In association football, the Belgian Golden Shoe (Dutch: Gouden Schoen, French: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of the Belgian Pro League for the past year. The trophy is sponsored by the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
The voters are a selection of Belgian press specialists and football personalities. They are invited to vote for the best player of the competition for both half seasons (previous season second half and current season first half) and each get to submit a top three, scoring 3, 2 and 1 point respectively. As a result, a player can receive all of his votes in one half season (e.g. if he joined the championship from abroad during summer), or he can receive votes for matches with two (or more) different teams, as with Philippe Albert in 1992 and Mbark Boussoufa in 2006.
Paul Van Himst has collected 4 Belgian Golden Shoes which is the current record. Jan Ceulemans and Wilfried Van Moer have both won the trophy three times. The first foreigner to win the trophy was the Dutchman Johan Boskamp, especially for his excellence during the second half of the 1974–75 season, when his club, RWDM (currently defunct), won its first and only championship title. The only foreigners who have won the award more than once are the Swede Pär Zetterberg and the Moroccan Mbark Boussoufa. In 2011, Argentinian Matías Suárez became the first South American to be awarded the Golden Shoe.
From 2000, an award was also given to the best Belgian footballer abroad, although this award was not handed out in certain years, specifically from 2003 to 2007 and 2010 to 2011. Since 2013, the best coach, best goalkeeper, and best youngster awards have also been handed out. Finally, in 2016, Tessa Wullaert was awarded the first-ever Golden Shoe for women football players. Contrary to the men's award which is awarded to the best player in Belgium, the women's award goes to the best Belgian footballer, playing either in Belgium or abroad.
and 23 Related for: Belgian Golden Shoe information
In association football, the BelgianGoldenShoe (Dutch: Gouden Schoen, French: Soulier d'Or) is an award given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil...
Cup GoldenShoe, FIFA Club World Cup award for top goalscorer of tournament BelgianGoldenShoe, awarded to the best football player in Belgian Pro League...
The European GoldenShoe, also known as European Golden Boot, is an award that is presented each season to the leading goalscorer in league matches from...
players are elected for BelgianGoldenShoe awards, the highest awards a player can receive in Belgian competitions, but also for Belgian professional football...
to Belgium, where he became the Belgian First Division top scorer with Lokeren. He won the league championship twice with Anderlecht and the Belgian Golden...
league title and the Belgian Supercup. On 16 January 2019, Vanaken won the BelgianGoldenShoe award after having won the Belgian Professional Footballer...
2008 Belgium FIFA Fair Play Trophy: 2002 World Cup Individual Man of the Season (Belgian First Division): 2000–01 BelgianGoldenShoe: 2002 Belgian Professional...
several prizes in 2006: BelgianGoldenShoe, Belgian Footballer of the Year, Belgian Young Footballer of the Year and Belgian Ebony Shoe. In June 2006, Boussoufa...
forward and four-time BelgianGoldenShoe Paul Van Himst, later elected Belgian UEFA Golden Player of 1954–2003 and Belgium's Player of the Century by...
Wilfried van Moer (1 March 1945 – 24 August 2021) was a Belgian footballer who won the BelgianGoldenShoe three times, first in 1966 while at Antwerp then in...
Zulte Waregem, where he was awarded the BelgianGoldenShoe in January 2014, for the best footballer in the Belgian Pro League, and the prize for best professional...
ultimate club icon, Van Himst holds the record of four BelgianGoldenShoe awards and was named best "Belgian footballer of the twentieth century". Van Himst...
2020–21 Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 2020–21 BelgianGoldenShoe: 2021 Belgian First Division A Team of the Year: 2020–21 Ebony Shoe: 2021...
42 goals while winning five domestic trophies. He was awarded the BelgianGoldenShoe in 2008. After a season in Portugal with Benfica, he signed for Zenit...
1989–2017 (96 caps) World Soccer Magazine World XI: 1990 Belgian Sports Merit Award: 1990 BelgianGoldenShoe of the 20th Century (2nd place): 1995 Voetbal International's...
physician and surgeon Odilon Polleunis (1943–2023), Belgian football player, winner of the BelgianGoldenShoe Odilon Redon (1840–1916), French painter and printmaker...
rewarded at a ceremony on 14 January 2015 where Praet won the 2014 BelgianGoldenShoe, the annual award given to the best player in the Jupiler Pro League...
was a Belgian footballer who won the BelgianGoldenShoe in 1968 while at Sint-Truiden. He played 22 matches and scored 10 goals for the Belgium national...
Christian Piot (born 4 October 1947) is a Belgian retired football goalkeeper who won the BelgianGoldenShoe in 1972 while at Standard Liège. He played...
Julien Cools (born 13 February 1947) is a Belgian former footballer who won the BelgianGoldenShoe in 1977 while at Club Brugge. He was discovered as...
2022–23 Belgian Super Cup: 2023 Individual Belgian Professional Manager of the Season: 2022–23 BelgianGoldenShoe - Coach of the year: 2023 "FIFA World Cup...
Global Information
Toby Alderweireld