| SFWA Footballer of the Year | |
|---|---|
 Craig Gordon is the only player to have won the award three times | |
| Awarded for | The outstanding player in each given Scottish football season |
| Country | Scotland |
| Presented by | Scottish Football Writers' Association |
| First awarded | 1965 |
| Last awarded | 2024 |
| Footballer of the Year | Lawrence Shankland |
| Most awards | Craig Gordon (3) |
The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish football.[1] The award has been presented since the 1964–65 season, and the winner is selected by a vote amongst the members of the Scottish Football Writers' Association (SFWA), which comprises over 100 football journalists based throughout Scotland.[2] The first winner was Celtic's Billy McNeill, and the first non-Scottish winner was Mark Hateley of Rangers in 1994. Seven players have won the award on more than one occasion, and one, Craig Gordon, three times, winning his third award in the 2021–22 season.[3]
The award was instigated in 1965, eight years after the association was founded, and committee member Allan Herron was charged with obtaining the permission of the Scottish Football Association to make the first award. Each member of the association casts one vote and also nominates a runner-up. In the event of a tie for first place the number of runner-up votes is taken into consideration.[2] Although it is the older of the two awards, the SFWA award is considered by the players themselves to be of secondary importance to the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year because the winner of the PFA Scotland award is chosen by his fellow professionals.[4]
- ^ Neil Cameron (10 April 2008). "I Would Have Voted For Ranger Alan Hutton As Best Player, Reveals Shunsuke Nakamura". Daily Record. Scotland. Retrieved 29 February 2008.
We all have opinions about who is the season's best player and a year ago it was Nakamura who came out on top in voting for both the PFA and Football Writers' award.
- ^ a b Jim Black. "Fifty years of passion and prose". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
gordon3was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Stuart Lovell (7 April 2008). "Why Aiden should run away with player prize". The Scotsman. Retrieved 11 April 2008.