Ghana Player of the Year (or Ghanaian Footballer of the Year) is an annual award from Football Association of Ghana in recognition of excellence to the best Ghanaian professional association footballer of the year.
The title Ghana Footballer of the Year has been yearly awarded in Ghana since 1975. The award is determined annually by the members of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) since 1974 with additional votees from the Ghana Premier League team captains and the coaches of the Ghana Premier League in collaboration with Goal.com corporate subdivision of Perform Group; the leading global digital media player corporate group in the world, acquired for $30,000,000 (GH₵70.3 million and CN¥183.4 million) and is published by the Ghana Football Association (GFA). Eligible are all Ghanaian professional association footballers. The award has been presented on 21 occasions as of 2013.
Three-time African Footballer of the Year, Abedi Pele was the fourth Player of the Year; and the most successful player is Samuel Kuffour, who was chosen as Ghana Player of the Year three times and he was the sixth, seventh and ninth to receive this award; followed by the joint second most successful player Stephen Appiah, who was chosen twice consecutively and Stephen Appiah was the twelfth and thirteenth to receive the award. John Paintsil was chosen as 2009 Ghana Player of the Year. The player to be chosen as 2009 Ghana Player of the Year was Dominic Adiyiah, and by the age of 20 years at his election in 2010, Dominic Adiyiah is the youngest player to receive the award. In 2011, Asamoah Gyan was awarded 2010 Ghana Player of the Year. André Ayew of Olympique de Marseille was chosen as 2011 Ghana Player of the Year, and Kwadwo Asamoah of Juventus was awarded the 2012 and 2013 Ghana Player of the Year and became the joint second most successful professional footballer of Ghana along with Stephen Appiah and followed by Samuel Kuffour, with Kwadwo Asamoah being chosen as Ghana Player of the Year twice consecutively and Kwadwo Asamoah is the twentieth and twenty-first professional footballer of Ghana to receive the award.
Winners
Abedi Pele was the receiver of the 4th Player of the Year award in 1993
Samuel Kuffour was the receiver of the 6th, 7th and 9th Player of the Year award in 1998, 1999 and 2001
Stephen Appiah was the receiver of the 12th and 13th Player of the Year award in 2004 and 2005
John Mensah was the receiver of the 14th Player of the Year award in 2006
Michael Essien was the receiver of the 15th Player of the Year award in 2007
John Paintsil was the receiver of the 16th Player of the Year award in 2008
André Ayew was the receiver of the 19th Player of the Year award in 2011
| Year |
Name |
Nationality |
Club |
Position |
| 1975 |
Ahmed Polo, MohammedMohammed Ahmed Polo |
 Ghana |
Hearts of Oak ( Ghana) |
Forward |
| 1979 |
John Nketia Yawson |
Ghana |
Hearts of Oak ( Ghana) |
Midfielder |
| 1984 |
Joe Odoi |
Ghana |
Hearts of Oak ( Ghana) |
Defender |
| 1993 |
Pele, AbediAbedi Pele |
Ghana |
Marseille ( France) |
Forward |
| 1997 |
Yeboah, TonyTony Yeboah |
Ghana |
Hamburger SV ( Germany) |
Forward |
| 1998 |
Kuffour, SamuelSamuel Kuffour |
Ghana |
Bayern Munich ( Germany) |
Defender |
| 1999 |
Kuffour, SamuelSamuel Kuffour |
Ghana |
Bayern Munich ( Germany) |
Defender |
| 2000 |
Kuffour, EmmanuelEmmanuel Kuffour |
Ghana |
Hearts of Oak ( Ghana) |
Midfielder |
| 2001 |
Kuffour, SamuelSamuel Kuffour |
Ghana |
Bayern Munich ( Germany) |
Defender |
| 2002 |
Asampong, CharlesCharles Asampong |
Ghana |
Hearts of Oak ( Ghana) |
Forward |
| 2003 |
Ansah, AzizAziz Ansah |
Ghana |
Asante Kotoko ( Ghana) |
Defender |
| 2004 |
Appiah, StephenStephen Appiah |
Ghana |
Juventus ( Italy) |
Midfielder |
| 2005 |
Appiah, StephenStephen Appiah |
Ghana |
Juventus ( Italy) |
Midfielder |
| 2006 |
Mensah, JohnJohn Mensah |
Ghana |
Rennes ( France) |
Defender |
| 2007 |
Essien, MichaelMichael Essien |
Ghana |
Chelsea ( England) |
Midfielder |
| 2008 |
Paintsil, JohnJohn Paintsil |
Ghana |
Fulham ( England) |
Defender |
| 2009 |
Adiyiah, DominicDominic Adiyiah |
Ghana |
AC Milan ( Italy) |
Forward |
| 2010 |
Gyan, AsamoahAsamoah Gyan |
Ghana |
Sunderland ( England) |
Forward |
| 2011 |
Ayew, AndréAndré Ayew |
Ghana |
Marseille ( France) |
Forward |
| 2012 |
Asamoah, KwadwoKwadwo Asamoah |
Ghana |
Juventus ( Italy) |
Midfielder |
| 2013 |
Asamoah, KwadwoKwadwo Asamoah |
Ghana |
Juventus ( Italy) |
Midfielder |
Players
| Place |
Name |
Number of wins |
Winning years |
| 1 |
Kuffour, SamuelSamuel Kuffour |
3 |
1998, 1999, 2001 |
| 2 |
Appiah, StephenStephen Appiah |
2 |
2004, 2005 |
| Asamoah, KwadwoKwadwo Asamoah |
2 |
2012, 2013 |
| 3 |
Ahmed Polo, MohammedMohammed Ahmed Polo |
1 |
1975 |
| John Nketia Yawson |
1 |
1979 |
| Joe Odoi |
1 |
1984 |
| Pele, AbediAbedi Pele |
1 |
1993 |
| Yeboah, TonyTony Yeboah |
1 |
1997 |
| Asampong, CharlesCharles Asampong |
1 |
2002 |
| Ansah, AzizAziz Ansah |
1 |
2003 |
| Mensah, JohnJohn Mensah |
1 |
2006 |
| Essien, MichaelMichael Essien |
1 |
2007 |
| Paintsil, JohnJohn Paintsil |
1 |
2008 |
| Adiyiah, DominicDominic Adiyiah |
1 |
2009 |
| Gyan, AsamoahAsamoah Gyan |
1 |
2010 |
| Ayew, AndréAndré Ayew |
1 |
2011 |
Breakdown of winners
Winners by league
| Place |
League |
Number of wins |
Winning years |
| 1 |
Ghana Premier League |
6 |
1975, 1979, 1984, 2000,
2002, 2003 |
| 2 |
Serie A |
5 |
2004, 2005, 2009, 2012, 2013 |
| 3 |
Bundesliga |
4 |
1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 |
| 4 |
Premier League |
3 |
2007, 2008, 2010 |
| Ligue 1 |
3 |
1993, 2006, 2011 |
Winners by club
| Place |
Club |
Number of wins |
Winning years |
| 1 |
Hearts of Oak |
5 |
1975, 1979, 1984, 2000, 2002 |
| 2 |
Juventus |
4 |
2004, 2005, 2012, 2013 |
| 3 |
Bayern Munich |
3 |
1998, 1999, 2001 |
| 4 |
Marseille |
2 |
1993, 2011 |
| 5 |
Hamburger SV |
1 |
1997 |
| Asante Kotoko |
1 |
2003 |
| Rennes |
1 |
2006 |
| Chelsea |
1 |
2007 |
| Fulham |
1 |
2008 |
| AC Milan |
1 |
2009 |
| Sunderland |
1 |
2010 |
Winners by position
External links
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