European Golden Shoe

The European Golden Shoe, also known as the European Golden Boot, is an award that is presented each season to the player with the most points in league matches from the top division of a European national league. The trophy is a sculpture of a football boot. The award, originally called Soulier d'Or, French for Golden Shoe, was launched in the 1967–68 season, and was given to the top goalscorer in all European leagues during a season. Since 1997, it has been calculated using a weighting in favour of the highest ranked leagues. Originally presented by L'Équipe newspaper, it has been awarded by the European Sports Media since the 1996–97 season. Lionel Messi has won the award a record six times, more than any other player in history.

History

Between 1968 and 1991, the award was given to the highest goalscorer in any European league. This was regardless of the strength of the league and the number of games in which the player had taken part. During this period Eusébio, Gerd Müller, Dudu Georgescu and Fernando Gomes each won the Golden Shoe twice.

Following a protest from the Cyprus FA, which claimed that a Cypriot player with 40 goals should have received the award (though the official top scorers for the season are both listed with 19 goals), L'Équipe issued no awards between 1991 and 1996.

Since the 1996–97 season, European Sports Media have awarded the Golden Shoe based on a points system that allows players in stronger leagues to win even if they score fewer goals than a player in a weaker league. The weightings are determined by the league's ranking on the UEFA coefficients, which in turn depend on the results of each league's clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons. Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the UEFA coefficients list are multiplied by two, goals scored in the leagues ranked 6 to 22 (previously 9 to 21) are multiplied by 1.5, and goals scored in leagues ranked 22 and below are multiplied by 1. Thus, goals scored in higher-ranked leagues count for more than those scored in weaker leagues. Since this change, there have only been two winners who were not playing in one of the top five leagues (Henrik Larsson, 2000–01 Scottish Premier League and Mario Jardel, 1998–99 Primeira Divisão and 2001–02 Primeira Liga).

Although the Golden Shoe could be shared among multiple players in the past, in the 2019–20 season this rule was changed to give the award to the player with the least minutes played, should there be a tie on points. If tie persists, number of league assists and, then, the fewer penalties scored, would be counted. If the tie ultimately persists, the award would be shared.

Winners

{| class="wikitable"

| style="text-align:center" | Player

|Denotes the number of times the player had won the award at that time (for players with more than one award)

| style="text-align:center; background-color:#CFECEC; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em" |

|Denotes player's club won league that season

| style="text-align:center;background-color: #FFF68F; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em" |

|Player also top goalscorer in all European leagues (since 1996–97)

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"

|+European Golden Shoe winners

!scope=col|Season

!scope=col|Player

!scope=col|Club

!scope=col|League

!scope=col|Goals

!scope=col|Points

|colspan=6 align=center| Winners awarded by L'Équipe (1968–1991)

!1967–68

| Eusébio

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Benfica

|align=center|

!1968–69

| Petar Zhekov

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|CSKA Sofia

| Parva Liga

|align=center|

!1969–70

|Bayern Munich

| Bundesliga

|align=center|

!1970–71

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Marseille

| Ligue 1

|align=center|

!1971–72

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Bayern Munich

| Bundesliga

|align=center|

!1972–73

| Eusébio

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Benfica

| Primeira Liga

|align=center|

!1973–74

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Sporting CP

| Primeira Liga

|align=center|

!1974–75

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Dinamo București

| Liga I

|align=center|

!1975–76

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Omonia Nicosia

| Cypriot First Division

|align=center|

!1976–77

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Dinamo București

| Liga I

|align=center|

!1977–78

|Rapid Wien

| Austrian Bundesliga

|align=center|

!1978–79

|AZ

| Eredivisie

|align=center|

!1979–80

|Lierse

| Belgian First Division

|align=center|

!1980–81

|Botev Plovdiv

| Parva Liga

|align=center|

!1981–82

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Ajax

| Eredivisie

|align=center|

!1982–83

|Porto

| Primeira Liga

|align=center|

!1983–84

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Liverpool

| First Division

|align=center|

!1984–85

|style="background-color:#CFECEC"|Porto

| Primeira Liga

|align=center|

!1985–86

|Ajax

| Eredivisie

|align=center|

!1986–87

| Toni Polster