The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English football. 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 current holder is Erling Haaland of Manchester City, who won the award for the first time on 29 August 2023.

The first winner of the award was Leeds United defender Norman Hunter. As of 2023, only Mark Hughes, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah have won the award on two occasions, and only Henry, Ronaldo and De Bruyne have won the award in consecutive seasons. Of the seven, only Shearer won his two awards playing for different teams. Although there is a separate PFA Young Player of the Year award, young players remain eligible to win the senior award, and on three occasions the same player has won both awards for a season, Andy Gray in 1976–77, Ronaldo in 2006–07 and Bale in 2012–13. Only three non-European players have won the award: Luis Suárez (Uruguay) in 2013–14, Riyad Mahrez (Algeria) in 2015–16, and Mohamed Salah (Egypt) in 2017–18 and 2021–22.

Every spring, each member of the association votes for two players. 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. The award is regarded by the players themselves as extremely prestigious, with Teddy Sheringham describing it in 2001 as "the biggest personal award you can get in the game", and John Terry stating in 2005 that he considered it "the ultimate accolade to be voted for by your fellow professionals whom you play against week-in and week-out".

Winners

The award has been presented on 50 occasions as of 2023, with 43 different winners. The women's award has been presented since 2013, with 8 different winners. 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 Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award (FWA), the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award (FPY), the PFA Young Player of the Year award (YPY), the Premier League Player of the Season award (PPS), the Premier League Young Player of the Season award (PYS) and the Football Supporters’ Federation Player of the Year award (FSF).

Winners of the PFA Players' of the Year

Year		Player	Club	Also won	Notes
1973–74		Norman Hunter	Leeds United
1974–75		Colin Todd	Derby County
1975–76		Pat Jennings	Tottenham Hotspur
1976–77		Andy Gray	Aston Villa	YPY
1977–78		Peter Shilton	Nottingham Forest
1978–79		Liam Brady	Arsenal
1979–80		Terry McDermott	Liverpool	FWA
1980–81		John Wark	Ipswich Town
1981–82		Kevin Keegan	Southampton
1982–83		Kenny Dalglish	Liverpool	FWA
1983–84		Ian Rush	Liverpool	FWA
1984–85		Peter Reid	Everton
1985–86		Gary Lineker	Everton	FWA
1986–87		Clive Allen	Tottenham Hotspur	FWA
1987–88		John Barnes	Liverpool	FWA
1988–89		Mark Hughes	Manchester United
1989–90		David Platt	Aston Villa
1990–91		Mark Hughes (2)	Manchester United
1991–92		Gary Pallister	Manchester United
1992–93		Paul McGrath	Aston Villa
1993–94		Eric Cantona	Manchester United
1994–95		Alan Shearer	Blackburn Rovers	PPS
1995–96		Les Ferdinand	Newcastle United
1996–97		Alan Shearer (2)	Newcastle United
1997–98		Dennis Bergkamp	Arsenal	FWA
1998–99		David Ginola	Tottenham Hotspur	FWA
1999–2000		Roy Keane	Manchester United	FWA
2000–01		Teddy Sheringham	Manchester United	FWA
2001–02		Ruud van Nistelrooy	Manchester United	FPY
2002–03		Thierry Henry	Arsenal	FWA, FPY
2003–04		Thierry Henry (2)	Arsenal	FWA, FPY, PPS
2004–05		John Terry	Chelsea
2005–06		Steven Gerrard	Liverpool
2006–07		Cristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	FWA, FPY, YPY, PPS
2007–08		Cristiano Ronaldo (2)	Manchester United	FWA, FPY, PPS
2008–09		Ryan Giggs	Manchester United
2009–10		Wayne Rooney	Manchester United	FWA, FPY, PPS
2010–11		Gareth Bale	Tottenham Hotspur
2011–12		Robin van Persie	Arsenal	FWA, FPY
2012–13		Gareth Bale (2)	Tottenham Hotspur	FWA, YPY, PPS
2013–14		Luis Suárez	Liverpool	FWA, FPY, PPS, FSF
2014–15		Eden Hazard	Chelsea	FWA, PPS
2015–16		Riyad Mahrez	Leicester City	FPY
2016–17		N'Golo Kanté	Chelsea	FWA, PPS
2017–18		Mohamed Salah	Liverpool	FWA, FPY, PPS, FSF
2018–19		Virgil van Dijk	Liverpool	PPS, FSF
2019–20		Kevin De Bruyne	Manchester City	PPS
2020–21		Kevin De Bruyne (2)	Manchester City
2021–22		Mohamed Salah (2)	Liverpool	FWA, FPY
2022–23		Erling Haaland	Manchester City	FWA, FPY, PPS, PYS

Breakdown of winners

By country

Winners of the PFA Players' Player of the Year by country

Country	Number of wins	Winning years
England	18	1973–74, 1974–75, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10
Wales	6	1983–84, 1988–89, 1990–91, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13
France	5	1993–94, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2016–17
Netherlands	4	1997–98, 2001–02, 2011–12, 2018–19
Scotland	3	1976–77, 1980–81, 1982–83
Republic of Ireland	3	1978–79, 1992–93, 1999–2000
Belgium	3	2014–15, 2019–20, 2020–21
Portugal	2	2006–07, 2007–08
Egypt	2	2017–18, 2021–22
Northern Ireland	1	1975–76
Uruguay	1	2013–14
Algeria	1	2015–16
Norway	1	2022–23

By club

Winners of the PFA Players' Player of the Year by club

Club	Number of wins	Winning years
Manchester United	11	1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
Liverpool	9	1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1987–88, 2005–06, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22
Tottenham Hotspur	5	1975–76, 1986–87, 1998–99, 2010–11, 2012–13
Arsenal	5	1978–79, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2011–12
Chelsea	3	2004–05, 2014–15, 2016–17
Aston Villa	3	1976–77, 1989–90, 1992–93
Manchester City	3	2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23
Everton	2	1984–85, 1985–86
Newcastle United	2	1995–96, 1996–97
Leeds United	1	1973–74
Derby County	1	1974–75
Nottingham Forest	1	1977–78
Ipswich Town	1	1980–81
Southampton	1	1981–82
Blackburn Rovers	1	1994–95
Leicester City	1	2015–16

See also

• Premier League Player of the Season
• FWA Footballer of the Year