Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year

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First award1988
Editions38 (as of 2025)
First winnerScotland Brian McClair
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
Editions38 (as of 2025)
First winnerScotland Brian McClair
Most winsSpain David de Gea
Portugal Bruno Fernandes
Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo
(4 times each)
Most recentPortugal Bruno Fernandes (4th 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 and Bruno Fernandes joined him after winning their fourth in 2022 and 2025 respectively.

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.

Wins by player

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 one of only three outfield players 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 ScotlandForward[2]
1988–89 Bryan Robson EnglandMidfielderFirst English winner
1989–90 Gary Pallister EnglandDefender[2]
1990–91 Mark Hughes WalesForwardFirst Academy graduate to win award[3]
1991–92 Brian McClair ScotlandForwardFirst player to win the award on two occasions
1992–93 Paul Ince EnglandMidfielder
1993–94 Eric Cantona FranceForwardFirst winner from outside the United Kingdom
1994–95 Andrei Kanchelskis RussiaMidfielder
1995–96 Eric Cantona FranceForward
1996–97 David Beckham EnglandMidfielder
1997–98 Ryan Giggs WalesMidfielder[4]
1998–99 Roy Keane Republic of IrelandMidfielder
1999–2000 Roy Keane Republic of IrelandMidfielderFirst player to win the award in consecutive years
2000–01 Teddy Sheringham EnglandForward[5]
2001–02 Ruud van Nistelrooy NetherlandsForward[2]
2002–03 Ruud van Nistelrooy NetherlandsForward
2003–04 Cristiano Ronaldo PortugalMidfielder[2]
2004–05 Gabriel Heinze ArgentinaDefenderFirst winner from outside Europe[2]
2005–06 Wayne Rooney EnglandForward[5]
2006–07 Cristiano Ronaldo PortugalMidfielder[6]
2007–08 Cristiano Ronaldo PortugalMidfielderFirst player to win the award on three occasions[5][7]
2008–09 Nemanja Vidić SerbiaDefender[8]
2009–10 Wayne Rooney EnglandForward[5]
2010–11 Javier Hernández MexicoForwardFirst winner from North America[2]
2011–12 Antonio Valencia EcuadorMidfielder[9]
2012–13 Robin van Persie NetherlandsForward[10]
2013–14 David de Gea SpainGoalkeeperFirst goalkeeper to win the award[11]
2014–15 David de Gea SpainGoalkeeper[12]
2015–16 David de Gea SpainGoalkeeperFirst player to win the award in three consecutive years[13]
2016–17 Ander Herrera SpainMidfielder
2017–18 David de Gea SpainGoalkeeperFirst player to win the award on four occasions[14]
2018–19 Luke Shaw EnglandDefender[15]
2019–20 Bruno Fernandes PortugalMidfielder[16]
2020–21 Bruno Fernandes PortugalMidfielder[17]
2021–22 Cristiano Ronaldo PortugalForwardRecord-equalling fourth award[18]
2022–23 Marcus Rashford EnglandForward[19]
2023–24 Bruno Fernandes PortugalMidfielder[20]
2024–25 Bruno Fernandes PortugalMidfielderRecord-equalling fourth award[21]
Winner Total wins Year(s)
Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo 42004, 2007, 2008, 2022
Spain David de Gea 42014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Portugal Bruno Fernandes 42020, 2021, 2024, 2025
Scotland Brian McClair 21988, 1992
France Eric Cantona 21994, 1996
Republic of Ireland Roy Keane 21999, 2000
Netherlands Ruud van Nistelrooy 22002, 2003
England Wayne Rooney 22006, 2010
England Bryan Robson 11989
England Gary Pallister 11990
Wales Mark Hughes 11991
England Paul Ince 11993
Russia Andrei Kanchelskis 11995
England David Beckham 11997
Wales Ryan Giggs 11998
England Teddy Sheringham 12001
Argentina Gabriel Heinze 12005
Serbia Nemanja Vidić 12009
Mexico Javier Hernández 12011
Ecuador Antonio Valencia 12012
Netherlands Robin van Persie 12013
Spain Ander Herrera 12017
England Luke Shaw 12019
England Marcus Rashford 12023

Wins by playing position

Position Number of wins
Goalkeeper 4
Defender 4
Midfielder 16
Forward 14

Wins by nationality

Nationality Number of winners
 England 9
 Portugal 8
 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

Manager's Player of the Year

References

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