Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot

Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot
Awarded forThe leading goalscorer in a given Premier Division season
CountrySouth Africa
Presented byPremier Soccer League
First awarded1997
Last awarded2024
Currently held byTshegofatso Mabasa (1st award)
Most awardsPeter Shalulile (3)

The Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented by the Premier Soccer League to the leading goalscorer in the South African Premier Division.[1] The award, colloquially known as the PSL Golden Boot or simply the Golden Boot, has been presented since the inception of the post-apartheid format of the league in 1996. It was named in 2003 in honour of Lesley Manyathela, a South African international footballer and former recipient of the award who died in a motor vehicle collision in August of that year.[2]

Wilfred Mugeyi was the first recipient of the award after he scored 22 goals for Bush Bucks in the inaugural Premier Division season.[3] He is one of five players to have scored 20 or more goals in a season alongside Pollen Ndlanya, Collins Mbesuma, Siyabonga Nomvethe and Peter Shalulile.[3] Mbesuma holds the record for the most goals scored in a single campaign following his return of 25 goals for Kaizer Chiefs in the 2004–05 season.[4] He was also the first player to have won the award more than once, having claimed the trophy for a second time during his spell with Mpumalanga Black Aces in 2016, while Shalulile equalled this record in 2022, and broke it the following year.[4][5][6] In doing so, the latter also became the only player to have won the award in back-to-back seasons.

Bernard Parker holds the record for the fewest goals needed to win the award, with his return of 10 goals for Kaizer Chiefs in the 2013–14 season earning him the accolade.[7] The award has been shared three times in the Premier Division's history, an occurrence which first took place in the 2017–18 season after Rodney Ramagalela of Polokwane City and Percy Tau of Mamelodi Sundowns both ended the campaign on 11 goals.[7] Players from Moroka Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs have won the award the most times, with each club having four unique winners.[3]

  1. ^ "NSL Constitution" (PDF). Premier Soccer League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Safa retires Lesley's jersey". News 24. 15 August 2003. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Throwback Thursday: Golden Boot winners of yesteryear". Vodacom Soccer. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Can Anyone Break Mbesuma's Record?". Soccer Laduma. 19 April 2016. Archived from the original on 15 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Shalulile equals unique Mbesuma record". Kick Off. 30 May 2022. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  6. ^ Ditlhobo, Austin (23 May 2023). "PSL top scorers 2022-23: Shalulile, Mayo, Grobler, Bimenyimana & the race for the PSL Golden Boot". Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Sundowns' Tau, Polokwane's Ramagalela in two-way race for Golden Boot". Independent Online. 30 April 2018. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.