Premier League Golden Boot | |
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Thierry Henry has won the most Golden Boot awards with four.
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Awarded for | The leading goalscorer in a given Premier League season. |
Sponsored by | Barclays |
Country | England |
Presented by | The Football Association |
First awarded | 1993 |
Last awarded | 2016 |
Currently held by | Harry Kane |
The Premier League Golden Boot is an annual association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in the Premier League. For sponsorship purposes, from 1994 to 2001 it was called the Carling Golden Boot and from 2001 to 2004, the Barclaycard Golden Boot; as of 2015, it is referred to as the Barclays Golden Boot. In addition to the trophy, winners of the Golden Boot are usually given £1,000 for every goal they scored throughout the season to donate to a charity of their choice, although Robin van Persie was given £30,000 after scoring 26 goals in the 2012–13 season.
The Premier League was founded in 1992, when the clubs of the First Division left The Football League and established a new commercially independent league that negotiated its own broadcast and sponsorship agreements. The newly formed league had no sponsor for its inaugural season until Carling agreed to a four-year £12 million deal that started the following season, and it was simply known as the Premier League in its first year. As a result, the award was called the "Premier League Golden Boot" when Teddy Sheringham received the inaugural award in 1993. Originally consisting of 22 teams, the league contracted to 20 teams after the 1994–95 season; this reduced the number of games played from 42 to 38.
Thierry Henry has won the Golden Boot on four occasions, more than any other player. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Dwight Yorke were the first non-English and non-European winners, respectively, when they shared the award with Michael Owen in 1999.Alan Shearer is the only player other than Henry to win the award in three consecutive seasons. Phillips, Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suárez won the European Golden Shoe in the same season as the Premier League Golden Boot, with Henry achieving this on two occasions (2004 and 2005). Shearer, Hasselbaink and Van Persie are the only players to win the Golden Boot with two clubs.