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A-League Men Young Footballer of the Year

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This article is about the best young player award in the Australian premier men's association football league. For the equivalent award in the women's league of the same name, see A-League Women Young Footballer of the Year.
Marco Rojas is the only player to win the award while winning the Johnny Warren Medal in the same season.

The A-League Men Young Footballer of the Year is an annual association football award given to the player aged 23 or under at the start of the season who has been judged to have had the best season of any young player in the A-League Men. It is currently called the NAB Young Footballer of the Year for sponsorship purposes.[1] The award has been presented since the 2005–06 season and the winner is chosen by a panel of experts and media representatives.[1] In 2014, the age for eligibility was lifted from 21 to 23.[2] The first winner of the award was Perth Glory midfielder Nick Ward.

As of 2017, Mathew Ryan and Jamie Maclaren are the only players to have won the award on more than one occasion. Marco Rojas and Alex Paulsen are the only non-Australian winners of the trophy. Players aged 23 or under at the start of the season remain eligible to win the Johnny Warren Medal, and in 2013 Rojas won both awards.

Since 2009, one player has been awarded a nomination for the award each month of the season, with the eventual winner then selected from the nominees.

In 2024, the award was awarded to two players for the first time, with Nestory Irankunda and Paulsen tying.

Winners

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Adrian Leijer was the second-ever recipient of the award.

The award has been presented on 20 occasions as of 2025, with 19 different winners.[3]

Key
Player (X) Name of the player and number of times they had won the award at that point (if more than one)
§ Denotes the club were A-League premiers in the same season
A-League Young Footballer of the Year winners
Season Player Nationality Club Ref(s)
2005–06 Nick Ward  Australia Perth Glory [4]
2006–07 Adrian Leijer  Australia Melbourne Victory§ [5]
2007–08 Bruce Djite  Australia Adelaide United [6]
2008–09 Scott Jamieson  Australia Adelaide United [7]
2009–10 Tommy Oar  Australia Brisbane Roar [8]
2010–11 Mathew Ryan  Australia Central Coast Mariners [9]
2011–12 Mathew Ryan (2)  Australia Central Coast Mariners§ [10]
2012–13 Marco Rojas  New Zealand Melbourne Victory [11]
2013–14 Adam Taggart  Australia Newcastle Jets [12]
2014–15 James Jeggo  Australia Adelaide United [13]
2015–16 Jamie Maclaren  Australia Brisbane Roar [14]
2016–17 Jamie Maclaren (2)  Australia Brisbane Roar [15]
2017–18 Daniel Arzani  Australia Melbourne City [16]
2018–19 Chris Ikonomidis  Australia Perth Glory§ [17]
2019–20 Riley McGree  Australia Adelaide United [18]
2020–21 Joel King  Australia Sydney FC [19]
2021–22 Angus Thurgate  Australia Newcastle Jets [20]
2022–23 Jordan Bos  Australia Melbourne City§ [21]
2023–24 Nestory Irankunda
Alex Paulsen		  Australia
 New Zealand		 Adelaide United
Wellington Phoenix		 [22]
2024–25 Archie Goodwin  Australia Adelaide United [23]

Breakdown of winners

[edit]

By nationality

[edit]
Country Total
 Australia 19
 New Zealand 2

By club

[edit]
Club Total
Adelaide United 6
Brisbane Roar 3
Central Coast Mariners 2
Melbourne City 2
Melbourne Victory 2
Newcastle Jets 2
Perth Glory 2
Sydney FC 1
Wellington Phoenix 1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Hyundai A-League Awards". Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  2. ^ "NAB Young Footballer of the Year candidates named". A-League. 29 October 2014. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Our History". A-League. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  4. ^ Huguenin, Michael (2 October 2014). "'If I had my time again, I probably would've taken their advice'". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  5. ^ Bernard, Grantley (28 February 2007). "Jet blocks Victory clean sweep". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 23 March 2015.
  6. ^ "A-League 2008 Awards Night". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 February 2008. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008.
  7. ^ Lynch, Michael (3 February 2009). "Melbourne's season not reflected in awards". WAtoday. Archived from the original on 30 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Tommy tops young talent". Brisbane Roar. 17 February 2010. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Flores takes top gong". The World Game. 6 March 2011. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
  10. ^ "Ryan, Arnold honoured at Hyundai A-League Awards". Central Coast Mariners. 11 April 2012. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Marco Rojas wins Johnny Warren Medal". Football Federation Australia. 15 April 2013. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
  12. ^ Gardiner, James (28 April 2014). "Adam Taggart wins 2014 Young Player of the Year, Golden Boot award: photos". The Newcastle Herald. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  13. ^ "Jeggo named NAB Young Footballer of the Year". Football Federation Australia. 11 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015.
  14. ^ "Glory star Castro wins Johnny Warren medal". Football Federation Australia. 26 April 2016. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016.
  15. ^ "Milos Ninkovic wins Johnny Warren Medal". The World Game. SBS. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017.
  16. ^ Smithies, Tom (30 April 2018). "Dolan Warren Awards: Mierzejewski wins Johnny Warren; Kerr, Polkinghorn split the Dolan". The Daily Telegraph.
  17. ^ "Wellington Phoenix's Roy Krishna adds Johnny Warren Medal to A-League Golden Boot". Stuff.co.nz. 13 May 2019. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020.
  18. ^ "The big winners from the Dolan Warren Awards 2020". A-League. 10 September 2020. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Dolan Warren Awards: Joel King named Young Footballer of the Year". A-League. 23 June 2021. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  20. ^ Lewis, Samantha (26 May 2022). "Fiona Worts and Jake Brimmer take out A-Leagues' top gongs at 2021/22 Dolan Warren Awards". ABC News. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022.
  21. ^ Monteverde, Marco (1 June 2023). "Adelaide United captain Craig Goodwin secures Johnny Warren Medal after stellar season". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023.
  22. ^ Monteverde, Marco (25 May 2024). "Central Coast Mariners midfielder Josh Nisbet wins Johnny Warren Medal". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. The young footballer of the year award was shared between Bayern Munich-bound prodigy Nestory Irankunda and Phoenix gloveman Alex Paulsen
  23. ^ Comito, Matt (27 May 2025). "The complete honour roll: Full list of winners from Dolan Warren Awards 2025". A-Leagues. Archived from the original on 27 May 2025. The Boost Mobile Young Footballer of the Year award went to 20-year-old Adelaide united forward Archie Goodwin
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