Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year

Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year

The trophy is a scaled-down replica of this statue of Sir Matt Busby outside Old Trafford
Award details
Sport	Association football
History
First award	1988
Editions	29 (As of 2016)
First winner	Brian McClair
Most wins	Cristiano Ronaldo David de Gea (3 times each)
Most recent	David de Gea

The Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, previously known as the MUFC Members Player of the Year (1988–95), 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 when he won in 1992. Since then, six more players have won the award more than once, of which four have won it in consecutive seasons: Roy Keane (1999, 2000), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002, 2003), Cristiano Ronaldo (2007, 2008) and David de Gea (2014, 2015, 2016). Ronaldo's 2008 win made him the first player to receive the award on three occasions, 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 to do so in three consecutive seasons.

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

Brian McClair won the inaugural award in 1988.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the only outfield player to have won the award three times

David de Gea was the first to win the award for three consecutive seasons

Players in bold are still playing for Manchester United.

Season	Name	Nationality	Position	Notes	Ref(s)
1987–88	McClair, BrianBrian McClair	Scotland	Forward		[2]
1988–89	Robson, BryanBryan Robson	England	Midfielder	First English winner
1989–90	Pallister, GaryGary Pallister	England	Defender		[2]
1990–91	Hughes, MarkMark Hughes	Wales	Forward		[3]
1991–92	McClair, BrianBrian McClair	Scotland	Forward	First player to win the award on two occasions
1992–93	Ince, PaulPaul Ince	England	Midfielder
1993–94	Cantona, EricEric Cantona	France	Forward	First winner from outside the United Kingdom
1994–95	Kanchelskis, AndreiAndrei Kanchelskis	Russia	Midfielder
1995–96	Cantona, EricEric Cantona	France	Forward
1996–97	Beckham, DavidDavid Beckham	England	Midfielder
1997–98	Giggs, RyanRyan Giggs	Wales	Midfielder		[4]
1998–99	Keane, RoyRoy Keane	Ireland	Midfielder
1999–2000	Keane, RoyRoy Keane	Ireland	Midfielder	First player to win the award in consecutive years
2000–01	Sheringham, TeddyTeddy Sheringham	England	Forward		[5]
2001–02	Nistelrooy, Ruud vanRuud van Nistelrooy	Netherlands	Forward		[2]
2002–03	Nistelrooy, Ruud vanRuud van Nistelrooy	Netherlands	Forward
2003–04	Ronaldo, CristianoCristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Midfielder		[2]
2004–05	Heinze, GabrielGabriel Heinze	Argentina	Defender	First winner from outside Europe	[2]
2005–06	Rooney, WayneWayne Rooney	England	Forward		[5]
2006–07	Ronaldo, CristianoCristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Midfielder		[6]
2007–08	Ronaldo, CristianoCristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Midfielder	First player to win the award on three occasions	[5][7]
2008–09	Vidic, NemanjaNemanja Vidić	Serbia	Defender		[8]
2009–10	Rooney, WayneWayne Rooney	England	Forward		[5]
2010–11	Hernández, JavierJavier Hernández	Mexico	Forward	First winner from North America	[2]
2011–12	Valencia, AntonioAntonio Valencia	Ecuador	Midfielder		[9]
2012–13	Persie, Robin vanRobin van Persie	Netherlands	Forward		[10]
2013–14	de Gea, DavidDavid de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First goalkeeper to win the award	[11]
2014–15	de Gea, DavidDavid de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper		[12]
2015–16	de Gea, DavidDavid de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First player to win the award in three consecutive years

Wins by player

Winner	Total wins	Year(s)
Cristiano Ronaldo	3	2004, 2007, 2008
David de Gea	3	2014, 2015, 2016
Brian McClair	2	1988, 1992
Eric Cantona	2	1994, 1996
Roy Keane	2	1999, 2000
Ruud van Nistelrooy	2	2002, 2003
Wayne Rooney	2	2006, 2010
Bryan Robson	1	1989
Gary Pallister	1	1990
Mark Hughes	1	1991
Paul Ince	1	1993
Andrei Kanchelskis	1	1995
David Beckham	1	1997
Ryan Giggs	1	1998
Teddy Sheringham	1	2001
Gabriel Heinze	1	2005
Nemanja Vidić	1	2009
Javier Hernández	1	2011
Antonio Valencia	1	2012
Robin van Persie	1	2013

Wins by playing position

Position	Number of wins
Goalkeeper	3
Defender	3
Midfielder	11
Forward	12

Wins by nationality

Nationality	Number of winners
England	7
Portugal	3
Netherlands	3
Spain	3
France	2
Ireland	2
Scotland	2
Wales	2
Argentina	1
Russia	1
Serbia	1
Mexico	1
Ecuador	1

References

1. Butler, Cliff, ed. (2004). Manchester United Official Yearbook 1994. Manchester: Manchester United Football Club. p. 161.
2. Tuck, James (18 May 2011). "Fans honour Hernandez". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
3. "Legends: Mark Hughes". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
4. "First team: Ryan Giggs". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
5. 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. 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. Retrieved 19 May 2015.

External links

• Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year Award at MUFCInfo.com