Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year

The Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year, previously known as the MUFC Members Player of the Year (1988–1995), is an award presented to the Manchester United fans' player of the season. It is named after former Manchester United manager Sir Matt Busby, who managed the club in two spells, from 1945 to 1969 and from 1970 to 1971. The award was renamed in his honour in 1996, following his death in 1994, and a new trophy was commissioned – a scaled-down replica of the statue of Busby at the east end of Old Trafford.

Key Information

The trophy is a scaled-down replica of this statue of Sir Matt Busby outside Old Trafford
Sport	Association football
History
First award	1988
Editions	38 (as of 2025)
First winner	Brian McClair
Most wins	David de Gea Bruno Fernandes Cristiano Ronaldo (4 times each)
Most recent	Bruno Fernandes (4th win)
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The first winner of the award was Brian McClair in 1988, who also became the first player to win it twice, having also won it in 1992. Since then, seven other players have won the award more than once, of which five have won it in consecutive seasons: Roy Keane (1999, 2000), Ruud van Nistelrooy (2002, 2003), Cristiano Ronaldo (2007, 2008), David de Gea (2014, 2015, 2016), and Bruno Fernandes (2020, 2021). Ronaldo's 2008 win made him the first player to receive the award three times, having also won in 2004. De Gea won the award in 2016 for the third consecutive year, becoming the second player after Ronaldo to do so, and the first in three consecutive seasons. De Gea won the award for a fourth time in 2018, the first player to do so, and Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes joined him after winning their fourth in 2022 and 2025 respectively.

Voting takes place towards the end of each season, usually in April, and is open to anyone who has an account on the club's official website. Voting was originally done by post until the 1994–95 season, when a phone voting system was introduced.^[1] Postal voting forms were included in the club magazine, Inside United, and before that, voting was open only to members of the official supporters' club, who would receive a voting form in the post at the end of the season. Until the establishment of the official supporters' club, a separate award had been given by the members of its predecessor, the independent Manchester United Supporters Club.

Other end-of-season awards given by Manchester United include the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year Award, the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year Award, the Players' Player of the Year Award, and the Goal of the Season Award. Of these, the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year Award and the Players' Player of the Year Award are voted for by the players. The prizes for all five awards are given at an annual awards night, which is held near the end of the league season and broadcast live on the club's television channel, MUTV. A list of winners of the youth awards can be seen here.

Players in bold are still playing for Manchester United

Season	Name	Nationality	Position	Notes	Ref.
1987–88	Brian McClair	Scotland	Forward		[2]
1988–89	Bryan Robson	England	Midfielder	First English winner
1989–90	Gary Pallister	England	Defender		[2]
1990–91	Mark Hughes	Wales	Forward	First Academy graduate to win award	[3]
1991–92	Brian McClair	Scotland	Forward	First player to win the award on two occasions
1992–93	Paul Ince	England	Midfielder
1993–94	Eric Cantona	France	Forward	First winner from outside the United Kingdom
1994–95	Andrei Kanchelskis	Russia	Midfielder
1995–96	Eric Cantona	France	Forward
1996–97	David Beckham	England	Midfielder
1997–98	Ryan Giggs	Wales	Midfielder		[4]
1998–99	Roy Keane	Republic of Ireland	Midfielder
1999–2000	Roy Keane	Republic of Ireland	Midfielder	First player to win the award in consecutive years
2000–01	Teddy Sheringham	England	Forward		[5]
2001–02	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Netherlands	Forward		[2]
2002–03	Ruud van Nistelrooy	Netherlands	Forward
2003–04	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Midfielder		[2]
2004–05	Gabriel Heinze	Argentina	Defender	First winner from outside Europe	[2]
2005–06	Wayne Rooney	England	Forward		[5]
2006–07	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Midfielder		[6]
2007–08	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Midfielder	First player to win the award on three occasions	[5][7]
2008–09	Nemanja Vidić	Serbia	Defender		[8]
2009–10	Wayne Rooney	England	Forward		[5]
2010–11	Javier Hernández	Mexico	Forward	First winner from North America	[2]
2011–12	Antonio Valencia	Ecuador	Midfielder		[9]
2012–13	Robin van Persie	Netherlands	Forward		[10]
2013–14	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First goalkeeper to win the award	[11]
2014–15	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper		[12]
2015–16	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First player to win the award in three consecutive years	[13]
2016–17	Ander Herrera	Spain	Midfielder
2017–18	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First player to win the award on four occasions	[14]
2018–19	Luke Shaw	England	Defender		[15]
2019–20	Bruno Fernandes	Portugal	Midfielder		[16]
2020–21	Bruno Fernandes	Portugal	Midfielder		[17]
2021–22	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Forward	Record-equalling fourth award	[18]
2022–23	Marcus Rashford	England	Forward		[19]
2023–24	Bruno Fernandes	Portugal	Midfielder		[20]
2024–25	Bruno Fernandes	Portugal	Midfielder	Record-equalling fourth award	[21]

Wins by player

[edit]

Winner	Total wins	Year(s)
Cristiano Ronaldo	4	2004, 2007, 2008, 2022
David de Gea	4	2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Bruno Fernandes	4	2020, 2021, 2024, 2025
Brian McClair	2	1988, 1992
Eric Cantona	2	1994, 1996
Roy Keane	2	1999, 2000
Ruud van Nistelrooy	2	2002, 2003
Wayne Rooney	2	2006, 2010
Bryan Robson	1	1989
Gary Pallister	1	1990
Mark Hughes	1	1991
Paul Ince	1	1993
Andrei Kanchelskis	1	1995
David Beckham	1	1997
Ryan Giggs	1	1998
Teddy Sheringham	1	2001
Gabriel Heinze	1	2005
Nemanja Vidić	1	2009
Javier Hernández	1	2011
Antonio Valencia	1	2012
Robin van Persie	1	2013
Ander Herrera	1	2017
Luke Shaw	1	2019
Marcus Rashford	1	2023

Wins by playing position

[edit]

Position	Number of wins
Goalkeeper	4
Defender	4
Midfielder	16
Forward	14

Wins by nationality

[edit]

Nationality	Number of winners
England	9
Portugal	8
Spain	5
Netherlands	3
France	2
Republic of Ireland	2
Scotland	2
Wales	2
Argentina	1
Russia	1
Serbia	1
Mexico	1
Ecuador	1

Season	Name	Nationality	Position	Notes	Ref.
2005–06	Ryan Giggs	Wales	Midfielder	Inaugural winner	[22]
2006–07	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Forward	First non-British winner
2007–08	Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Forward	First player to win the award in consecutive years
2008–09	Nemanja Vidić	Serbia	Defender
2009–10	Wayne Rooney	England	Forward	First English winner
2010–11	Nani	Portugal	Forward
2011–12	Antonio Valencia	Ecuador	Forward	First non-European winner
2012–13	Michael Carrick	England	Midfielder
2013–14	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper
2014–15	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper
2015–16	Chris Smalling	England	Defender
2016–17	Antonio Valencia	Ecuador	Defender
2017–18	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First player to win the award on three occasions
2018–19	Luke Shaw	England	Defender
2019–20	Anthony Martial	France	Forward
2020–21	Luke Shaw	England	Defender
2021–22	David de Gea	Spain	Goalkeeper	First player to win the award on four occasions
2022–23	Marcus Rashford	England	Forward		[23]
2023–24	Diogo Dalot	Portugal	Defender		[24]
2024–25	Bruno Fernandes	Portugal	Midfielder		[25]

Season	Name	Nationality	Position	Notes	Ref.
2017–18	Scott McTominay	Scotland	Midfielder	Special award	[26]