All Time PFA Players' Player of the Year Winners List

France Football’s Ballon d’Or and, to a lesser extent, FIFA’s The Best dominate much of the discourse on the individual awards front.

Domestic honours are perhaps less celebrated, but there are few boasting greater prestige than the PFA’s annual ceremony in England. Its showpiece prize, the Players’ Player of the Year, has been handed out more than 50 times to many of the greats to step foot on English shores.

For many, recognition from their peers carries far greater weight than journalistic or even fan appreciation. “The biggest personal award you can get in the game,” Teddy Sheringham commented in 2001, while John Terry described his success in 2005 as “the ultimate accolade”.

Phil Foden echoed similar sentiments after claiming the honour in 2024, proving that the latest generation still treat the award with the veneration of those that came before them.

Here are all the winners of PFA Players’ Players of the Year award.

Every PFA Players’ Player of the Year Winner

There have been 44 different winners of the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, dating back to 1974, when the prize was first awarded to Leeds United defender Norman Hunter.

The fourth winner, Andy Gray, became the first of the three players to claim Players’ Player and Young Player of the Year honours in the same year. Cristiano Ronaldo (2006–07) and Gareth Bale (2012–13) also achieved this feat.

Arsenal legend Liam Brady became the first non-British player to claim the prize in 1979, while fellow Irishman Paul McGrath earned the award off the back of the Premier League’s inaugural season in 1992–93. The following year, Eric Cantona became the first winner from outside Britain or Ireland.

Increased foreign influence following the Premier League’s emergence means overseas exports have gradually come to dominate the PFA ceremony, with 22 of the 32 awards handed out since 1993 going to non-Brits. In 2024, Manchester City’s Foden became the first Englishman to win since Wayne Rooney in 2010.

Contemporary Premier League greats Luis Suárez, Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland have all triumphed since 2014.

Who Has Won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year the Most?

It‘s been tough to dominate the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award, with variation preferred. Only eight players have won multiple times, with Mohamed Salah poised to become the first three-time winner in 2025.

Mark Hughes, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Bale, De Bruyne and Salah have all won twice. Henry (2003 and 2004), Ronaldo (2007 and 2008) and De Bruyne (2020 and 2021) are the only players to win the award in consecutive years.

The decorated Salah is one of three non-Europeans to prevail, with the Egyptian following in Luis Suárez and Riyad Mahrez’s footsteps.

Manchester United have had the most winners, but all of their 11 triumphs came when Sir Alex Ferguson was manager. They haven’t had a victory since Rooney in 2010. Liverpool are closing in on United’s lead, thanks to Van Dijk and Salah’s recent wins, while Spurs and Arsenal each have five successes.