Rec.Sport.Soccer
Statistics Foundation
(RSSSF)
Available inEnglish
Created by
  • Lars Aarhus
  • Kent Hedlundh
  • Karel Stokkermans
URLrsssf.org
LaunchedJanuary 1994; 29 years ago (1994-01), as Northern European Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (NERSSSF)
Current statusActive

The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football.[1] The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the world.

History

This enterprise, according to its founders, was created in January 1994[2] by three regulars of the Rec.Sport.Soccer (RSS) Usenet newsgroup: Lars Aarhus, Kent Hedlundh, and Karel Stokkermans. It was originally known as the "North European Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation", but the geographical reference was dropped as its membership from other regions grew.[citation needed]

The RSSSF has members and contributors from all around the world and has spawned seven spin-off projects to more closely follow the leagues of that project's home country. The spin-off projects are dedicated to Albania, Brazil, Denmark, Norway, Romania, Uruguay, Venezuela and Egypt.[citation needed] In November 2002, the Polish service 90minut.pl became the official branch of RSSSF Poland.[3]

Reception

RSSSF's database has been described as the "very best" for football data.[2][4][who?]

Rec.Sport.Soccer Player of the Year

Since 1992 a vote for the Best Footballer in the World among the readers of the rec.sport.soccer newsgroup. It was held yearly until 2005, when it was discontinued. The voting works as follows: each voter chooses five players, at most two of the same nationality, in order; these obtain five to one points. The nationality restriction was dropped for the 2003 vote, in which voting was restricted to 173 pre-selected players.[5]

Year Rank Player Team Votes
1992[6] 1st Netherlands Marco van Basten Italy AC Milan 207
2nd Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov Spain Barcelona 87
3rd Denmark Peter Schmeichel England Manchester United 62
1993[7] 1st Italy Roberto Baggio Italy Juventus 407
2nd Brazil Romário Spain Barcelona 295
3rd Netherlands Dennis Bergkamp Italy Inter Milan 178
1994[8] 1st Brazil Romário Spain Barcelona 269
2nd Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov Spain Barcelona 254
3rd Italy Paolo Maldini Italy AC Milan 158
1995[9] 1st Liberia George Weah Italy AC Milan 153
2nd Italy Paolo Maldini Italy AC Milan 102
3rd Netherlands Patrick Kluivert Netherlands Ajax 88
1996[10] 1st Brazil Ronaldo Spain Barcelona 348
2nd England Alan Shearer England Newcastle United 241
3rd Germany Matthias Sammer Germany Borussia Dortmund 215
1997[11] 1st Brazil Ronaldo Italy Inter Milan 276
2nd France Zinedine Zidane Italy Juventus 129
3rd Argentina Gabriel Batistuta Italy Fiorentina 75
1998[12] 1st France Zinedine Zidane Italy Juventus 335
2nd Argentina Gabriel Batistuta Italy Fiorentina 175
3rd France Lilian Thuram Italy Parma 136
1999[13] 1st Brazil Rivaldo Spain Barcelona 536
2nd England David Beckham England Manchester United 313
3rd Ukraine Andriy Shevchenko Italy AC Milan 186
2000[14] 1st Portugal Luís Figo Spain Real Madrid 648
2nd France Zinedine Zidane Italy Juventus 535
3rd Brazil Rivaldo Spain Barcelona 272
2001[15] 1st England Michael Owen England Liverpool 288
2nd Portugal Luís Figo Spain Real Madrid 234
3rd Spain Raúl Spain Real Madrid 216
2002[16] 1st Brazil Ronaldo Spain Real Madrid 447
2nd Brazil Roberto Carlos Spain Real Madrid 371
3rd France Zinedine Zidane Spain Real Madrid 341
2003[17] 1st Czech Republic Pavel Nedvěd Italy Juventus 818
2nd France Thierry Henry England Arsenal 540
3rd France Zinedine Zidane Spain Real Madrid 350
2004[18] 1st Brazil Ronaldinho Spain Barcelona 437
2nd Ukraine Andriy Shevchenko Italy AC Milan 329
3rd Portugal Deco Spain Barcelona 297
2005[19] 1st Brazil Ronaldinho Spain Barcelona 482
2nd England Frank Lampard England Chelsea 281
3rd England Steven Gerrard England Liverpool 191

Wins by player

# Player Winner
1 Brazil Ronaldo 3 (1996, 1997, 2002)
2 Brazil Ronaldinho 2 (2004, 2005)
3 France Zinedine Zidane 1 (1998)
4 Brazil Romário 1 (1994)
Portugal Luís Figo 1 (2000)
6 Brazil Rivaldo 1 (1999)
7 Netherlands Marco van Basten 1 (1992)
Italy Roberto Baggio 1 (1993)
Liberia George Weah 1 (1995)
England Michael Owen 1 (2001)
Czech Republic Pavel Nedvěd 1 (2003)

Wins by country

# Country Winner
1  Brazil 7
2  France 1
 England
 Portugal
 Italy
 Netherlands
 Liberia
 Czech Republic

Wins by club

# Club Winner
1 Spain FC Barcelona 5
2 Italy Juventus 3
3 Spain Real Madrid 2
Italy AC Milan
5 Italy Inter Milan 1
England Liverpool

References

  1. ^ "The Introduction Page of the RSSSF – The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b Loek Groot (25 January 2008). Economics, Uncertainty and European Football: Trends in Competitive Balance. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-78100-823-2. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  3. ^ "O stronie". www.90minut.pl. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  4. ^ Richard Witzig (2006). The Global Art of Soccer. CusiBoy Publishing. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-9776688-0-9. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year Award". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1992". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1993". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1994". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1995". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1996". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1997". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  12. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1998". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1999". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2000". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2001". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2002". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2003". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2004". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  19. ^ "Call For Votes – Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2005". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.

Bibliography

External links

Association football
Authority control databases
Categories