PFA Merit Award

Dalglish in 2009
Carney in 2022
Kenny Dalglish and Karen Carney are the most recent honorees in 2026

The Professional Footballers' Association Merit Award (often called the PFA Merit Award, or simply the Merit Award) is an award given by the Professional Footballers' Association (the PFA) for meritorious service to football.

The award was first given in 1974, and was won (jointly) by Bobby Charlton and Cliff Lloyd. The first woman to win the award was Steph Houghton in 2019. In 2022, the award was separated into two: women's and men's.

The most recent winners of the award are Kenny Dalglish and Karen Carney.

List of winners

1970s

YearWinner(s)Note
1974England Bobby CharltonFirst winners of the award
England Cliff Lloyd
1975Scotland Denis LawFirst winner of the award from outside England
1976England George Eastham
1977England Jack Taylor
1978Scotland Bill Shankly
1979England Tom Finney

1980s

YearWinner(s)Notes
1980Scotland Matt Busby
1981England John Trollope
1982England Joe Mercer
1983England Bob Paisley
1984England Bill Nicholson
1985England Ron Greenwood
1986England England World Cup squad 1966
1987England Stanley Matthews
1988England Billy Bonds
1989England Nat Lofthouse

1990s

YearWinner(s)Notes
1990England Peter Shilton
1991Scotland Tommy Hutchison
1992England Brian Clough
1993England Manchester United European Cup squad 1968Republic of Ireland Shay Brennan and Republic of Ireland Tony Dunne
Joint first winner of the award from outside Great Britain
Joint first winner of the award from outside the United Kingdom
Portugal EusébioJoint first winner of the award from outside Great Britain
Joint first winner of the award from outside the United Kingdom
1994Northern Ireland Billy Bingham
1995Scotland Gordon Strachan
1996Brazil PeléFirst winner of the award from outside Europe
1997England Peter Beardsley
1998England Steve Ogrizovic
1999England Tony Ford

2000s

YearWinner(s)Notes
2000England Gary Mabbutt
2001England Jimmy Hill
2002Republic of Ireland Niall Quinn
2003England Bobby Robson
2004Italy Dario Gradi
2005Trinidad and Tobago Shaka Hislop
2006Northern Ireland George Best
2007Scotland Alex Ferguson
2008England Jimmy Armfield
2009England John McDermott

2010s

YearWinner(s)Notes
2010South Africa Lucas Radebe
2011England Howard Webb
2012Scotland Graham Alexander
2013Manchester United Class of '92
2014England Donald Bell
2015England Steven Gerrard
England Frank Lampard
2016Wales Ryan Giggs
2017England David Beckham
2018 England Cyrille Regis
2019 England Steph Houghton First female to receive award.

2020s

YearWinner(s)Notes
2020England Marcus Rashford
2021England Gordon Taylor
2022England Roy Hodgson
England Hope PowellFirst time men's and women's PFA Merit awards were separated
2023England Ian Wright
England Jill Scott
2024England Dean Lewington
England Fara Williams
2025England Gareth Southgate
England Emma Hayes
2026Scotland Kenny Dalglish
England Karen Carney

Breakdown of winners

Winners by country

CountryNumber of wins
 England40
 Scotland8
 Northern Ireland2
 Trinidad and Tobago1
 Italy
 Republic of Ireland
 Brazil
 Portugal
 South Africa
 Wales

References

  1. ↑ PFA Merit Award 1974-2007 Archived 15 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 "Gerrard & Lampard share PFA Merit Award". Goal.com. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Sports, PA. "Ryan Giggs wins PFA Merit award". thepfa.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "PFA Merit Award winner Cyrille Regis". thepfa.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  5. ↑ "PFA Merit Award winner Steph Houghton". thepfa.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  6. ↑ "Rashford wins PFA Award". manutd.com. Manchester United. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  7. ↑ "Gordon Taylor receives PFA merit award for his services to football". sportsmole.co.uk. Sports Mole. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  8. ↑ "Roy Hodgson wins PFA Merit Award". PFA. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  9. ↑ "Hope Powell wins PFA Merit Award". PFA. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  10. 1 2 "Rachel Daly and Erling Haaland win PFA player of the year awards". The Guardian. 29 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.