The Golden Boot

Category: The Beautiful Game

The Golden Boot, now referred to as the European Golden Shoe, is an award given each season to the top goal scorer in league matches from the top division of every European national league. But how is this award decided on since some leagues are more competitive than others?

Golden Boot

Starting with the 1996/1997 season, a points system was introduced. This gave a chance for those players in a more competitive league to win the golden boot even if they scored fewer goals than a player in a less competitive league.

Goals scored in leagues ranked 1st-8th according to the UEFA coefficient are multiplied by a factor of 2. Goals scored in leagues ranked 9th-21st according to the UEFA coefficient are multiplied by a factor 1.5. Goals scored in leagues ranked 22nd and above according to the UEFA coefficient are not multiplied by a factor.

The UEFA coefficient is a system based on statistics from European competition over the past 5 seasons to rank and seed teams for both club and international competitions.

European Sports Magazine decide who is awarded the shiny golden boot. The current holder of the Golden Boot from the 2007/2008 season is Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Manchester United. He is the first winger to win the award. He is also the first player from the Manchester United team to win the award.

Winners from recent years were Francesco Totti (Roma), Luca Toni (Fiorentina), Diego Forlan (Villareal), and Thierry Henry (Arsenal). Thierry Henry and Diego Forlan were joint winners during the 2004/2005 season.