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 latest winners of the award are Ian Wright and Jill Scott.
List of winners
1970s
| Year | Winner(s) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Sir Bobby Charlton CBE, OBE | First winners of the award |
| Cliff Lloyd | ||
| 1975 | Denis Law CBE | First winner of the award from outside England |
| 1976 | George Eastham OBE | |
| 1977 | Jack Taylor OBE | |
| 1978 | Bill Shankly OBE | |
| 1979 | Sir Tom Finney OBE |
1980s
| Year | Winner(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Sir Matt Busby OBE | |
| 1981 | John Trollope MBE | |
| 1982 | Joe Mercer OBE | |
| 1983 | Bob Paisley OBE | |
| 1984 | Bill Nicholson OBE | |
| 1985 | Ron Greenwood CBE | |
| 1986 | England World Cup squad 1966 | |
| 1987 | Sir Stanley Matthews CBE | |
| 1988 | Billy Bonds MBE | |
| 1989 | Nat Lofthouse OBE |
1990s
| Year | Winner(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Peter Shilton OBE | |
| 1991 | Tommy Hutchison | |
| 1992 | Brian Clough OBE | |
| 1993 | Manchester United European Cup squad 1968 | Shay Brennan and Tony Dunne Joint first winner of the award from outside Great Britain Joint first winner of the award from outside the United Kingdom |
| Eusébio | Joint first winner of the award from outside Great Britain Joint first winner of the award from outside the United Kingdom | |
| 1994 | Billy Bingham MBE | |
| 1995 | Gordon Strachan OBE | |
| 1996 | Pelé | First winner of the award from outside Europe |
| 1997 | Peter Beardsley MBE | |
| 1998 | Steve Ogrizovic | |
| 1999 | Tony Ford MBE |
2000s
| Year | Winner(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Gary Mabbutt MBE | |
| 2001 | Jimmy Hill OBE | |
| 2002 | Niall Quinn | |
| 2003 | Sir Bobby Robson CBE | |
| 2004 | Dario Gradi MBE | |
| 2005 | Shaka Hislop CM | |
| 2006 | George Best | |
| 2007 | Sir Alex Ferguson CBE | |
| 2008 | Jimmy Armfield OBE | |
| 2009 | John McDermott |
2010s
| Year | Winner(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Lucas Radebe | |
| 2011 | Howard Webb | |
| 2012 | Graham Alexander | |
| 2013 | Manchester United Class of '92 | |
| 2014 | Donald Bell VC | |
| 2015 | Steven Gerrard MBE | |
| Frank Lampard OBE | ||
| 2016 | Ryan Giggs OBE | |
| 2017 | David Beckham OBE | |
| 2018 | Cyrille Regis MBE | |
| 2019 | Steph Houghton MBE | First female to receive award. |
2020s
| Year | Winner(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Marcus Rashford MBE | |
| 2021 | Gordon Taylor OBE | |
| 2022 | Roy Hodgson CBE | |
| Hope Powell OBE | First time men's and women's PFA Merit awards were separated | |
| 2023 | Ian Wright OBE | |
| Jill Scott MBE |
Breakdown of winners
Winners by country
| Country | Number of wins |
|---|---|
| England | 35 |
| Scotland | 7 |
| Northern Ireland | 2 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1 |
| Italy | |
| Republic of Ireland | |
| Brazil | |
| Portugal | |
| South Africa | |
| Wales |