The Golden Shoe Award


The Golden Shoe award is handed out at the end of every European football season to the top goalscorer from all of Europe's top-tier national football leagues.

The award was originally just given to the genuine top scorer, in any top-tier division, however, a glut of winners from the smaller leagues saw the award changed with a a weighting system introduced to give more favour to goalscorers in the highest ranked leagues.

Benfica legend Eusébio was the inaugural winner when the award was first handed out at the end of the 1967-68 season. It was originally organised by the French football magazine L'Équipe and known as the Soulier d'Or, but since the 1996-97 season it's been awarded by the European Sports Media organisation.

You might also occasionally hear it referred to as the Golden Boot but this term is generally reserved for the World Cup award.


GOLDEN SHOE WINNERS

Season Goals Golden Shoe WinnerNationality Club League
1967-6842 Eusébio Portugal Benfica Portugal
1968-6936 Petar Zhekov Bulgaria CSKA Sofia Bulgaria
1969-7038 Gerd Müller West Germany Bayern Munich West Germany
1970-7144 Josip Skoblar Yugoslavia Marseille France
1971-7240 Gerd Müller West Germany Bayern Munich West Germany
1972-7340 Eusébio Portugal Benfica Portugal
1973-7446 Héctor Yazalde Argentina Sporting CP Portugal
1974-7533 Dudu Georgescu Romania Dinamo Bucuresti Romania
1975-7639 Sotiris Kaiafas Cyprus Omonia Nicosia Cyprus
1976-7747 Dudu Georgescu Romania Dinamo Bucuresti Romania
1977-7841 Hans Krankl Austria Rapid Vienna Austria
1978-7934 Kees Kist Netherlands AZ Netherlands
1979-8039 Erwin Vandenbergh Belgium Lierse Belgium
1980-8131 Georgi Slavkov Bulgaria Botev Plovdiv Bulgaria
1981-8232 Wim Kieft Netherlands Ajax Netherlands
1982-8336 Fernando Gomes Portugal Porto Portugal
1983-8432 Ian Rush Wales Liverpool England
1984-8539 Fernando Gomes Portugal Porto Portugal
1985-8637 Marco van Basten Netherlands Ajax Netherlands
1986-8739 Toni Polster Austria FK Austria Wien Austria
1987-8839 Tanju Çolak Turkey Galatasaray Turkey
1988-8943 Dorin Mateut Romania Dinamo Bucuresti Romania
1989-9038 Hugo Sánchez Mexico Real Madrid Spain
1989-9038 Hristo Stoichkov Bulgaria CSKA Sofia Bulgaria
1990-9134 Darko Pancev Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade Yugoslavia
1991-9234 Ally McCoist Scotland Rangers Scotland
1992-9334 Ally McCoist Scotland Rangers Scotland
1993-9443 David Taylor Wales Porthmadog Wales
1994-9539 Arsen Avetisyan Armenia Homenetmen Armenia
1995-9640 Zviad Endeladze Georgia Margveti Georgia
1996-9734 Ronaldo Brazil Barcelona Spain
1997-9834 Nikos Machlas Greece Vitesse Netherlands
1998-9936 Mário Jardel Brazil Porto Portugal
1999-0030 Kevin Phillips England Sunderland England
2000-0135 Henrik Larsson Sweden Celtic Scotland
2001-0242 Mário Jardel Brazil Sporting CP Portugal
2002-0329 Roy Makaay Netherlands Deportivo La Coruña Spain
2003-0430 Thierry Henry France Arsenal England
2004-0525 Thierry Henry France Arsenal England
2004-0525 Diego Forlán Uruguay Villarreal Spain
2005-0631 Luca Toni Italy Fiorentina Italy
2006-0726 Francesco Totti Italy Roma Italy
2007-0831 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Manchester United England
2008-0932 Diego Forlán Uruguay Atlético Madrid Spain
2009-1034 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona Spain
2010-1140 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid Spain
2011-1250 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona Spain
2012-1346 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona Spain
2013-1431 Luis Suárez Uruguay Liverpool England
2013-1431 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid Spain
2014-1548 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid Spain
2015-1640 Luis Suárez Uruguay Barcelona Spain
2016-1737 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona Spain
2017-1834 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona Spain
2018-1936 Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona Spain