Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year facts for kids

Rashad Sadygov has won the Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year award six times, more than any other player!

The Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year award is a special prize given every year to the best football player from Azerbaijan. Imagine being chosen as the top player in your country! This award has been given out since 1991. Sports journalists from important Azerbaijani media choose the winner. Since 2009, there's also an award for the best Azerbaijani Football Goalkeeper of the Year, though it's not always given every year.

The Story of the Award

The award for the best Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year started in 1991. This was the same year the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan was created. The very first award went to Samir Alakbarov, a striker for the Azerbaijan national football team. He won it three times in a row, from 1991 to 1993.

The player who has won this award the most times is Rashad Sadygov, who was also the captain of the Azerbaijan national team. He has won it an amazing six times!

The youngest player to win the award was Vagif Javadov. He was only 20 years old when he won in 2009. On the other hand, Mahmud Gurbanov was the oldest player to win. He was 34 years old when he received the award in 2007. The award was not given out in 1995.

The first award for the Azerbaijani Football Goalkeeper of the Year was given to Kamran Agayev in 2009. He also won it again in 2011 and 2012. Both the Footballer and Goalkeeper of the Year awards are given at the end of the football season.

Winners of the Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year Award

This table shows the players who have won the Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year award over the years.

Season	Winner	Club	Runner-up	Third place
1991	Samir Alakbarov	Neftchi Baku
1992	Samir Alakbarov	Neftchi Baku
1993	Samir Alakbarov	Neftchi Baku
1994	Yunis Huseynov	Neftchi Baku
1995	Not awarded
1996	Vidadi Rzayev	Neftchi Baku
1997	Faig Jabbarov	Kapaz
1998	Yunis Huseynov	Kapaz
1999	Tarlan Ahmadov	Neftchi Baku	Zaur Tagizade	Gurban Gurbanov
2000	Emin Agayev	Torpedo-ZIL Moscow	Tarlan Ahmadov	Emin Guliyev
2001	Zaur Tagizade	Shafa Baku	Jahangir Hasanzade	Mahmud Gurbanov
2002	Samir Aliyev	Neftchi Baku	Kamal Quliyev	Tarlan Ahmadov
2003	Gurban Gurbanov	Volgar Astrakhan	Farrukh Ismayilov	Kamal Quliyev
2004	Rashad Sadygov	Neftchi Baku	Zaur Ramazanov	Emin Guliyev
2005	Rashad Sadygov	Kayserispor	Zaur Tagizade	Anatoli Ponomarev
2006	Jeyhun Sultanov	FC Baku	Farhad Veliyev	André Luiz Ladaga
2007	Mahmud Gurbanov	Inter Baku	Zaur Ramazanov	Branimir Subašić
2008	Kamran Agayev	Khazar Lankaran	Rashad Sadygov	Zaur Ramazanov
2009	Vagif Javadov	Qarabağ	Rashad Sadygov	Mahir Shukurov
2010	Rashad Sadygov	Kocaelispor	Kamran Agayev	Ruslan Abishov
2011	Rauf Aliyev	Qarabağ	Afran Ismayilov	Ruslan Abishov
2012	Ruslan Abishov	Khazar Lankaran	Javid Imamverdiyev	Vugar Nadirov
2013	Rashad Sadygov	Qarabağ	Rauf Aliyev	Kamran Agayev, Ruslan Abishov, Mahir Shukurov
2014	Gara Garayev	Qarabağ	Badavi Guseynov	Rashad Sadygov
2015	Rahid Amirguliyev	Qarabağ	Rashad Sadygov	Badavi Guseynov
2016	Rashad Sadygov	Qarabağ	Maksim Medvedev	Kamran Aghayev
2017	Rashad Sadygov	Qarabağ	Mahir Madatov	Gara Garayev
2018	Mirabdulla Abbasov	Neftchi Baku	Maksim Medvedev	Gara Garayev
2019	Emil Balayev	FC Tobol	Ramil Sheydayev	Bahlul Mustafazade
2020	Gara Garayev	Qarabağ	Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev	Namik Alaskarov
2021	Emin Mahmudov	Neftchi Baku	Mahir Emreli	Gara Garayev, Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev, Filip Ozobić
2022	Emin Mahmudov	Neftchi Baku
2023	Bəhlul Mustafazadə	Qarabağ

Players Who Won Multiple Times

Here are the players who have won the Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year award more than once:

Winners of the Azerbaijani Football Goalkeeper of the Year Award

This table lists the goalkeepers who have won the special award for best goalkeeper:

Year	Player	Club
2009	Kamran Agayev (AZE)	Khazar Lankaran
2011	Kamran Agayev (AZE)	Khazar Lankaran
2012	Kamran Agayev (AZE)	Khazar Lankaran

See also

In Spanish: Futbolista del año en Azerbaiyán para niños