Footballers PFA Award: The PFA Player’s Player of the Year award remains the ultimate Premier League individual honour a player yearns for.
This individual honour is won by the certain athlete who out performs himself and his compatriots in the season and is supported by them as well.
When one’s compatriots recognize your success as the best across the season, it’s giving that achiever a sense of respect and responsibility.
Hence, this title is appreciative of how one has performed throughout the season and how much more has he/she done to take their club to the next level.
While some have won this honour once in their established careers, there are others who have done repeated this feat and are recognized.
This recognition of achieving the feat twice puts one into an elite category and today we talk about this panel of greats in the Premier League.
Without further ado, let’s look at the top 5 footballers who have won the PFA Player’s Player of the Year Award twice.
Gareth Bale
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One of White Hart Lane’s greats and Premier League royalty, Gareth Bale won this prestigious award twice in 2010/11 and 2012/13.
It was a surprise in 2011 given that Bale did not manage to reach double figures in goals or assists but the youngster was proving to be ever impressive.
Bale scored 7 goals and provided a sole assist in 30 EPL matches that season, helping Spurs finish 5th and qualify for the Europa League play-off rounds.
In the 2012/13 season, Bale once again dazzled and enjoyed his best Premier League returns as the Welshman scored 21 goals in 33 matches.
He was the wizard for Tottenham and the EPL 3rd highest scorer that season; enjoying a raft of awards and individual honors for that mesmerizing season.
Spurs managed a 5th place finish in 2013 as well before the Welshman shifted base to Real Madrid for whom he signed.
In those 2 EPL seasons, Bale showed promise as a youngster and experience player on how things were done the Bale way.
The heart-shape celebration remains a visual for Spurs fan as they remember Gareth Bale.
Thierry Henry
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Henry managed to win this award twice in successive seasons, entering him into the pantheon of greats (2002/03 and 2003/04).
He scored 24 goals and set up 25 goals to enjoy a maddening 2002-03 season but couldn’t help Arsenal to the summit as they finished 2nd.
However, for his emphatic contribution of 49 goals + assists; Henry walked home with his first PFA award for that season.
In the following season, Arsenal managed to lift the Premier League title without losing a single game and Henry was once again at the center of it.
The Frenchman scored 30 goals and provided 9 assists in Arsenal’s record-breaking EPL season to help the Gunners register a first Golden Trophy.
Arsenal was given this special honour for going through an entire season without facing defeat and were termed ‘The Invincibles’.
This shattering season from Henry ensured he lifted a 2nd PFA Player’s Player of the Year award.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese has almost every record in the book and this is a small part of the innumerable ones he holds.
Ronaldo won the PFA award twice during his first spell at Manchester United in successive seasons (2006-07 and 2007-08).
Cristiano scored 17 goals and provided 16 assists to end up as United’s main threat in the 2007 season as the Red Devils lifted the EPL title.
In the next season, Ronaldo continued where he left off by scoring 31 goals and setting up 7 to help United win successive League titles.
The young Ronaldo is a visual which all football fans remember and young footballers use as a stepping stone for success.
Exactly 15 years ago today:
Cristiano Ronaldo won two awards from the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) -“Best Player and Best Young Player” of the 2006/07 Premier League season.
🔥 🐐 pic.twitter.com/tZTR7mHSHQ
— Team Cristiano Ronaldo Tz (@CR7_Fan_pageTz) April 22, 2022
Such was the maverick and brilliance of the Portuguese during his first spell at Manchester that he ended up winning the PFA award successively.
Kevin De Bruyne
The Belgian play-maker is another one who has won the honour twice with Manchester City in successive seasons (2020 and 2021).
With 13 goals and 20 assists, De Bruyne made the 2020 season his own despite the stoppage in season due to the pandemic.
This did not deter Kevin’s progress as he used his relentless energy and creativity to ensure a magnificent EPL season personally.
In 2019/20, Kevin De Bruyne equalled Thierry Henry’s record of most Premier League assists in a season with 20.
He also set a new record of most chances created in a single season with 136.
Already Premier League Player of the Season, will he be crowned PFA Player of the Year? pic.twitter.com/Ua5OWK5Zbl
— Squawka (@Squawka) September 4, 2020
In the following season, De Bruyne ended up with 18 goal contributions which helped City to their 3rd EPL title in 4 seasons.
Since his arrival in 2015, no player has made more of an impact for the club than Kevin. The creative and versatile wizard stands alongside Sergio Aguero as legends of the club.
While the latter has left, Kevin continues to mesmerize the fans world over with his vision, temperament and class across the pitch.
The two seasons saw Kevin de Bruyne take home this individual honour making him 6th player to join the list.
Mohamed Salah
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Mohamed Salah won this honour in 2018 and 2022 as he continued to be Liverpool’s nemesis in the Premier League.
Salah won the PFA award for the first time in his debut season for the Reds as he ended up with figures of 32 goals and 10 assists.
It took the Egyptian another 4 seasons before he managed to scoop up the award for the 2nd time.
In the recently concluded season, Salah finished with 23 goals and 13 assists as Liverpool finished runners-up in the Premier League.
