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The Premier League Golden Boot is awarded to the player with the most goals at the end of the season
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Thierry Henry has won a record four Premier League Golden Boot awards, though England striker Harry Kane has three trophies to his name
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Read up on the Premier League Golden Boot history and past winners here
Presented to the player with the most goals at the end of a Premier League season, the Golden Boot award is one of the most prestigious accolades in English football.
Punters often place football bets on the top goal scorer award throughout the campaign and the race for the Golden Boot offers added competition between strikers.
The award was first introduced in the inaugural Premier League season in 1992/93 and it is widely regarded as an elite individual award.
Now sponsored by Castrol, the Premier League Golden Boot can be shared if players finish level on the same number of goals – with an award for each player.
As of April 2024, Thierry Henry is in the Premier League records book for winning the most Golden Boot awards but the likes of Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane are not far off the Frenchman's tally.
Who will claim the Premier League Golden Boot award this season? Only time will tell but for now, let’s take a look at the history of the award…
EPL Golden Boot History
What is the Premier League Golden Boot award? Presented to the leading goal scorer in the top flight of English football, the Golden Boot is an annual award for the league’s top scorer.
For a period of time, Golden Boot winners were given £1000 for each goal scored to donate to a charity of choice – though it is unknown whether this bonus is still in place.
Back in 2012/13, Robin van Persie was awarded £30,000 by sponsors Barclays after scoring 26 goals.
Premier League Golden Boot Sponsors
The Golden Boot award has had several different sponsors over the years, though every new sponsor has kept the ‘Golden Boot’ term in the award name.
Here, you can see how the Golden Boot award has evolved over the years – starting with the first sponsored award in 1994.
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Carling Golden Boot – 1994 to 2001
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Barclaycard Golden Boot – 2002 to 2004
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Barclays Golden Boot – 2005 to 2016
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Cadbury Golden Boot – 2017 to 2020
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Coca Cola Zero Sugar Golden Boot – 2021
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Castrol Golden Boot – 2022 to present
Premier League Golden Boot Records
Winning the Golden Boot is the pinnacle of many careers. While some go on to lift every trophy in the sport, others are primarily remembered for their goalscoring exploits.
Take Harry Kane and Alan Shearer for example. Their trophy cabinets are bare but Kane and Shearer will go down in history as two of the greatest Premier League strikers.
Here, we look at some of the most important Premier League Golden Boot statistics, facts and records.
Who Has Won The Most Premier League Golden Boots?
As mentioned earlier, Thierry Henry is the most successful player in Premier League history when it comes to winning the Golden Boot award.
A leading figure in betting odds during his tenure at the club, Henry is one of two players to win the award three years in a row – with Alan Shearer being the other.
Incredibly, Thierry Henry won the Premier Golden Boot four times in the space of five years between 2001/02 and 2005/06.
The Arsenal legend fell just one goal short of Ruud van Nistelrooy’s tally of 25 goals in the 2002/03 season to deny him five successive Golden Boots.
Most Goals In A Premier League Season
This is a slightly controversial question as there are two answers depending on the length of Premier League season – with the reduction to 20 teams as of the 1995/96 season.
Prior to that, there were 22 clubs in England’s top flight and each team played 42 matches in a season. Naturally, this gave forwards a greater chance of scoring more goals…
In terms of the previous format, Andy Cole and Alan Shearer are tied with 34 goals scored in a 42-game season.
Cole was awarded the Premier League Golden Boot for his goals in 1993/94 while Shearer matched that tally the following season.
In terms of the 38-game season, Mohamed Salah was the best performing Premier League Golden Boot winner with 32 goals in the 2017/18 campaign before Erling Haaland came along in 2022/23.
The Norway striker eclipsed that tally, notching a sensational 36 goals in 35 league games to notch the record in his first season in English football.
Nationality Of Golden Boot Winners
While the likes of Mo Salah, Robin van Persie and Thierry Henry have won multiple Premier League Golden Boots, England are still miles clear in this category.
In fact, English players have won the Premier League Golden Boot award a record 14 times – nine clear of The Netherlands and France.
English players won the Premier League Golden Boot in each of the first nine seasons since the award was created, with Dwight Yorke bucking that trend in 1998/99.
Club With Most Golden Boot Awards
Arsenal and Liverpool are the most successful clubs when it comes to winning the Premier League Golden Boot award, with six apiece.
Thierry Henry (4), Robin van Persie and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have won the Golden Boot at Arsenal while Michael Owen (2), Mohamed Salah (2), Luis Suarez and Sadio Mane have won the trophy while playing for Liverpool.
Manchester United are next up with five Golden Boot winners. You won’t find many punters looking to back the Red Devils strikers in Premier League predictions on current form…
Premier League Golden Boot Winners List
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1992/93 - Teddy Sheringham (22*)
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1993/94 - Andrew Cole (34*)
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1994/95 - Alan Shearer (34*)
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1995/96 - Alan Shearer (31)
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1996/97 - Alan Shearer (25)
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1997/98 - Dion Dublin / Michael Owen / Chris Sutton (18)
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1998/99 - Michael Owen / Dwight Yorke / Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (18)
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1999/00 - Kevin Phillips (30)
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2000/01 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (23)
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2001/02 - Thierry Henry (24)
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2002/03 - Ruud van Nistelrooy (25)
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2003/04 - Thierry Henry (30)
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2004/05 - Thierry Henry (25)
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2005/06 - Thierry Henry (27)
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2006/07 - Didier Drogba (20)
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2007/08 - Cristiano Ronaldo (31)
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2008/09 - Nicolas Anelka (19)
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2009/10 - Didier Drogba (29)
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2010/11 - Carlos Tevez / Dimitar Berbatov (20)
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2011/12 - Robin van Persie (30)
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2012/13 - Robin van Persie (26)
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2013/14 - Luis Suarez (31)
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2014/15 - Sergio Aguero (26)
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2015/16 - Harry Kane (25)
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2016/17 - Harry Kane (29)
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2017/18 - Mohamed Salah (32)
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2018/19 - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang / Sadio Mane / Mohamed Salah (22)
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2019/20 - Jamie Vardy (23)
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2020/21 - Harry Kane (23)
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2021/22 - Mohamed Salah / Heung-min Son (23)
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2022/23 - Erling Haaland (36)
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2023/24 - Erling Haaland (27)
*42 game Premier League season
*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
