Photo: Ronnie Macdonald, CC Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Every striker in England dreams of one prize that is not a team trophy: the Premier League Golden Boot. It is the award for the league's top scorer — but how exactly is it decided, and what happens when two players finish level? Here is the full explanation.
The basic rule
The Golden Boot goes to the player who scores the most goals in Premier League matches across the season. Only league goals count: goals in the FA Cup, the League Cup and European competitions do not. Penalties count exactly the same as any other goal. The award has been presented since the first Premier League season, 1992/93.
What happens in a tie?
This is where the Premier League is different from many competitions. There is no tiebreaker. Assists do not count, minutes played do not count, and there is no play-off. If two or more players finish level on goals, the Golden Boot is simply shared — each player receives the award.
It has happened several times. In 1998/99, three players shared it on 18 goals each. More recently, in 2021/22, Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min both finished on 23 goals and shared the prize — a finish that went to the very last day of the season.
The records
The single-season record belongs to Erling Haaland, who scored 36 league goals in 2022/23 — breaking a record that had stood for almost thirty years. Haaland is also the current holder, having won last season's award (2025/26) with 27 goals.
Only two players have won the Golden Boot four times: Thierry Henry, including three in a row for Arsenal, and Mohamed Salah for Liverpool. Alan Shearer also won three in a row in the 1990s — the race has always belonged to the greats.
The sister awards
The Golden Boot has two companions. The Playmaker award goes to the player with the most assists in a season, and the Golden Glove goes to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets. Like the Boot, both are shared if players finish level.
Why the race matters
The Golden Boot race gives every match a second story. A striker chasing the award in May plays with a hunger neutrals love to watch — and because the award can be shared, a single goal on the final day can be worth a place in history. Watch this season's race with us: the chart changes almost every week, and it is rarely settled before the final Sunday.
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