FWA Footballer of the Year FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in English football. The award has been presented since the 1947–48 season, when the inaugural winner was Blackpool winger Stanley Matthews. The latest winner of the award as of 2017–18 is Mohamed Salah of Liverpool. Eight players have won the award on more than one occasion, the most recent being Cristiano
BBC African Footballer of the Year BBC African Footballer of the Year The BBC African Footballer of the Year (previously known as the BBC African Sports Star of the Year and the BBC African Sports Personality of the Year) is an annual award given to the best African footballer of the year as voted by the BBC radio listeners. Voting is done via SMS and online. Initially a sports award, the inaugural winner was Ghana's Abedi Pele in 1992. The only non-footballers to win the award was track and field athlete Frankie Fredericks in 1993, and long-distance track and road running athlete Haile Gebrselassie in 1998.