Arsenal Player of the Season explained

Arsenal Player of the Season
Sport:Association football
Awardedfor:being the best performing Arsenal player over the course of a season
Presenter:Arsenal F.C.
Number:57 (as of 2023)
Firstwinner: Frank McLintock
Mostwins: Thierry Henry (4 times)
Mostrecent: Martin Ødegaard
(2023–24)

The Arsenal Player of the Season award is an official award given by Arsenal Football Club to the best performing player from the club over the course of the season. The award is given based on votes by Arsenal fans on the club's website,[1] [2] it was previously based on votes by the Arsenal Supporters' Trust.[3]

The inaugural award was handed to Frank McLintock in 1967 and it has been presented every season since. The 2015–16 and 2016–17 awards were officially called the Vitality Arsenal Player of the Season Award for sponsorship purposes.[4] [5] The award has been given to 42 different players over the course of 57 seasons, with 11 players being awarded on more than one occasion. Of these players, only Thierry Henry has won the award four times, and he is also the only player to have won the award in three consecutive years. In 1976, Republic of Ireland international Liam Brady became the first Arsenal player from outside the United Kingdom to win the award and in 1997, Dutch international Dennis Bergkamp became the first player from outside the British Isles to receive it. Following the 2014−15 season, Chilean international Alexis Sánchez was voted to become the first player from outside of Europe to win the award.[6]

Martin Ødegaard is the most recent winner of the award, following the 2023–24 Arsenal season.

Award recipients

Players in bold are still playing for Arsenal[7] [8]

Season! scope="col"
PlayerNationalityPosition
1966–67
1967–68
1968–69
1969–70
1970−71
1971–72
1972–73 (2)
1973–74
1974–75
1975–76
1976–77
1977–78 (2)
1978–79 (3)
1979–80 (2)
1980–81
1981–82
1982–83
1983–84
1984–85
1985–86
1986–87
1987–88
1988–89
1989–90 (2)
1990–91
1991–92
1992–93 (2)
1993–94 (3)
1994–95
1995–96
1996–97
1997–98
1998–99
1999–2000
2000–01
2001–02
2002–03 (2)
2003–04 (3)
2004–05 (4)
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10 (2)
2010–11
2011–12 (2)
2012–13
2013–14
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17 (2)
2017–18 (2)
2018–19
2019–20
2020–21
2021–22 (2)
2022–23
2023–24 (2)

Multiple wins

Rank! scope="col"
WinnerTotal winsYears won
142000, 2003, 2004, 2005
231976, 1978, 1979
1987, 1990, 1994
321968, 1973
1977, 1980
1992, 1993
2007, 2010
2009, 2012
2015, 2017
2014, 2018
2021, 2022
2023, 2024

Wins by nationality

Nationality! scope="col"
26
8
5
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1

Wins by playing position

Position! scope="col"
Goalkeeper4
Defender11
Midfielder20
Forward22

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: 4 May 2019 . Lacazette wins Arsenal Player of the Year award . Goal . live . 16 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221016103534/https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/lacazette-wins-arsenal-player-of-the-year-award/16xtsz7g3k6df14gdkq0qvqiv0 . 16 October 2022 .
  2. News: 8 June 2022 . Bukayo Saka named Arsenal player of the season . BBC Sport . live . 16 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221020092239/https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/c25n0qy9zjyo . 20 October 2022 .
  3. Book: Maidment, Jem . The Official Arsenal Encyclopedia . Hamlyn . 2006 . 9780600615491 . London . 148.
  4. News: 26 May 2017 . Vitality Player of Season – the winner.. . Arsenal F.C. . live . 10 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220706013559/https://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20170522/vitality-player-of-season-the-winner . 6 July 2022.
  5. News: 6 May 2016 . Vitality Player of the Season . Arsenal F.C. . live . 16 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221020025652/https://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160506/vitality-player-of-the-season-vote-now . 20 October 2022.
  6. News: James . Josh . 31 May 2022 . 'I played for the club of my dreams' . Arsenal F.C. . live . 12 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230520051923/https://www.arsenal.com/alexandre-lacazette-interview-premier-league-news-arsenal . 20 May 2023.
  7. Web site: 24 May 2023 . Icons that have won our Men's Player of the Season . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230525160019/https://www.arsenal.com/news/icons-have-won-our-mens-player-season . 25 May 2023 . 28 May 2024 . Arsenal F.C..
  8. Web site: Rogers . Jonathon . 7 June 2024 . Odegaard retains men's Player of the Season award . 8 June 2024 . Arsenal F.C..