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Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year

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Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year
The trophy is a scaled-down replica of this statue of Sir Matt Busby outside Old Trafford
SportAssociation football
History
First award1988
Editions37 (as of 2024)
First winnerScotland Brian McClair
Most winsSpain David de Gea

Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo

(4 times each)
Most recentPortugal Bruno Fernandes (3rd win)

The Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, previously known as the MUFC Members Player of the Year (1988–1995), is an award presented to the Manchester United fans' player of the season. It is named after former Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby, who managed the club in two spells, from 1945 to 1969 and from 1970 to 1971. The award was renamed in his honour in 1996, following his death in 1994, and a new trophy was commissioned – a scaled-down replica of the statue of Busby at the east end of Old Trafford.

The first winner of the award was Brian McClair in 1988, who also became the first player to win it twice, having also won it in 1992. Since then, seven other players have won the award more than once, of which five have won it in consecutive seasons: Roy Keane (1999, 2000), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002, 2003), Cristiano Ronaldo (2007, 2008), David de Gea (2014, 2015, 2016), and Bruno Fernandes (2020, 2021). Ronaldo's 2008 win made him the first player to receive the award three times, having also won in 2004. De Gea won the award in 2016 for the third consecutive year, becoming the second player after Ronaldo to do so, and the first in three consecutive seasons. De Gea won the award for a fourth time in 2018, the first player to do so, and Ronaldo joined him after winning his fourth in 2022.

Voting takes place towards the end of each season, usually in April, and is open to anyone who has an account on the club's official website. Voting was originally done by post until the 1994–95 season, when a phone voting system was introduced.[1] Postal voting forms were included in the club magazine, Inside United, and before that, voting was open only to members of the official supporters' club, who would receive a voting form in the post at the end of the season. Until the establishment of the official supporters' club, a separate award had been given by the members of its predecessor, the independent Manchester United Supporters Club.

Other end-of-season awards given by Manchester United include the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year Award, the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year Award, the Players' Player of the Year Award, and the Goal of the Season Award. Of these, the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year Award and the Players' Player of the Year Award are voted for by the players. The prizes for all five awards are given at an annual awards night, which is held near the end of the league season and broadcast live on the club's television channel, MUTV. A list of winners of the youth awards can be seen here.

Winners

[edit]
Head and shoulders of a man with greying hair.
Brian McClair won the inaugural award in 1988.
The head and torso of a man with short, dark hair. He is wearing a red shirt.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the only outfield player to have won the award four times.
David de Gea holds the joint record for most wins with four, and was the first to win the award in three consecutive seasons.

Players in bold are still playing for Manchester United

Season Name Nationality Position Notes Ref.
1987–88 Brian McClair  Scotland Forward [2]
1988–89 Bryan Robson  England Midfielder First English winner
1989–90 Gary Pallister  England Defender [2]
1990–91 Mark Hughes  Wales Forward First Academy graduate to win award [3]
1991–92 Brian McClair  Scotland Forward First player to win the award on two occasions
1992–93 Paul Ince  England Midfielder
1993–94 Eric Cantona  France Forward First winner from outside the United Kingdom
1994–95 Andrei Kanchelskis  Russia Midfielder
1995–96 Eric Cantona  France Forward
1996–97 David Beckham  England Midfielder
1997–98 Ryan Giggs  Wales Midfielder [4]
1998–99 Roy Keane  Republic of Ireland Midfielder
1999–2000 Roy Keane  Republic of Ireland Midfielder First player to win the award in consecutive years
2000–01 Teddy Sheringham  England Forward [5]
2001–02 Ruud van Nistelrooy  Netherlands Forward [2]
2002–03 Ruud van Nistelrooy  Netherlands Forward
2003–04 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal Midfielder [2]
2004–05 Gabriel Heinze  Argentina Defender First winner from outside Europe [2]
2005–06 Wayne Rooney  England Forward [5]
2006–07 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal Midfielder [6]
2007–08 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal Midfielder First player to win the award on three occasions [5][7]
2008–09 Nemanja Vidić  Serbia Defender [8]
2009–10 Wayne Rooney  England Forward [5]
2010–11 Javier Hernández  Mexico Forward First winner from North America [2]
2011–12 Antonio Valencia  Ecuador Midfielder [9]
2012–13 Robin van Persie  Netherlands Forward [10]
2013–14 David de Gea  Spain Goalkeeper First goalkeeper to win the award [11]
2014–15 David de Gea  Spain Goalkeeper [12]
2015–16 David de Gea  Spain Goalkeeper First player to win the award in three consecutive years [13]
2016–17 Ander Herrera  Spain Midfielder
2017–18 David de Gea  Spain Goalkeeper First player to win the award on four occasions [14]
2018–19 Luke Shaw  England Defender [15]
2019–20 Bruno Fernandes  Portugal Midfielder [16]
2020–21 Bruno Fernandes  Portugal Midfielder [17]
2021–22 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal Forward Record-equalling fourth award [18]
2022–23 Marcus Rashford  England Forward [19]
2023–24 Bruno Fernandes  Portugal Midfielder [20]

Wins by player

[edit]
Winner Total wins Year(s)
Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 4 2004, 2007, 2008, 2022
Spain David de Gea 4 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Portugal Bruno Fernandes 3 2020, 2021, 2024
Scotland Brian McClair 2 1988, 1992
France Eric Cantona 2 1994, 1996
Republic of Ireland Roy Keane 2 1999, 2000
Netherlands Ruud van Nistelrooy 2 2002, 2003
England Wayne Rooney 2 2006, 2010
England Bryan Robson 1 1989
England Gary Pallister 1 1990
Wales Mark Hughes 1 1991
England Paul Ince 1 1993
Russia Andrei Kanchelskis 1 1995
England David Beckham 1 1997
Wales Ryan Giggs 1 1998
England Teddy Sheringham 1 2001
Argentina Gabriel Heinze 1 2005
Serbia Nemanja Vidić 1 2009
Mexico Javier Hernández 1 2011
Ecuador Antonio Valencia 1 2012
Netherlands Robin van Persie 1 2013
Spain Ander Herrera 1 2017
England Luke Shaw 1 2019
England Marcus Rashford 1 2023

Wins by playing position

[edit]
Position Number of wins
Goalkeeper 4
Defender 4
Midfielder 15
Forward 14

Wins by nationality

[edit]
Nationality Number of winners
 England 9
 Portugal 7
 Spain 5
 Netherlands 3
 France 2
 Republic of Ireland 2
 Scotland 2
 Wales 2
 Argentina 1
 Russia 1
 Serbia 1
 Mexico 1
 Ecuador 1

Players' Player of the Year

[edit]
Season Name Nationality Position Notes Ref.
2005–06 Ryan Giggs  Wales Midfielder Inaugural winner [21]
2006–07 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal Forward First non-British winner
2007–08 Cristiano Ronaldo  Portugal Forward First player to win the award in consecutive years
2008–09 Nemanja Vidić  Serbia Defender
2009–10 Wayne Rooney  England Forward First English winner
2010–11 Nani  Portugal Forward
2011–12 Antonio Valencia  Ecuador Forward First non-European winner
2012–13 Michael Carrick  England Midfielder
2013–14 David de Gea  Spain Goalkeeper
2014–15 David de Gea  Spain Goalkeeper
2015–16 Chris Smalling  England Defender
2016–17 Antonio Valencia  Ecuador Defender
2017–18 David de Gea  Spain Goalkeeper First player to win the award on three occasions
2018–19 Luke Shaw  England Defender
2019–20 Anthony Martial  France Forward
2020–21 Luke Shaw  England Defender
2021–22 David de Gea  Spain Goalkeeper First player to win the award on four occasions
2022–23 Marcus Rashford  England Forward [22]
2023–24 Diogo Dalot  Portugal Defender [23]

References

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  1. ^ Butler, Cliff, ed. (2004). Manchester United Official Yearbook 1994. Manchester: Manchester United Football Club. p. 161.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Tuck, James (18 May 2011). "Fans honour Hernandez". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  3. ^ "Legends: Mark Hughes". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  4. ^ "First team: Ryan Giggs". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d Bostock, Adam (4 May 2010). "Rooney wins club award treble". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  6. ^ Bostock, Adam (15 May 2007). "MUTV Online: United awards". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  7. ^ Bartram, Steve (11 May 2008). "Player of the Year awards". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  8. ^ Hibbs, Ben (17 May 2009). "Vidic does the double". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  9. ^ "Fans honour Valencia". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  10. ^ Tuck, James; Marshall, Adam (15 May 2013). "Van Persie wins fans' award". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  11. ^ Froggatt, Mark (8 May 2014). "De Gea wins fans' award". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  12. ^ Froggatt, Mark (19 May 2015). "De Gea is Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  13. ^ Higgins, Adam (3 May 2016). "David de Gea wins third successive Player of the Year award". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  14. ^ Higgins, Adam (1 May 2018). "De Gea wins Player of the Year award". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  15. ^ Marshall, Adam (9 May 2019). "Shaw wins Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  16. ^ Ganley, Joe (18 September 2020). "Fernandes voted Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  17. ^ Marshall, Adam (18 May 2021). "Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year revealed". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  18. ^ Nelson, Joe (4 June 2022). "Ronaldo named United's Player of the Year". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  19. ^ Ganley, Joe (29 May 2023). "Rashford voted United's Player of the Year". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  20. ^ Marshall, Adam (23 May 2024). "Bruno crowned Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  21. ^ "United Players' Player of the Year award winners". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  22. ^ Holt, Matthew (29 May 2023). "Marcus Rashford wins Players' Player of the Year". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  23. ^ Ganley, Joe (23 May 2024). "Dalot wins Players' Player of the Year for 2023/24". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
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