first player to win the Fans' Player of the Year award in the same season

Wayne Rooney was the third player to win the award in two consecutive seasons.

Winners of the PFA Young Player of the Year

Year	Nat.	Player	Club	Also won	Notes
1973–74		Kevin Beattie	Ipswich Town
1974–75		Mervyn Day	West Ham United		[16]
1975–76		Peter Barnes	Manchester City
1976–77		Andy Gray	Aston Villa	PPY	[17]
1977–78		Tony Woodcock	Nottingham Forest
1978–79		Cyrille Regis	West Bromwich Albion		[18]
1979–80		Glenn Hoddle	Tottenham Hotspur
1980–81		Gary Shaw	Aston Villa
1981–82		Steve Moran	Southampton
1982–83		Ian Rush	Liverpool
1983–84		Paul Walsh	Luton Town
1984–85		Mark Hughes	Manchester United
1985–86		Tony Cottee	West Ham United
1986–87		Tony Adams	Arsenal
1987–88		Paul Gascoigne	Newcastle United
1988–89		Paul Merson	Arsenal
1989–90		Matthew Le Tissier	Southampton
1990–91		Lee Sharpe	Manchester United
1991–92		Ryan Giggs	Manchester United
1992–93		Ryan Giggs (2)	Manchester United		[19]
1993–94		Andy Cole	Newcastle United
1994–95		Robbie Fowler	Liverpool
1995–96		Robbie Fowler (2)	Liverpool
1996–97		David Beckham	Manchester United
1997–98		Michael Owen	Liverpool	PPS
1998–99		Nicolas Anelka	Arsenal		[20]
1999–2000		Harry Kewell	Leeds United		[21]
2000–01		Steven Gerrard	Liverpool	FPY	[22]
2001–02		Craig Bellamy	Newcastle United		[23]
2002–03		Jermaine Jenas	Newcastle United		[24]
2003–04		Scott Parker	Charlton Athletic Chelsea		[25]
2004–05		Wayne Rooney	Manchester United		[8]
2005–06		Wayne Rooney (2)	Manchester United	FPY	[10]
2006–07		Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	PPY, FWA, FPY, PPS	[26][27]
2007–08		Cesc Fàbregas	Arsenal		[28]
2008–09		Ashley Young	Aston Villa		[29]
2009–10		James Milner	Aston Villa		[30]
2010–11		Jack Wilshere	Arsenal		[31]
2011–12		Kyle Walker	Tottenham Hotspur		[32]
2012–13		Gareth Bale	Tottenham Hotspur	PPY, FWA, PPS
2013–14		Eden Hazard	Chelsea		[33]
2014–15		Harry Kane	Tottenham Hotspur		[34]
2015–16		Dele Alli	Tottenham Hotspur		[35]
2016–17		Dele Alli (2)	Tottenham Hotspur		[36]
2017–18		Leroy Sané	Manchester City		[37]
2018–19		Raheem Sterling	Manchester City	FWA	[38]
2019–20		Trent Alexander-Arnold	Liverpool	PYPS	[39]
2020–21		Phil Foden	Manchester City	PYPS	[40]
2021–22		Phil Foden (2)	Manchester City	PYPS	[41]
2022–23		Bukayo Saka	Arsenal		[42]
2023–24		Cole Palmer	Chelsea	PYPS	[4]

Breakdown of winners

By country

Winners of the PFA Young Player of the Year by country

Country	Number of wins	Winning years
England	38	1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24
Wales	6	1982–83, 1984–85, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2001–02, 2012–13
Scotland	1	1976–77
France	1	1998–99
Australia	1	1999–2000
Portugal	1	2006–07
Spain	1	2007–08
Belgium	1	2013–14
Germany	1	2017–18

By club

Winners of the PFA Young Player of the Year by club

Club	Number of wins	Winning years
Manchester United	8	1984–85, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1996–97, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07
Tottenham Hotspur	6	1979–80, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17
Liverpool	6	1982–83, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2019–20
Arsenal	6	1986–87, 1988–89, 1998–99, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2022–23
Manchester City	5	1975–76, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22
Aston Villa	4	1976–77, 1980–81, 2008–09, 2009–10
Newcastle United	4	1987–88, 1993–94, 2001–02, 2002–03
Chelsea	3	2003–04, 2013–14, 2023–24
West Ham United	2	1974–75, 1985–86
Southampton	2	1981–82, 1989–90
Ipswich Town	1	1973–74
Nottingham Forest	1	1977–78
West Bromwich Albion	1	1978–79
Luton Town	1	1983–84
Leeds United	1	1999–2000
Charlton Athletic	1	2003–04