# Alan Hardaker Trophy

The Alan Hardaker Trophy is an annual association football award presented to the Man of the Match in the EFL Cup final (also currently known as the Carabao Cup). The trophy is named after Alan Hardaker, the EFL's former secretary who conceived the League Cup.
The Alan Hardaker Trophy was first awarded in 1990, Des Walker was the inaugural recipient. Ben Foster, John Terry, Vincent Kompany and Virgil van Dijk have won the award on two occasions, the most wins by an individual. Ben Foster is the only player to have won the award with 2 different clubs; Manchester United and Birmingham City respectively. Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool have all received the award six times, more than any other club. English players have won the trophy eighteen times, which is a record; the only other nations with multiple wins are: the Netherlands with three recipients, and Scotland and Belgium with two recipients each.

## Winners
### Key to score column

    † – Indicates the match was decided by a replay
    *! – Indicates the match went to penalty shoot-out
Alan Hardaker Trophy winners :
| Final | Player | Nationality | Team | Opponents | Score |
| 1990 | Des Walker | England | Nottingham Forest | Oldham Athletic | 1–0 |
| 1991 | Nigel Pearson | England | Sheffield Wednesday | Manchester United | 1–0 |
| 1992 | Brian McClair | Scotland | Manchester United | Nottingham Forest | 1–0 |
| 1993 | Paul Merson | England | Arsenal | Sheffield Wednesday | 2–1 |
| 1994 | Kevin Richardson | England | Aston Villa | Manchester United | 3–1 |
| 1995 | Steve McManaman | England | Liverpool | Bolton Wanderers | 2–1 |
| 1996 | Andy Townsend | Ireland | Aston Villa | Leeds United | 3–0 |
| 1997 | Steve Walsh | England | Leicester City | Middlesbrough | † 1–1 † |
| 1998 | Dennis Wise | England | Chelsea | Middlesbrough | 2–0 |
| 1999 | Allan Nielsen | Denmark | Tottenham Hotspur | Leicester City | 1–0 |
| 2000 | Matt Elliott | Scotland | Leicester City | Tranmere Rovers | 2–1 |
| 2001 | Robbie Fowler | England | Liverpool | Birmingham City | * 1–1 * |
| 2002 | Brad Friedel | United States | Blackburn Rovers | Tottenham Hotspur | 2–1 |
| 2003 | Jerzy Dudek | Poland | Liverpool | Manchester United | 2–0 |
| 2004 | Boudewijn Zenden | Netherlands | Middlesbrough | Bolton Wanderers | 2–1 |
| 2005 | John Terry | England | Chelsea | Liverpool | 3–2 |
| 2006 | Wayne Rooney | England | Manchester United | Wigan Athletic | 4–0 |
| 2007 | Didier Drogba | Ivory Coast | Chelsea | Arsenal | 2–1 |
| 2008 | Jonathan Woodgate | England | Tottenham Hotspur | Chelsea | 2–1 |
| 2009 | Ben Foster | England | Manchester United | Tottenham Hotspur | * 0–0 * |
| 2010 | Antonio Valencia | Ecuador | Manchester United | Aston Villa | 2–1 |
| 2011 | Ben Foster (2) | England | Birmingham City | Arsenal | 2–1 |
| 2012 | Stewart Downing | England | Liverpool | Cardiff City | * 2–2 * |
| 2013 | Nathan Dyer | England | Swansea City | Bradford City | 5–0 |
| 2014 | Samir Nasri | France | Manchester City | Sunderland | 3–1 |
| 2015 | John Terry (2) | England | Chelsea | Tottenham Hotspur | 2–0 |
| 2016 | Vincent Kompany | Belgium | Manchester City | Liverpool | * 1–1 * |
| 2017 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | Manchester United | Southampton | 3–2 |
| 2018 | Vincent Kompany (2) | Belgium | Manchester City | Arsenal | 3–0 |
| 2019 | Bernardo Silva | Portugal | Manchester City | Chelsea | * 0–0 * |
| 2020 | Phil Foden | England | Manchester City | Aston Villa | 2–1 |
| 2021 | Riyad Mahrez | Algeria | Manchester City | Tottenham Hotspur | 1–0 |
| 2022 | Virgil van Dijk | Netherlands | Liverpool | Chelsea | * 0–0 * |
| 2023 | Casemiro | Brazil | Manchester United | Newcastle United | 2–0 |
| 2024 | Virgil van Dijk (2) | Netherlands | Liverpool | Chelsea | 1–0 |
| 2025 | Dan Burn | England | Newcastle United | Liverpool | 2–1 |

## Awards won by nationality

| Country | Win(s) | Year(s) |
| England | 18 | 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2020, 2025 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 2004, 2022, 2024 |
| Scotland | 2 | 1992, 2000 |
| Belgium | 2 | 2016, 2018 |
| Ireland | 1 | 1996 |
| Denmark | 1 | 1999 |
| United States | 1 | 2002 |
| Poland | 1 | 2003 |
| Ivory Coast | 1 | 2007 |
| Ecuador | 1 | 2010 |
| France | 1 | 2014 |
| Sweden | 1 | 2017 |
| Portugal | 1 | 2019 |
| Algeria | 1 | 2021 |
| Brazil | 1 | 2023 |

## Awards won by club

| Club | Win(s) | Year(s) |
| Manchester City | 6 | 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 |
| Manchester United | 6 | 1992, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2017, 2023 |
| Liverpool | 6 | 1995, 2001, 2003, 2012, 2022, 2024 |
| Chelsea | 4 | 1998, 2005, 2007, 2015 |
| Aston Villa | 2 | 1994, 1996 |
| Leicester City | 2 | 1997, 2000 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2 | 1999, 2008 |
| Nottingham Forest | 1 | 1990 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 1 | 1991 |
| Arsenal | 1 | 1993 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 1 | 2002 |
| Middlesbrough | 1 | 2004 |
| Birmingham City | 1 | 2011 |
| Swansea City | 1 | 2013 |
| Newcastle United | 1 | 2025 |