The Montenegrin Footballer of the Year is an annual award chosen by the team captains and the coaches of the Prva crnogorska fudbalska liga — 1. CFL to determine the best player in Montenegro. It is published by the Football Association of Montenegro. The most successful player is Mirko Vučinić, who has won the award seven times, as well as being the inaugural winner. Stevan Jovetić is the youngest player to receive this honour so far; he was 20 years old when he won the award. The most recent footballer of the year is Stefan Savić for 2021. Before 2006, two Montenegrin footballers were named Yugoslav Footballer of the Year; Dejan Savićević in 1995, and Predrag Mijatović (for three times) in 1992, 1993 and 1998.

Winners

Mirko Vučinić has won the Player of the Year award for record seven times.
Stefan Savić has won the award for record seven times. Most successful defensive player.
Stevan Jovetić was the youngest player awarded.
Year Player Club Position
2006 Vučinić, MirkoMirko Vučinić Italy Roma Forward
2007 Mirko Vučinić (2) Italy Roma (2) Forward
2008 Mirko Vučinić (3) Italy Roma (3) Forward
2009 Jovetić, StevanStevan Jovetić Italy Fiorentina Forward
2010 Mirko Vučinić (4) Italy Roma (4) Forward
2011 Mirko Vučinić (5) Italy Juventus Forward
2012 Mirko Vučinić (6) Italy Juventus (2) Forward
2013 Mirko Vučinić (7) Italy Juventus (3) Forward
2014 Baša, MarkoMarko Baša France Lille Defender
2015 Stevan Jovetić (2) Italy Internazionale Forward
2016 Savić, StefanStefan Savić Spain Atlético Madrid Defender
2017 Stefan Savić (2) Spain Atlético Madrid (2) Defender
2018 Stefan Savić (3) Spain Atlético Madrid (3) Defender
2019 Mugoša, StefanStefan Mugoša South Korea Incheon United Forward
2020 Stefan Savić (4) Spain Atlético Madrid (4) Defender
2021 Stefan Savić (5) Spain Atlético Madrid (5) Defender
2022 Stefan Savić (6) Spain Atlético Madrid (6) Defender
2023 Stefan Savić (7) Spain Atlético Madrid (7) Defender

Players

Rank Player Number of wins Winning years
1 Vučinić, MirkoMirko Vučinić
7
 2006—2008, 2010—2013
2 Savić, StefanStefan Savić
7
 2016—2018, 2020—2023
3 Jovetić, StevanStevan Jovetić
2
 2009, 2015
4 Baša, MarkoMarko Baša
1
 2014
Mugoša, StefanStefan Mugoša
1
 2019

2013 controversy

In 2013, Mirko Vučinić won the Montenegrin Footballer of the Year for the seventh time. However, the public opinion was that in 2013, Dejan Damjanović should have been given the award. Damjanović scored four goals in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers (two against England and one against Poland and Ukraine), was announced as the top scorer of the K-League and the MVP of the 2013 AFC Champions League. The media agreed that Vučinić was the best overall Montenegrin footballer, however, Damjanović's performances in 2013 were far better than Vučinić's, who was injured during the decisive qualification matches of the national team.[1][2] Finally, Montenegrin website CG-Fudbal awarded Damjanović "Best Montenegrin Footballer of the Year", according to a poll voted by the fans.[3]

Breakdown of winners

Winners by club nationality

Rank Club nationality Number of wins Winning years
1  Italy 9 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2013, 2015
2  Spain 6 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022
3  France 1 2014
 South Korea 1 2019

Winners by club

Rank Club Number of wins Winning years
1 Spain Atlético Madrid 6 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022
2 Italy Roma 4 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010
3 Italy Juventus 3 2011, 2012, 2013
4 Italy Fiorentina 1 2009
France Lille 1 2014
Italy Internazionale 1 2015
South Korea Incheon United 1 2019

Winners by position

Rank Position Number of wins
1 Forward 10
2 Defender 7

References

  1. ^ Bozo Jankovic. "Boske zaslužio crnogorsku zlatnu loptu". Cafe del Montenegro. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  2. ^ Danilo Mitrović, Aleksandar Radović. "Glasali po automatizmu i inerciji". Vijesti. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  3. ^ "CG fudbal: Damjanović fudbaler godine". Portal Analitika. Retrieved 26 December 2013.

External links

Montenegrin Footballer of the Year
National Men's Footballer of the Year award
Categories