The Premier League Golden Boot is an annual
association football award presented to the leading goalscorer in the
Premier League. For sponsorship purposes, it was called the
Carling Golden Boot from 1994 to 2001, the
Barclaycard Golden Boot from 2002 to 2004, the
Barclays Golden Boot from 2005 to 2016, the
Cadbury Golden Boot from 2017 to 2020,[1][2] and the
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Golden Boot for 2021. Since 2022, it is referred to as the
Castrol Golden Boot. In addition to the trophy, winners of the Golden Boot are usually given
£1,000 for every goal they scored throughout the season to donate to a charity of their choice,[3][4] although
Robin van Persie was given £30,000 after scoring 26 goals in the
2012–13 season.[5][6]
The Premier League was founded in 1992, when the clubs of the
First Division left
the Football League and established a new commercially independent league that negotiated its own broadcast and sponsorship agreements.[2] The newly formed league had no
sponsor for its
inaugural season until Carling agreed to a four-year £12 million deal that started the
following season,[7] and it was simply known as the Premier League in its first year.[2] As a result, the award was called the "Premier League Golden Boot" when
Teddy Sheringham received the inaugural award in 1993.[8] Originally consisting of 22 teams, the league contracted to 20 teams after the
1994–95 season; this reduced the number of games played from 42 to 38.[2]
Haaland scored the most goals to win the Golden Boot, with 36 in
2022–23.[14] With 35 games played in the season, he also recorded the highest goals-to-games ratio to win the award, of 1.03.
Nicolas Anelka scored the fewest goals to clinch the award outright, with 19 goals in
2008–09.[8] The all-time record for lowest number of goals scored to be bestowed the award, however, is 18 goals; this was achieved during the
1997–98 and
1998–99 seasons, when the award was shared between three players both times.[15] The latter season marked the last time the Golden Boot was shared until
2010–11,[16] when
Dimitar Berbatov and
Carlos Tevez both scored 20 goals that season to tie for the award.[17] Since then, the award was shared two more times: in
2018–19 (by three players) and in
2021–22 (two players). The Premier League Golden Boot is currently held by Erling Haaland with 27 goals.
Winners
Key
Player (X)
Name of the player and number of times they had won the award at that point (if more than one)
Games
The number of
Premier League games played by the winner that season[A]
Rate
The winner's goals-to-games ratio that season
†
Indicates multiple award winners in the same season
^This does not necessarily match the total number of games in a season.
^From the
1995–96 season onwards, the Premier League was reduced from 22 teams to 20,[18] thus reducing the number of games in a league season from 42 to 38.
^Arsenal's official website incorrectly lists Van Persie as having played 37 games in the 2011–12 season. He played all 38 games, as confirmed by the
Premier League.[30]