PHIL FODEN has been named the winner of the 2023/24 Premier League Player of the Year.
The Manchester City midfielder has enjoyed his best-ever campaign with 19 goals and eight assists.
His tally includes hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa, with Erling Haaland the only City player to score more league goals this term.
And, of course, he crucially scored the first two in the 3-1 win over West Ham at the weekend that clinched City’s fourth consecutive title.
Foden – who also won the Football writers’ award – becomes the 26th different player to win the Premier League Player of the Year since it was first presented in the 1994/95 season.
Previous winners have gone on to find varying success both as managers and pundits.
Here is what happened to the other winners of the Premier League Player of the Year award.
The first winner, Alan Shearer’s 34 goals had powered Blackburn to the title in 1994/95.
He retired in 2006 after scoring a record 260 Premier League goals and has since become a beloved Match of the Day pundit, alongside a brief stint as Newcastle caretaker manager in 2009.
Another title winner, Peter Schmeichel remains the only goalkeeper to win the award.
The legendary Manchester United keeper won two more titles and the Champions League before leaving the club in 1999.
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Following spells with Sporting, Villa and City, he retired in 2003.
Juninho claimed the Player of the Year award despite Middlesbrough’s relegation in 1997 and was subsequently sold to Atletico Madrid.
He returned for two more spells at the club before retiring in 2010 aged 37 and most recently worked as a coach for the Brazilian national team.
Michael Owen won his only award in 1998 aged just 18 after claiming the golden boot, which he secured again the following season before winning the Ballon d’Or in 2001.
The former England international went on to play for Real Madrid, Newcastle, United and Stoke prior to becoming a pundit after retiring in 2013.
United’s treble-winning campaign included Dwight Yorke claiming the Premier League Player of the Year after scoring 18 league goals.
Yorke has had just one managerial role since retiring in 2009, though, spending eight months in charge of Australian side Macarthur.
Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips scored 30 goals for the promoted side in 1999/2000 to pick up the award.
As well as winning eight England caps, he also represented Southampton, Birmingham, Villa and Crystal Palace in the Premier League before retiring in 2014 aged 40.
Now 50, Phillips left his role as Hartlepool manager last weekend after his contract with the National League side expired.
Like Phillips, former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira has yet to match his playing success in the manager’s dugout.
The Frenchman is currently in charge of Ligue 1 side Strasbourg after spells with New York City, Nice and Palace.
Freddie Ljungberg was rewarded in 2002 for his role in Arsenal’s title triumph.
He has also gone into coaching since retiring in 2015, with spells as assistant and caretaker manager at the Gunners in the past.
Ruud van Nistelrooy spent a further three years at United after winning the award in 2003.
He went on to play for Real Madrid, Hamburg and Malaga before embarking on a managerial career.
Van Nistelrooy won the Dutch Cup with PSV last season but has been out of work since his departure in the summer.
One of four players to win the award twice, Thierry Henry was honoured in 2003/04 and 2005/06.
A member of Arsenal’s Invincibles, Henry has balanced coaching and punditry since his retirement in 2015.
Following spells in charge of Monaco and Montreal, he has been France under-21 boss since August last year.
Frank Lampard won the first of his three league titles as he picked up the award in 2005.
He later made a strong start to his managerial career with Derby but has since been sacked by both Chelsea and Everton before returning to Stamford Bridge as caretaker boss last season.
A two-time winner alongside Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo won back-to-back awards in 2007 and 2008.
Still playing aged 39 with Al-Nassr, Ronaldo is a five-time Ballon d’Or winner after a glittering nine-year spell with Real Madrid and even returned to United in 2021.
United’s dominance of the award continued with Nemanja Vidic as he claimed the title in 2009 and 2011.
The Serbian defender left the club in 2014 after winning five Premier League titles. He retired two years later aged 34.
Wayne Rooney won his only award in between Vidic’s double as United players claimed the honour five years in a row.
The forward retired in 2021 as United and England’s record goalscorer, although Harry Kane has since overtaken him for the Three Lions.
Alongside appearing as a pundit, Rooney has also managed Derby, DC United and Birmingham, who sacked him in January after just three months.
City’s title-winning captain in 2012, Vincent Kompany won the league three more times in his 11 years at the Etihad Stadium.
Since retiring, Kompany managed Anderlecht before switching to Burnley in 2022 and winning promotion to the Premier League last season. He will be looking to bounceback next season after getting relegated.
Gareth Bale earned a move to Real Madrid off the back of his stunning 2012/13 season with Tottenham.
The Welsh talisman won 16 trophies in Spain, including five Champions Leagues, but retired last year aged 33 after years of injury woes.
By Dave Kidd
THE voting for the Footballer of the Year award closes on Tuesday and, unlike many, I’ve gone for Cole Palmer.
Most Football Writers’ Association members vote by starting with the likely Prem champs and work backwards. So the winner will be Phil Foden, Rodri, Declan Rice or Martin Odegaard.
There is dissent if a player from a less successful team wins, like David Ginola from mid-table Spurs in Manchester United’s ’99 Treble- winning year.
But enjoying a superb individual season in a poor team is a greater achievement.
And for Palmer — just 21 and in his first season as a regular starter — to have chalked up 23 goals and 13 assists in such a basket-case team as Chelsea, makes him this season’s outstanding player.
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Luis Suarez also left the Premier League after winning the award as he swapped Liverpool for Barcelona in 2014.
He formed a formidable attack with Lionel Messi and Neymar at the Nou Camp and reunited with the former at Inter Miami in January.
Chelsea’s 2014/15 title win owed much to Eden Hazard’s performances, with the Belgian becoming a beloved figure by fans across seven years in West London.
Hazard joined Real Madrid in 2019 but was hampered by injuries across his four years in Spain and retired in October aged just 32.
Jamie Vardy and Leicester shocked the Premier League by winning the title in 2016.
The former non-league striker is celebrating again this season after helping the club secure an immediate return to the top-flight in his 12th season with the Foxes.
N’Golo Kante was also a part of Leicester’s title-winning squad before lifting the trophy again with Chelsea the following season.
The midfielder later won the Champions League with the Blues and the World Cup with France.
Kante is now playing in Saudi Arabia after joining Al-Ittihad last summer.
Mohamed Salah won the first of his three golden boots in 2018/19 alongside the Player of the Year trophy.
He has not won the award since but finished as Premier League top scorer again in both 2018/19 and 2021/22.
Despite narrowly missing out on the title, a Liverpool player won the award again in 2019 as Virgil van Dijk starred in defence.
The Dutchman remains at Anfield and is the current club captain, having won both the league and Champions League during his six-year stay.
Liverpool’s run of winners ended in 2019/20 despite their title triumph, with Kevin De Bruyne winning his first of two awards.
The City star repeated the feat in 2022 and, despite missing four months injured, ended with four goals and ten assists in the league this term.
City players have now claimed the last five awards thanks to Foden’s win, with Ruben Dias the recipient in 2020/21.
His successful debut season in England has been followed by six more trophies, including last year’s historic treble and this year’s title.
Foden follows directly in the footsteps of Haaland, who broke multiple records with his 36 league goals after signing for City from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
Despite not reaching the same heights this season, the Norwegian still plundered 27 goals. In doing so, he made history as the first player to win back-to-back Golden Boots in his first two Premier League seasons.
