.jpg)
TheEbony Shoe award (Dutch:Ebbenhouten schoen, French:Soulier d'ébène[1]) is afootball award in Belgium given annually to the best African or African origin player in theBelgian Pro League. The jury is composed of the coaches of league clubs, theBelgium national team manager, sport journalists, and one or more honorary jurors.[2]
As of 2020,Mbark Boussoufa (3 wins),Daniel Amokachi (2 wins),Vincent Kompany (2 wins) andDieumerci Mbokani (2) are the only players to have won the trophy more than once.[3]
The Ebony Shoe was created in 1992 byCerina de Rosen,Fely Samuna,Bernard Malaba Tshienda,Eugene Bunga andMoro Mukota in association with the African Culture Promotion. The reasoning for it was because it was felt by a number of African students in Belgium that football players of African origin were being overlooked for individual awards.[3] It was based upon theGolden Shoe award that already existed. Eligibility was determined as a player being born in Africa or being of African descent for those born outside of Africa.[3] It also led to the inspiration of the creation ofLe Lion Belge (Belgian Lion Award) by for the best player ofMagrebian origin, also using a panel of journalists and honorary jurors to determine the winner.[3] For a number of players, it is the first individual award they have received in their careers.[4]
Selection for the award is made by a panel of club managers from Belgium's top three divisions, theBelgium national football team manager as well as journalists, judges and honorary jurors.[5] The award is made in two parts. Three quarters of the way through a season, a vote is held to determine the five player shortlist with a second vote being held after the season has finished to decide which of the shortlisted players had won the Ebony Shoe.[3]
In 2021,Paul Onuachu won the Ebony Shoe, becoming the first Nigerian to win it in 25 years while also winning the Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year and being the top scorer in Belgium.[6] In 2023,La Tribune discussed which winner had the most impact, withVincent Kompany andMbark Boussoufa being named as the two that had.[7]
| Country | Number of wins | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
 Democratic Republic of the Congo | 11 | 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020 |
 Nigeria | 7 | 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2021, 2025 |
 Morocco | 5 | 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2022 |
 Burundi | 2 | 2007, 2023 |
 Ghana | 1 | 1998 |
 Guinea | 1 | 1999 |
 Egypt | 1 | 2001 |
 Burkina Faso | 1 | 2002 |
 Ivory Coast | 1 | 2003 |
 Senegal | 1 | 2013 |
 Algeria | 1 | 2016 |
 Tanzania | 1 | 2019 |
 Togo | 1 | 2024 |
| Club | Number of wins | Winning years |
|---|---|---|
| Anderlecht | 10 | 1996, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017 |
| Genk | 6 | 1999, 2002, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025 |
| Club Brugge | 5 | 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2018 |
| Gent | 3 | 2001, 2006, 2022 |
| Standard Liège | 2 | 2008, 2014 |
| RFC Liège | 1 | 1993 |
| Eendracht Aalst | 1 | 1995 |
| Mouscron | 1 | 1997 |
| Zulte Waregem | 1 | 2013 |
| Charleroi | 1 | 2015 |
| Mechelen | 1 | 2016 |
| Antwerp | 1 | 2020 |
| Cercle Brugge | 1 | 2024 |
| National teams | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League system |
| ||||||||||||||
| Women's League system |
| ||||||||||||||
| Domestic cups |
| ||||||||||||||
| Awards | |||||||||||||||
