Arsenal Player of the Season

Arsenal Player of the Season
Thierry Henry has won the award four times, the most of any player
SportAssociation football
Awarded forbeing the best performing Arsenal player over the course of a season
Presented byArsenal F.C.
History
First award1967; 57 years ago (1967)
Editions57 (as of 2023)
First winnerScotland Frank McLintock
Most winsFrance Thierry Henry (4 times)
Most recentNorway 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.[3] 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.[3] Following the 2014−15 season, Chilean international Alexis Sánchez was voted to become the first player from outside of Europe to win the award.[3][6]

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

  1. ^ "Lacazette wins Arsenal Player of the Year award". Goal. 4 May 2019. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Bukayo Saka named Arsenal player of the season". BBC Sport. 8 June 2022. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Maidment, Jem (2006). The Official Arsenal Encyclopedia. London: Hamlyn. p. 148. ISBN 9780600615491.
  4. ^ "Vitality Player of Season – the winner." Arsenal F.C. 26 May 2017. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  5. ^ "Vitality Player of the Season". Arsenal F.C. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  6. ^ James, Josh (31 May 2022). "'I played for the club of my dreams'". Arsenal F.C. Archived from the original on 20 May 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2022.