The Croatian Footballer of the Year (Croatian: Nogometaš godine) is the most prestigious annual association football award in Croatia. It is awarded by the newspaper Večernji list to the best Croatian football player in the preceding year, regardless of the league they play in, based on a points system which measures their performances for both club and country. The award is usually presented in a ceremony hosted by the Croatian Football Federation.

The award was established in 1972 and, until 1990, the award was given to the best Yugoslav player in the preceding year. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, the award is given to the best Croatian player. Luka Modrić holds the record for most wins, with twelve awards.[1][2][3][4][5] Davor Šuker is second with six awards.[6][7][8][9] They are followed by Dado Pršo with three wins from 2003 to 2005.[6]

In 1995, a separate award, the Hope of the Year (Croatian: Nada godine), was introduced. It is awarded to the best young Croatian player.[10] As of 2020, only Ivica Olić and Luka Modrić have won both the Hope of the Year and Footballer of the Year awards.

List of winners

Yugoslav Footballer of the Year (1972–90)

† denotes shared wins

Year Yugoslav Footballer of the Year
Player (Wins) Age Pos. Club
1972 Dušan Bajević 24 FW Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Velež
1973 Enver Marić 25 GK Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Velež
1974 Josip Katalinski 26 DF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Željezničar
1975 Ivan Buljan 26 DF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Hajduk Split
1976 Ivica Šurjak 23 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Hajduk Split
1977 Dražen Mužinić 24 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Hajduk Split
1978 Vilson Džoni † 28 DF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dinamo Zagreb
Nenad Stojković † 22 DF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Partizan
1979 Safet Sušić † 24 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FK Sarajevo
Velimir Zajec † 23 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dinamo Zagreb
1980 Vladimir Petrović 25 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star
1981 Zlatko Vujović 23 FW Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Hajduk Split
1982 Ivan Gudelj 22 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Hajduk Split
1983 Zoran Simović 29 GK Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Hajduk Split
1984 Velimir Zajec (2) 28 MF Greece Panathinaikos
1985 Blaž Slišković 26 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Hajduk Split
1986 Semir Tuce 22 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Velež
1987 Marko Mlinarić 27 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dinamo Zagreb
1988 Dragan Stojković 23 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star
1989 Dragan Stojković (2) 24 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star
1990 Robert Prosinečki 21 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star

Croatian Footballer of the Year (1991–present)

Luka Modrić holds the record for most wins with twelve awards
Davor Šuker won the title six times
Ivica Olić, along with Luka Modrić, is the only player to win both the Croatian Footballer of the Year and the Hope of the Year awards
Year Croatian Footballer of the Year Hope of the Year
Player (Wins) Age Pos. Club Player Age Pos. Club
1991 Zvonimir Boban 23 MF Italy Milan —
1992 Davor Šuker 25 FW Spain Sevilla —
1993 Alen Bokšić 23 FW Italy Lazio —
1994 Davor Šuker (2) 27 FW Spain Sevilla —
1995 Davor Šuker (3) 28 FW Spain Sevilla Dario Šimić 20 DF Croatia Croatia Zagreb
1996 Davor Šuker (4) 29 FW Spain Real Madrid Jurica Vučko 20 FW Croatia Hajduk Split
1997 Robert Prosinečki (2) † 28 MF Croatia Croatia Zagreb Silvio Marić 22 MF Croatia Croatia Zagreb
Davor Šuker (5) † 30 FW Spain Real Madrid
1998 Davor Šuker (6) 31 FW Spain Real Madrid Jurica Vranješ 18 MF Croatia Osijek
1999 Zvonimir Boban (2) 31 MF Italy Milan Tomo Šokota 22 FW Croatia Croatia Zagreb
2000 Nenad Bjelica 29 MF Croatia Osijek Krunoslav Lovrek 21 FW Croatia NK Zagreb
2001 Igor Tudor 23 DF Italy Juventus Ivica Olić 22 FW Croatia NK Zagreb
2002 Stipe Pletikosa 23 GK Croatia Hajduk Split Niko Kranjčar 18 MF Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
2003 Dado Pršo 29 FW France Monaco Goran Ljubojević 20 FW Croatia Osijek
2004 Dado Pršo (2) 30 FW Scotland Rangers Luka Modrić 19 MF Croatia Inter Zaprešić
2005 Dado Pršo (3) 31 FW Scotland Rangers Leon Benko 22 FW Croatia Varteks
2006 Eduardo 23 FW Croatia Dinamo Zagreb Ante Rukavina 20 FW Croatia Šibenik
2007 Luka Modrić 22 MF Croatia Dinamo Zagreb Nikola Kalinić 19 FW Croatia Hajduk Split
2008 Luka Modrić (2) 23 MF England Tottenham Hotspur Marin Tomasov 21 MF Croatia Zadar
2009 Ivica Olić 30 FW Germany Bayern Munich Milan Badelj 20 MF Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
2010 Ivica Olić (2) 31 FW Germany Bayern Munich Šime Vrsaljko 18 DF Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
2011 Luka Modrić (3) 26 MF England Tottenham Hotspur Mateo Kovačić 17 MF Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
2012 Mario Mandžukić 26 FW Germany Bayern Munich Franko Andrijašević 21 MF Croatia Hajduk Split
2013 Mario Mandžukić (2) 27 FW Germany Bayern Munich Ante Rebić 20 FW Italy Fiorentina
2014 Luka Modrić (4) 29 MF Spain Real Madrid Tin Jedvaj 19 DF Germany Bayer Leverkusen
2015 Ivan Rakitić 27 MF Spain Barcelona Ante Ćorić 18 MF Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
2016 Luka Modrić (5) 31 MF Spain Real Madrid Filip Benković 19 DF Croatia Dinamo Zagreb
2017 Luka Modrić (6) 32 MF Spain Real Madrid Lovro Majer 19 MF Croatia Lokomotiva
2018 Luka Modrić (7) 33 MF Spain Real Madrid —
2019 Luka Modrić (8) 34 MF Spain Real Madrid —
2020 Luka Modrić (9) 35 MF Spain Real Madrid —
2021 Luka Modrić (10) 36 MF Spain Real Madrid —
2022 Luka Modrić (11) 37 MF Spain Real Madrid —
2023 Luka Modrić (12) 38 MF Spain Real Madrid —

Notes on club name changes:

Multiple winners

Players in bold are still active. Wins in italics denote wins in Yugoslav competition before 1991.

Wins Player Winning years Club(s)
12 Luka Modrić 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 Dinamo Zagreb, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid
6 Davor Šuker 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 Sevilla, Real Madrid
3 Dado Pršo 2003, 2004, 2005 Monaco, Rangers
2 Velimir Zajec 1979, 1984 Dinamo Zagreb, Panathinaikos
Dragan Stojković 1988, 1989 Red Star Belgrade
Robert Prosinečki 1990, 1997 Red Star Belgrade, Croatia Zagreb
Zvonimir Boban 1991, 1999 Milan
Ivica Olić 2009, 2010 Bayern Munich
Mario Mandžukić 2012, 2013 Bayern Munich

See also

References

  1. ^ "Za njega ništa nije nemoguće, nadmašio je čak i Šukera!". vecernji.hr (in Croatian). 24 December 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Modrića nisu uljuljale silne nagrade, samo su ga motivirale da opet bude - najbolji!". vecernji.hr (in Croatian). 29 December 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Čast je imati takvog kapetana: Modrić postao prvi nogometaš kojem je ovo uspjelo!". vecernji.hr (in Croatian). 8 January 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Modrić već 11. put slavi prestižnu nagradu, trofej osvojio ispred Gvardiola". www.vecernji.hr (in Croatian). 14 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Večernji je 52. put odabrao 'Nogometaša godine': Luka Modrić osvojio dvanaestog popularnog Sikiricu!". www.vecernji.hr (in Croatian). 14 January 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b Puric, Bojan (2 January 2005). ""Vecernji list" Player of the Year". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  7. ^ "VL Player of the Year 2014". Vecernji List. 27 December 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Luka Modrić dobio još jednu renomiranu nagradu: 'O ovome sam maštao!'". Vecernji List. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  9. ^ "Modric equals Suker with Croatian Footballer of the Year award – FourFourTwo". 1 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  10. ^ Flak, Igor; Jurišić, Predrag (31 December 2010). "U Bayernu će se još jednom klanjati Ivici Oliću" (in Croatian). Večernji list. Retrieved 4 May 2011.

External links

Croatian Footballer of the Year
Croatian Football League
National Men's Footballer of the Year award
Categories