Cesc Fàbregas was the 2008 award winner.

The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football.^[1] 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 first winner of the award was Ipswich Town defender Kevin Beattie. The current holder is Gareth Bale, who won the award while playing for Tottenham Hotspur.

Although the award is open to players at all levels,^[1] all winners to date have played in the highest division of the English football league system. As of 2012, only Ryan Giggs, Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney have won the award on more than one occasion. Only five players from outside the United Kingdom have won the trophy,^[2] compared with nine winners of the main PFA Players' Player of the Year award. Although they have their own dedicated award, players aged 23 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 a few days later.^[3] The players themselves consider the award to be highly prestigious, because the winner is chosen by his fellow professionals.^[4]

Winners [edit]

The award has been presented on 40 occasions as of 2013, with 37 different winners.^[5][6][7] 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 PFA Players' Player of the Year award (PPY),^[6][7][8] the Football Writers' Association's Footballer of the Year award (FWA),^[9] and the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award (FPY).^[10]

Ryan Giggs was the first player to win the award twice.

Robbie Fowler was the second two-time winner.

Wayne Rooney was the third player to win the award in two consecutive seasons.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the first Portuguese player to win the award.

Year		Player	Club	Also won	Notes
1973–74	ENG !	Beattie, KevinKevin Beattie	Ipswich Town
1974–75	ENG !	Day, MervynMervyn Day	West Ham United		[11]
1975–76	ENG !	Barnes, PeterPeter Barnes	Manchester City
1976–77	SCO !	Gray, AndyAndy Gray	Aston Villa	PPY	[12]
1977–78	ENG !	Woodcock, TonyTony Woodcock	Nottingham Forest
1978–79	ENG !	Regis, CyrilleCyrille Regis	West Bromwich Albion		[13]
1979–80	ENG !	Hoddle, GlennGlenn Hoddle	Tottenham Hotspur
1980–81	ENG !	Shaw, GaryGary Shaw	Aston Villa
1981–82	ENG !	Moran, SteveSteve Moran	Southampton
1982–83	WAL !	Ian Rush	Liverpool
1983–84	ENG !	Walsh, PaulPaul Walsh	Luton Town
1984–85	WAL !	Hughes, MarkMark Hughes	Manchester United
1985–86	ENG !	Cottee, TonyTony Cottee	West Ham United
1986–87	ENG !	Adams, TonyTony Adams	Arsenal
1987–88	ENG !	Gascoigne, PaulPaul Gascoigne	Newcastle United
1988–89	ENG !	Merson, PaulPaul Merson	Arsenal
1989–90	ENG !	Le Tissier, MatthewMatthew Le Tissier	Southampton
1990–91	ENG !	Sharpe, LeeLee Sharpe	Manchester United
1991–92	WAL !	Giggs, RyanRyan Giggs	Manchester United
1992–93	WAL !	Giggs, RyanRyan Giggs	Manchester United		[14]
1993–94	ENG !	Cole, AndyAndy Cole	Newcastle United
1994–95	ENG !	Fowler, RobbieRobbie Fowler	Liverpool
1995–96	ENG !	Fowler, RobbieRobbie Fowler	Liverpool
1996–97	ENG !	Beckham, DavidDavid Beckham	Manchester United
1997–98	ENG !	Owen, MichaelMichael Owen	Liverpool
1998–99	FRA !	Anelka, NicolasNicolas Anelka	Arsenal		[15]
1999–2000	AUS !	Kewell, HarryHarry Kewell	Leeds United		[16]
2000–01	ENG !	Gerrard, StevenSteven Gerrard	Liverpool	FPY	[17]
2001–02	WAL !	Bellamy, CraigCraig Bellamy	Newcastle United		[18]
2002–03	ENG !	Jenas, JermaineJermaine Jenas	Newcastle United		[19]
2003–04	ENG !	Parker, ScottScott Parker	Charlton Athletic Chelsea		[20]
2004–05	ENG !	Rooney, WayneWayne Rooney	Manchester United		[4]
2005–06	ENG !	Rooney, WayneWayne Rooney	Manchester United	FPY	[6]
2006–07	POR !	Ronaldo, CristianoCristiano Ronaldo	Manchester United	PPY, FWA, FPY	[21]
2007–08	ESP !	Fabregas, CescCesc Fabregas	Arsenal		[22]
2008–09	ENG !	Young, AshleyAshley Young	Aston Villa		[23]
2009–10	ENG !	Milner, JamesJames Milner	Aston Villa		[24]
2010–11	ENG !	Wilshere, JackJack Wilshere	Arsenal		[25]
2011–12	ENG !	Walker, KyleKyle Walker	Tottenham Hotspur		[26]
2012–13	WAL !	Bale, GarethGareth Bale	Tottenham Hotspur	PPY, FWA

Breakdown of winners [edit]

By country [edit]

Country	Number of wins	Winning years
England	29	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, 1995, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12
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

By club [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• The official website of the Professional Footballers' Association