The Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English football. The award has been presented since the 1973–74 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA).
The current holder is Robin van Persie, who won the award playing for Arsenal. The first winner of the award was Leeds United defender Norman Hunter. As of 2012, only Mark Hughes, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo have won the award on two occasions, and only Henry and Ronaldo have won the award in consecutive seasons. Of the four, only Shearer won his awards playing for two different teams. Although there is a separate PFA Young Player of the Year award for players under the age of 23, young players remain eligible to win the senior award, and on two occasions the same player has won both awards for a season, Andy Gray in 1976–77 and Ronaldo in 2006–07.
Every Spring, each member of the association votes for two players. A shortlist of nominees is published in April and the winner of the award, along with the winners of the PFA's other annual awards, is announced at a gala event in London a few days later. The award is regarded by the players themselves as extremely prestigious, with Teddy Sheringham describing it in 2001 as "the biggest personal award you can get in the game", and John Terry stating in 2005 that he considered it "the ultimate accolade to be voted for by your fellow professionals whom you play against week-in and week-out".
Read more about PFA Players' Player Of The Year: Winners
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—Honoré De Balzac (17991850)
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