BBC Goal of the Season

In English football, the Goal of the Season is an annual competition and award given on BBC's Match of the Day, in honour of the most spectacular goal scored that season. It is typically contested between the winners of the preceding ten Goals of the Month, although the goal can and has come from any game in the regular season, including international qualifiers and friendlies—potentially from the opening league games of the season to the end of the European season UEFA Champions League final. In several instances, the goal has come in the final game of the domestic season, the FA Cup Final, the most recent example of which is Steven Gerrard's last minute goal in 2006. However, in 1980–81, for example, the superb goal scored by Ricky Villa in the FA Cup Final replay for Tottenham Hotspur against Manchester City could not be considered as voting had already taken place.[1]

This article is about an English football award. For the official Premier League award, see Premier League Goal of the Season. For similar awards, see Goal of the Season (disambiguation).

In general, the winning goal has occurred for an English side within the domestic English league or cups, although there are no particular rules; Kenny Dalglish's goal in 1982–83 for Scotland being an exception. The goal usually comes from competitions to which the BBC holds television rights and which are shown under the Match of the Day banner; at present Premier League highlights and FA Cup live matches and highlights, although some have come from the equivalent Sportscene broadcast by BBC Scotland. Due to the lack of BBC European club football coverage, held predominantly by ITV, Sky and BT Sport, no goal of the season has ever been scored in European club competition despite many contenders.

Due to a transfer of broadcast rights, the entries for the 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons were decided on ITV's The Premiership, which have been subsequently recognised by the BBC. When the BBC previously could not show league footage from 1988–89 to 1991–92, the winning goal in each season was scored in the FA Cup which they held the rights to. League rights holder ITV had its own competition during these seasons for Goal of the Season, broadcast on the Saint and Greavsie show. Previously the channels had shared league and cup rights (showing different matches to each other) and for many years ITV broadcast its own Golden Goals competition as an equivalent of Goal of the Season. From 2013–14 season onwards, the Goal of the Season has been chosen by a Twitter poll and the BBC Sport website. Jack Wilshere is the first player to win Goal of the Season in consecutive seasons (2013–14 and 2014–15) since the start of the Premier League.[2] and is only the second player overall to have achieved this after John Aldridge, who won the award in both 1987–88 and 1988–89 (which pre-dated the Premier League era) seasons. The 1987–88 competition was unique in that all 10 goals shortlisted were scored by Liverpool players.[3] As of 2018–19, this is the only occasion where the contenders were made up entirely of goals scored by players for one club.

For several years in the late 2000s, the winner was not subject to public vote due to the 2007 phone-in scandals. The winning goal was instead decided by pundits in the studio.

List of winners
Source[4]
Season Scorer Nationality For Against Stadium Competition Date Commentator Notes
1970–71 Ernie Hunt  England Coventry City Everton Highfield Road First Division 3 October 1970 Barry Davies [5]
1971–72 Ronnie Radford  England Hereford United Newcastle United Edgar Street FA Cup 5 February 1972 John Motson [6]
1972–73 Peter Osgood  England Chelsea Arsenal Stamford Bridge FA Cup 17 March 1973 David Coleman
1973–74 Alan Mullery  England Fulham Leicester City Craven Cottage FA Cup 26 January 1974 John Motson [7]
1974–75 Mickey Walsh  Ireland Blackpool Sunderland Bloomfield Road Second Division 1 February 1975 Barry Davies [8]
1975–76 Gerry Francis  England Queens Park Rangers Liverpool Loftus Road First Division 16 August 1975 John Motson [9]
1976–77 Terry McDermott  England Liverpool Everton Maine Road FA Cup 23 April 1977 John Motson [10]
1977–78 Archie Gemmill  Scotland Nottingham Forest Arsenal City Ground First Division 21 January 1978 David Coleman
1978–79 Ray Kennedy  England Liverpool Derby County Baseball Ground First Division 24 February 1979 John Motson
1979–80 Justin Fashanu  England Norwich City Liverpool Carrow Road First Division 9 February 1980 Barry Davies [11]
1980–81 Tony Morley  England Aston Villa Everton Goodison Park First Division 7 February 1981 John Motson [12]
1981–82 Cyrille Regis  England West Bromwich Albion Norwich City The Hawthorns FA Cup 13 February 1982 Alan Parry [13][14]
1982–83 Kenny Dalglish  Scotland Scotland Belgium Heysel Stadium, Brussels Euro 1984 qualifying 15 December 1982 Tony Gubba [15]
1983–84 Danny Wallace  England Southampton Liverpool The Dell First Division 16 March 1984 Barry Davies [16]
1984–85 Graeme Sharp  Scotland Everton Liverpool Anfield First Division 20 October 1984 John Motson [17]
1985–86 Bryan Robson  England England Israel Tel Aviv Friendly 26 February 1986 Barry Davies [15]
1986–87 Keith Houchen  England Coventry City Tottenham Hotspur Wembley Stadium FA Cup 16 May 1987 John Motson [15]
1987–88 John Aldridge  Ireland Liverpool Nottingham Forest Hillsborough FA Cup 9 April 1988 John Motson [15]
1988–89 John Aldridge  Ireland Liverpool Everton Wembley Stadium FA Cup 20 May 1989 John Motson [15]
1989–90 Ian Wright  England Crystal Palace Manchester United Wembley Stadium FA Cup 12 May 1990 John Motson
1990–91 Paul Gascoigne  England Tottenham Hotspur Arsenal Wembley Stadium FA Cup 14 April 1991 Barry Davies
1991–92 Mickey Thomas  Wales Wrexham Arsenal Racecourse Ground FA Cup 4 January 1992 Tony Gubba [18]
1992–93 Dalian Atkinson  England Aston Villa Wimbledon Selhurst Park Premier League 3 October 1992 Clive Tyldesley [19]
1993–94 Rod Wallace  England Leeds United Tottenham Hotspur Elland Road Premier League 17 April 1994 Gerald Sinstadt [20]
1994–95 Matthew Le Tissier  England Southampton Blackburn Rovers Ewood Park Premier League 10 December 1994 Clive Tyldesley [21][22]
1995–96 Tony Yeboah  Ghana Leeds United Wimbledon Selhurst Park Premier League 23 September 1995 Barry Davies [20]
1996–97 Trevor Sinclair  England Queens Park Rangers Barnsley Loftus Road FA Cup 25 January 1997 John Motson [9]
1997–98 Dennis Bergkamp  Netherlands Arsenal Leicester City Filbert Street Premier League 27 August 1997 Tony Gubba [23]
1998–99 Ryan Giggs  Wales Manchester United Arsenal Villa Park FA Cup 14 April 1999 Jon Champion [23]
1999–2000 Paolo Di Canio  Italy West Ham United Wimbledon Upton Park Premier League 26 March 2000 Simon Brotherton [24]
2000–01 Shaun Bartlett  South Africa Charlton Athletic Leicester City The Valley Premier League 1 April 2001 Jon Champion [25]
2001–02 Dennis Bergkamp  Netherlands Arsenal Newcastle United St James' Park Premier League 2 March 2002 Guy Mowbray [19]
2002–03 Thierry Henry  France Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur Highbury Premier League 16 November 2002 Clive Tyldesley [26]
2003–04 Dietmar Hamann  Germany Liverpool Portsmouth Anfield Premier League 17 March 2004 Clive Tyldesley [27]
2004–05 Wayne Rooney  England Manchester United Middlesbrough Old Trafford FA Cup 29 January 2005 John Motson [28]
2005–06 Steven Gerrard  England Liverpool West Ham United Millennium Stadium FA Cup 13 May 2006 John Motson [29]
2006–07 Wayne Rooney  England Manchester United Bolton Wanderers Old Trafford Premier League 17 March 2007 Steve Wilson [30]
2007–08 Emmanuel Adebayor  Togo Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur White Hart Lane Premier League 15 September 2007 John Motson [31]
2008–09 Glen Johnson  England Portsmouth Hull City Fratton Park Premier League 22 November 2008 Simon Brotherton [32]
2009–10 Maynor Figueroa  Honduras Wigan Athletic Stoke City Britannia Stadium Premier League 12 December 2009 Tony Gubba [33]
2010–11 Wayne Rooney  England Manchester United Manchester City Old Trafford Premier League 12 February 2011 Steve Wilson [34]
2011–12 Papiss Cissé  Senegal Newcastle United Chelsea Stamford Bridge Premier League 2 May 2012 Steve Wilson [35]
2012–13 Robin van Persie  Netherlands Manchester United Aston Villa Old Trafford Premier League 22 April 2013 Guy Mowbray [4]
2013–14 Jack Wilshere  England Arsenal Norwich City Emirates Stadium Premier League 19 October 2013 Jonathan Pearce [36]
2014–15 Jack Wilshere  England Arsenal West Bromwich Albion Emirates Stadium Premier League 24 May 2015 John Motson [4]
2015–16 Dele Alli  England Tottenham Hotspur Crystal Palace Selhurst Park Premier League 23 January 2016 Alan Green [37]
2016–17 Emre Can  Germany Liverpool Watford Vicarage Road Premier League 1 May 2017 Martin Fisher [38]
2017–18 Jamie Vardy  England Leicester City West Bromwich Albion The Hawthorns Premier League 10 March 2018 John Roder [39]
2018–19 Vincent Kompany  Belgium Manchester City Leicester City Etihad Stadium Premier League 6 May 2019 Steve Wilson [40]
2019–20 Son Heung-min  South Korea Tottenham Hotspur Burnley Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Premier League 7 December 2019 Guy Mowbray

2014–15 Goal of the Season controversy

On 24 May 2015, the final day of the 2014–15 season, Match of the Day held an online vote at around 11 pm GMT for the Goal of the Season award. Users were able to vote via the BBC website or Twitter. The poll was quickly skewed by Arsenal supporters, many from the Far East, resulting in Jack Wilshere winning the award for his final day strike against West Bromwich Albion, despite not being the favourite.[41] Host Gary Lineker expressed surprise as he read out the winner, and pundit Alan Shearer suggested that Charlie Adam should have won the award for his 66-yard effort against Chelsea, while fellow pundit Danny Murphy felt former Fulham teammate Bobby Zamora should have won.

The incident was labelled a "shambles" by Pete Smith of The Stoke Sentinel[42] who also thought Stoke's Adam should have won, and a "concerted campaign by Arsenal fans" by Alan Pattullo of The Scotsman,[43] who also felt the Scottish midfielder was deserving of the award. Mark Brus, of Caught Offside, also criticized the choice arguing that a goal in a meaningless game should not have won Goal of the Season and that Juan Mata's acrobatic effort against Liverpool was worthy of the award.[44]

The following season, before the final episode of that season's Match of the Day, the programme's producers changed the rules to prevent a similar situation. The Goal of the Season award has since been decided by the pundits on the show, who will choose the winner based on the top three goals voted for by the public.[45]

References
  1. Match of the Day: 25 Years of Goal of the Season video (1995, voiced by John Motson)
  2. "MOTD Live Poll". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  3. cestrian81 (17 October 2011), Goal of the Season contenders (1987–88), retrieved 17 August 2016
  4. "BBC Goal of the Season from 1970–71 to Present". My Football Facts. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  5. Murray, Scott (28 January 2011). "The Joy of Six: Training-ground set-piece goals". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  6. Motson (2005), p. 19.
  7. "Top five thunderbolt strikes of all time". The Telegraph. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  8. Bradford (2006), p. 480.
  9. "Vote for your greatest QPR goal!". Queens Park Rangers. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  10. Motson (2010), p. 91.
  11. Clough (2009), p. 231.
  12. "Villa's Fab 50 top player countdown: 21 Tony Morley". Aston Villa. 5 July 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  13. Lepkowski, Chris (15 January 2008). "Albion legends – Cyrille Regis". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  14. "Cyrille Regis: An Iconic Footballer Tells His Story". Cross Rhythms. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  15. Pye, Steven (9 September 2014). "The 10 goals of the season in the 1980s". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  16. Smyth, Rob (14 April 2011). "FA Cup semi crackers, great cricket spats and the best BMX stunt ever". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  17. Macdonald, Neil (27 September 2011). "Mersey Derby Memories: Graeme Sharp's screamer gives Everton FC Anfield victory in 1984". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  18. Auclair (2009), p. 203.
  19. "Was it too early to be Goal of the Season?". Daily Mirror. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
  20. Edwards (2011), p. 45.
  21. Le Tisser (2009), p. 117.
  22. White, Jim (10 June 1995). "Matthew Le Tissier, you will not be surprised to hear, is a useful golfer. And he is getting plenty of practice just now". The Independent. London. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  23. "Ask Albert – Number 8". BBC Sport. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  24. "Swindon Town confirm Paolo di Canio as new manager". BBC Sport. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  25. "Bartlett wins Goal of the Season". BBC Sport. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  26. "Champions League Special: Thierry Henry's Top 10 Greatest Moments For Arsenal". Goal.com. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  27. "Goal of the Season 2003/04 Premiership ITV Goal 8".
  28. "Goal of the season". BBC Sport. 31 May 2005. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  29. "Goal of the season". BBC Sport. 31 May 2006. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  30. "Goal of the season". BBC Sport. 6 June 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  31. "Goal of the season". BBC Sport. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  32. "Goal of the season". BBC Sport. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  33. "Fig gets goal gong". Wigan Today. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  34. "Lionel Messi, Wayne Rooney and Neymar shortlisted for Fifa Puskas Award for goal of the year". The Telegraph. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  35. @BBCSport (14 May 2012). "Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer choose Papiss Cisse's goal for Newcastle against Chelsea as @BBCMOTD's goal of the season" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 May 2012 – via Twitter.
  36. "Wilshere goal voted best of 2013/14 Barclays Premier League season". Premier League. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  37. "Dele wins Match of the Day's Goal of the Season". Tottenham Hotspur. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  38. Walker, Ed (22 May 2017). "Liverpool's Emre Can wonder goal against Watford is officially THE Goal of the Season". Liverpool ECHO. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  39. Blackwell, Jordan (14 May 2018). "Jamie Vardy wins Match of the Day's goal of the season – how fans reacted". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  40. "Match of the Day on Twitter". BBC. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  41. Simon Rice (25 May 2015). "Jack Wilshere wins Match of the Day Goal of the Season award after Arsenal fans hijack vote". The Independent.
  42. Pete Smith (26 May 2015). "Stoke City: Charlie Adam denied goal of the season by Arsenal fans in MOTD shambles". The Stoke Sentinel.
  43. Alan Pattulo (26 May 2015). "Arsenal fans rob Charlie Adam of goal of the season". The Scotsman.
  44. Mark Brus (25 May 2015). "Wilshere goal of the season: Meaningless Arsenal goal should not have won ahead of this Manchester United". Caught Offside.
  45. Sean Kearns (14 May 2016). "Match of the Day change rules on goal of the season award to stop Arsenal fans from hijacking vote". Metro.
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