English football award
TheProfessional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called thePFA Young Player of the Year , or simply theYoung Player of the Year ) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season inEnglish 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 the1973–74 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players'trade union , theProfessional Footballers' Association (PFA). The first winner of the award wasIpswich Town defenderKevin Beattie . The current holder isAston Villa playerMorgan Rogers , who won the award on 19 August 2025.[ 4]
Although the award is open to players at all levels,[ 2] all winners to date have played in the highest division of theEnglish football league system . In 2018Ryan Sessegnon ofFulham became the first player from outside the top division of English football to be nominated for the award.[ 5] As of 2025, onlyRyan Giggs ,Robbie Fowler ,Wayne Rooney ,Dele Alli andPhil Foden have won the award on more than one occasion. Only seven players from outside theUnited Kingdom have won the trophy,[ 6] compared with fifteen winners of the mainPFA 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]
The award has been presented on 52 occasions as of 2025, 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 thePFA Players' Player of the Year award (PPY),[ 10] [ 11] [ 12] the Football Writers' Association'sFootballer of the Year award (FWA),[ 13] thePremier League Player of the Season award (PPS),[ 14] thePremier League Young Player of the Season award (PYPS), and thePFA 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 theFans' Player of the Year award in the same seasonWayne Rooney was the third player to win the award in two consecutive seasons.Breakdown of winners [ edit ] Winners of the PFA Young Player of the Year by country Country Number of wins Winning years England 39
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 ,2024–25 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
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 Aston Villa 5
1976–77 ,1980–81 ,2008–09 ,2009–10 ,2024–25 Manchester City 5
1975–76 ,2017–18 ,2018–19 ,2020–21 ,2021–22 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
^ "PFA Awards Men's Nominees" .Professional Footballers' Association . Retrieved2 June 2021 .^a b "England Player Honours – Professional Footballers' Association Young Players of the Year" . England Football Online. 19 June 2007. Retrieved15 March 2008 .^ Dimond, Alex (17 April 2015)."Power Ranking the PFA Young Player of the Year Shortlist" .Bleacher Report . Retrieved2 June 2021 . ^a b "PFA Young Player of the Year | Morgan Rogers" . Professional Footballers' Association. 19 August 2025. Retrieved19 August 2025 .^ "De Bruyne, Salah, Kane, De Gea, Sane and Silva nominated for PFA Premier League Player of the Year" .Eurosport . 14 April 2018. Retrieved15 April 2018 .^ The total of seven includes Cyrille Regis, who was born inFrench Guiana but represented England at international level. ^ "United trio lead nominations for PFA award" .The Times . 16 April 2007. Retrieved14 March 2008 .[dead link ] ^a b "Rooney secures young player prize" .BBC Sport . British Broadcasting Corporation. 24 April 2005. Retrieved17 March 2008 .^ Keogh, Frank (20 April 2001)."Too much too young?" .BBC Sport . British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved17 March 2008 . ^a b c "Gerrard named player of the year" .BBC Sport . 23 April 2006. Retrieved14 March 2008 .^a b "Ronaldo secures PFA awards double" .BBC Sport . 22 April 2007. Retrieved14 March 2008 .^ "Only here for the peers" .BBC Sport . 20 April 2001. Retrieved14 March 2008 .^ "England – Players Awards" . Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 4 October 2007. Retrieved18 March 2008 .^ "Player of the Season" .Premier League . Retrieved9 September 2020 .^ "PFA's Official Fan's Player of the Year: Previous Winners" . The Professional Footballers' Association. Archived fromthe original on 20 February 2008. Retrieved14 March 2008 .^ Day is the onlygoalkeeper to have won the award. ^ First non-English winner, also first player to win two awards in a single season. ^ First winner of the award born outside theUnited Kingdom , although he went on to become an England international. ^ First player to win the award twice, and first to win the award in two consecutive seasons. ^ First winner of the award from mainlandEurope . ^ "Keane claims award double" .BBC Sport . 30 April 2000. Retrieved23 April 2012 .^ "Sheringham wins second award" .BBC Sport . 29 April 2001. Retrieved23 April 2012 .^ "Players honour Bellamy" .BBC Sport . 15 April 2002. Retrieved23 April 2012 .^ "Henry honoured by peers" .BBC Sport . 27 April 2003. Retrieved23 April 2012 .^ "Henry retains PFA crown" .BBC Sport . 25 April 2004. Retrieved23 April 2012 .^ First player to win four awards in a single season. ^ "Ronaldo secures PFA awards double" .BBC Sport . 22 April 2007. Retrieved23 October 2016 .^ "Ronaldo named player of the year" .BBC Sport . 27 April 2008. Retrieved23 April 2012 .^ "Giggs earns prestigious PFA award" .BBC Sport . 26 April 2009. Retrieved23 April 2012 .^ "Rooney is PFA player of the year" .BBC Sport . 25 April 2010. Retrieved23 April 2012 .^ "Spurs' Gareth Bale wins PFA player of the year award" .BBC Sport . 17 April 2011. Retrieved18 April 2011 .^ "Arsenal striker Robin van Persie named PFA Player of the Year" .BBC Sport . 22 April 2012. Retrieved23 April 2012 .^ "Luis Suarez: Liverpool striker wins PFA Player of the Year award" .BBC Sport . 27 April 2014. Retrieved27 April 2014 .^ "Tottenham striker Harry Kane named PFA Young Player of the Year" .Goal.com . 26 April 2015. Retrieved26 April 2015 .^ "Riyad Mahrez: Leicester City forward named PFA Player of the Year" .BBC Sport . 25 April 2016. Retrieved25 April 2016 .^ "Dele Alli named player of the year for second season running" . Evening Standard. 23 April 2017. Retrieved23 April 2017 .^ "PFA Player of the Year 2017-18: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah wins top award" .BBC Sport . 22 April 2018. Retrieved22 April 2018 .^ "Virgil van Dijk and Vivianne Miedema win PFA Player of the Year awards" .BBC Sport . 29 April 2019. Retrieved29 April 2019 .^ "PFA Player of the Year: Kevin de Bruyne and Beth England named 2020 winners" .BBC Sport . 8 September 2020. Retrieved8 September 2020 .^ "Foden voted PFA Young Player of the Year" . Manchester City F.C. 6 June 2021. Retrieved6 June 2021 .^ Sansom, Dan (9 June 2022)."PFA Players' Player of the Year: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Chelsea's Sam Kerr win 2022 awards" .Sky Sports . Retrieved9 June 2022 . ^ "Bukayo Saka PFA Young Player of the Year 2023" . Professional Footballers' Association. 29 August 2023. Retrieved29 August 2023 .^ "Cole Palmer Wins PFA Young Player of The Year" . Professional Footballers' Association. 20 August 2024. Retrieved20 August 2024 .