Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year

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.

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
Editions36 (as of 2023)
First winnerScotland Brian McClair
Most winsSpain David de Gea

Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo

(4 times each)
Most recentEngland Marcus Rashford (1st win)

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

Brian McClair won the inaugural award in 1988.
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

SeasonNameNationalityPositionNotesRef.
1987–88Brian McClair  ScotlandForward[2]
1988–89Bryan Robson  EnglandMidfielderFirst English winner
1989–90Gary Pallister  EnglandDefender[2]
1990–91Mark Hughes  WalesForwardFirst Academy graduate to win award[3]
1991–92Brian McClair  ScotlandForwardFirst player to win the award on two occasions
1992–93Paul Ince  EnglandMidfielder
1993–94Eric Cantona  FranceForwardFirst winner from outside the United Kingdom
1994–95Andrei Kanchelskis  RussiaMidfielder
1995–96Eric Cantona  FranceForward
1996–97David Beckham  EnglandMidfielder
1997–98Ryan Giggs  WalesMidfielder[4]
1998–99Roy Keane  Republic of IrelandMidfielder
1999–2000Roy Keane  Republic of IrelandMidfielderFirst player to win the award in consecutive years
2000–01Teddy Sheringham  EnglandForward[5]
2001–02Ruud van Nistelrooy  NetherlandsForward[2]
2002–03Ruud van Nistelrooy  NetherlandsForward
2003–04Cristiano Ronaldo  PortugalMidfielder[2]
2004–05Gabriel Heinze  ArgentinaDefenderFirst winner from outside Europe[2]
2005–06Wayne Rooney  EnglandForward[5]
2006–07Cristiano Ronaldo  PortugalMidfielder[6]
2007–08Cristiano Ronaldo  PortugalMidfielderFirst player to win the award on three occasions[5][7]
2008–09Nemanja Vidić  SerbiaDefender[8]
2009–10Wayne Rooney  EnglandForward[5]
2010–11Javier Hernández  MexicoForwardFirst winner from North America[2]
2011–12Antonio Valencia  EcuadorMidfielder[9]
2012–13Robin van Persie  NetherlandsForward[10]
2013–14David de Gea  SpainGoalkeeperFirst goalkeeper to win the award[11]
2014–15David de Gea  SpainGoalkeeper[12]
2015–16David de Gea  SpainGoalkeeperFirst player to win the award in three consecutive years[13]
2016–17Ander Herrera  SpainMidfielder
2017–18David de Gea  SpainGoalkeeperFirst player to win the award on four occasions[14]
2018–19Luke Shaw  EnglandDefender[15]
2019–20Bruno Fernandes  PortugalMidfielder[16]
2020–21Bruno Fernandes  PortugalMidfielder[17]
2021–22Cristiano Ronaldo  PortugalForwardRecord-equalling fourth award[18]
2022–23Marcus Rashford  EnglandForward[19]

Wins by player

WinnerTotal winsYear(s)
Cristiano Ronaldo42004, 2007, 2008, 2022
David de Gea42014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Brian McClair21988, 1992
Eric Cantona21994, 1996
Roy Keane21999, 2000
Ruud van Nistelrooy22002, 2003
Wayne Rooney22006, 2010
Bruno Fernandes22020, 2021
Bryan Robson11989
Gary Pallister11990
Mark Hughes11991
Paul Ince11993
Andrei Kanchelskis11995
David Beckham11997
Ryan Giggs11998
Teddy Sheringham12001
Gabriel Heinze12005
Nemanja Vidić12009
Javier Hernández12011
Antonio Valencia12012
Robin van Persie12013
Ander Herrera12017
Luke Shaw12019
Marcus Rashford12023

Wins by playing position

PositionNumber of wins
Goalkeeper4
Defender4
Midfielder14
Forward14

Wins by nationality

NationalityNumber of winners
 England9
 Portugal6
 Spain5
 Netherlands3
 France2
 Republic of Ireland2
 Scotland2
 Wales2
 Argentina1
 Russia1
 Serbia1
 Mexico1
 Ecuador1

Players' Player of the Year

SeasonNameNationalityPositionNotesRef.
2005–06Ryan Giggs  WalesMidfielderInaugural winner[20]
2006–07Cristiano Ronaldo  PortugalForwardFirst non-British winner
2007–08Cristiano Ronaldo  PortugalForwardFirst player to win the award in consecutive years
2008–09Nemanja Vidić  SerbiaDefender
2009–10Wayne Rooney  EnglandForward
2010–11Nani  PortugalForward
2011–12Antonio Valencia  EcuadorForwardFirst non-European winner
2012–13Michael Carrick  EnglandMidfielder
2013–14David de Gea  SpainGoalkeeper
2014–15David de Gea  SpainGoalkeeper
2015–16Chris Smalling  EnglandDefender
2016–17Antonio Valencia  EcuadorDefender
2017–18David de Gea  SpainGoalkeeperFirst player to win the award on three occasions
2018–19Luke Shaw  EnglandDefender
2019–20Anthony Martial  FranceForward
2020–21Luke Shaw  EnglandDefender
2021–22David de Gea  SpainGoalkeeperFirst player to win the award on four occasions
2022–23Marcus Rashford  EnglandForward

References

External links