# SFWA Footballer of the Year

The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish football. The award has been presented since the 1964–65 season, and the winner is selected by a vote amongst the members of the Scottish Football Writers' Association (SFWA), which comprises over 100 football journalists based throughout Scotland. The first winner was Celtic's Billy McNeill, and the first non-Scottish winner was Mark Hateley of Rangers in 1994. Seven players have won the award on more than one occasion, and one, Craig Gordon, three times, winning his third award in the 2021–22 season.
The award was instigated in 1965, eight years after the association was founded, and committee member Allan Herron was charged with obtaining the permission of the Scottish Football Association to make the first award. Each member of the association casts one vote and also nominates a runner-up. In the event of a tie for first place the number of runner-up votes is taken into consideration. Although it is the older of the two awards, the SFWA award is considered by the players themselves to be of secondary importance to the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year because the winner of the PFA Scotland award is chosen by his fellow professionals.

## List of winners

The award has been presented on 60 occasions as of 2024, with 51 different individual players winning. Craig Gordon has won the award a record three times; six players (John Greig, Sandy Jardine, Brian Laudrup, Henrik Larsson, Barry Ferguson and Leigh Griffiths) have won the award twice; and on one occasion the award was presented collectively to the Scotland national squad. The table also indicates where the winning player also won the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award (SPFA). In 2012–13, Leigh Griffiths became the first player to win the SFWA award and the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year award in the same season.
| Season | | Player | Club | Also won |
| 1964–65 | SCO | Billy McNeill | Celtic | |
| 1965–66 | SCO | John Greig | Rangers | |
| 1966–67 | SCO | Ronnie Simpson | Celtic | |
| 1967–68 | SCO | Gordon Wallace | Raith Rovers | |
| 1968–69 | SCO | Bobby Murdoch | Celtic | |
| 1969–70 | SCO | Pat Stanton | Hibernian | |
| 1970–71 | SCO | Martin Buchan | Aberdeen | |
| 1971–72 | SCO | Dave Smith | Rangers | |
| 1972–73 | SCO | George Connelly | Celtic | |
| 1973–74 | SCO | Scotland World Cup squad | N/A | |
| 1974–75 | SCO | Sandy Jardine | Rangers | |
| 1975–76 | SCO | John Greig | Rangers | |
| 1976–77 | SCO | Danny McGrain | Celtic | |
| 1977–78 | SCO | Derek Johnstone | Rangers | SPFA |
| 1978–79 | SCO | Andy Ritchie | Morton | |
| 1979–80 | SCO | Gordon Strachan | Aberdeen | |
| 1980–81 | SCO | Alan Rough | Partick Thistle | |
| 1981–82 | SCO | Paul Sturrock | Dundee United | |
| 1982–83 | SCO | Charlie Nicholas | Celtic | SPFA |
| 1983–84 | SCO | Willie Miller | Aberdeen | SPFA |
| 1984–85 | SCO | Hamish McAlpine | Dundee United | |
| 1985–86 | SCO | Sandy Jardine | Heart of Midlothian | |
| 1986–87 | SCO | Brian McClair | Celtic | SPFA |
| 1987–88 | SCO | Paul McStay | Celtic | SPFA |
| 1988–89 | SCO | Richard Gough | Rangers | |
| 1989–90 | SCO | Alex McLeish | Aberdeen | |
| 1990–91 | SCO | Maurice Malpas | Dundee United | |
| 1991–92 | SCO | Ally McCoist | Rangers | SPFA |
| 1992–93 | SCO | Andy Goram | Rangers | SPFA |
| 1993–94 | ENG | Mark Hateley | Rangers | SPFA |
| 1994–95 | DEN | Brian Laudrup | Rangers | SPFA |
| 1995–96 | ENG | Paul Gascoigne | Rangers | SPFA |
| 1996–97 | DEN | Brian Laudrup | Rangers | |
| 1997–98 | SCO | Craig Burley | Celtic | |
| 1998–99 | SWE | Henrik Larsson | Celtic | SPFA |
| 1999–00 | SCO | Barry Ferguson | Rangers | |
| 2000–01 | SWE | Henrik Larsson | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2001–02 | SCO | Paul Lambert | Celtic | |
| 2002–03 | SCO | Barry Ferguson | Rangers | SPFA |
| 2003–04 | SCO | Jackie McNamara | Celtic | |
| 2004–05 | WAL | John Hartson | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2005–06 | SCO | Craig Gordon | Heart of Midlothian | |
| 2006–07 | JPN | Shunsuke Nakamura | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2007–08 | ESP | Carlos Cuéllar | Rangers | |
| 2008–09 | SCO | Gary Caldwell | Celtic | |
| 2009–10 | SCO | David Weir | Rangers | |
| 2010–11 | HON | Emilio Izaguirre | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2011–12 | SCO | Charlie Mulgrew | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2012–13 | SCO | Leigh Griffiths | Hibernian | |
| 2013–14 | SCO | Kris Commons | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2014–15 | SCO | Craig Gordon | Celtic | |
| 2015–16 | SCO | Leigh Griffiths | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2016–17 | ENG | Scott Sinclair | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2017–18 | SCO | Scott Brown | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2018–19 | SCO | James Forrest | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2019–20 | FRA | Odsonne Edouard | Celtic | |
| 2020–21 | NIR | Steven Davis | Rangers | |
| 2021–22 | SCO | Craig Gordon | Heart of Midlothian | |
| 2022–23 | JPN | Kyogo Furuhashi | Celtic | SPFA |
| 2023–24 | SCO | Lawrence Shankland | Heart of Midlothian | SPFA |

## Breakdown of winners
### Winners by country

| Country | Number of wins | Winning seasons |
| Scotland | 46 | 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2023–24 |
| England | 3 | 1993–94, 1995–96, 2016–17 |
| Denmark | 2 | 1994–95, 1996–97 |
| Japan | 2 | 2006–07, 2022–23 |
| Sweden | 2 | 1998–99, 2000–01 |
| France | 1 | 2019–20 |
| Honduras | 1 | 2010–11 |
| Northern Ireland | 1 | 2020–21 |
| Spain | 1 | 2007–08 |
| Wales | 1 | 2004–05 |

### Winners by club

| Club | Number of wins | Winning seasons |
| Celtic | 26 | 1964–65, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2022–23 |
| Rangers | 17 | 1965–66, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2020–21 |
| Aberdeen | 4 | 1970–71, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1989–90 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 4 | 1985–86, 2005–06, 2021–22, 2023–24 |
| Dundee United | 3 | 1981–82, 1984–85, 1990–91 |
| Hibernian | 2 | 1969–70, 2012–13 |
| Greenock Morton | 1 | 1978–79 |
| Partick Thistle | 1 | 1980–81 |
| Raith Rovers | 1 | 1967–68 |
| Scotland | 1 | 1973–74 |