The Lesley Manyathela Golden Boot is an annual

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

award presented by the

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

to the leading goalscorer in the

South African Premiership The South African Premiership, also known as the Betway Premiership for sponsorship reasons, and commonly referred to as the PSL after its governing body, is a professional soccer league in South Africa and the highest level of the South Afr ...

. The award, colloquially known as the PSL Golden Boot or simply the Golden Boot, has been presented since the inception of the post-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

format of the league in 1996. It was named in 2003 in honour of Lesley Manyathela, a South African international footballer and former recipient of the award who died in a motor vehicle collision in August of that year.

Wilfred Mugeyi Wilfred Mugeyi (born 4 July 1969) is a Zimbabwean former footballer whose last job was coach at South African Premier Soccer League club AmaZulu FC. During his playing days he was known as "Silver Fox" for the way he stole un-noticed behind opp ...

was the first recipient of the award after he scored 22 goals for

Bush Bucks Bush Bucks is a South African soccer club. The club was founded in 1957 and originally based in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. In 2001, the team moved to East London. It was nicknamed ''Imbabala (The Bucks)''. History The club was formed by a fo ...

in the inaugural Premiership season. He is one of five players to have scored 20 or more goals in a season alongside

Pollen Ndlanya Pollen Ndlanya (born 22 May 1970 in Daveyton) is a retired South African footballer who played as a striker. He played for Kaizer Chiefs, Manning Rangers, Bursaspor, Göztepe, Amazulu and Orlando Pirates. He also played for South Africa na ...

Collins Mbesuma Collins Mbesuma (born 3 February 1984) is a Zambian professional footballer who plays for South African club Pretoria Callies. He is nicknamed ''The Hurricane'' or ''Ntofontofo''. Club career Mbesuma was born in Luanshya. His father, Franci ...

, Siyabonga Nomvethe and

Peter Shalulile Peter Shalulile (born 23 October 1993) is a Namibian professional footballer who plays as a striker for South African Premiership club Mamelodi Sundowns and captains the Namibia national team. He is regarded as one of the best strikers to pla ...

. Mbesuma holds the record for the most goals scored in a single campaign following his return of 25 goals for

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) is a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premiership. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Kings" or "Chiefs" in Zu ...

in the 2004–05 season. He was also the first player to have won the award more than once, having claimed the trophy for a second time during his spell with

Mpumalanga Black Aces Black Aces was a South African football club that played in the Premier Soccer League. Aces usually played their home games in the Mpumalanga province but were based and trained in Johannesburg. History The original club was founded in 1937 by ...

in 2016, while Shalulile equalled this record in 2022, and broke it the following year. In doing so, the latter also became the only player to have won the award in back-to-back seasons.

Bernard Parker Bernard Parker (born 16 March 1986) is a South African soccer manager and former player who manages the TS Galaxy reserves. He played as a midfielder or forward. Between 2007 and 2015 he made 73 appearances for the South Africa national team ...

holds the record for the fewest goals needed to win the award, with his return of 10 goals for Kaizer Chiefs in the 2013–14 season earning him the accolade. The award has been shared three times in the Premiership's history, an occurrence which first took place in the 2017–18 season after

Rodney Ramagalela Rodney Ramagalela (born 10 January 1989) is a South African professional soccer player who last played as a forward for Premier Soccer League club Black Leopards. Career He started his professional career with Black Leopards before having spel ...

Polokwane City Polokwane City Football Club is a South African professional football club based in the city of Polokwane in the Limpopo province that currently plays in the first tier South African Premiership. The team plays its home matches at the Peter Mok ...

and

Percy Tau Percy Muzi Tau (born 13 May 1994) is a South African professional footballer who plays as a forward for Qatar Stars League side Qatar SC and the South Africa national team. Tau began his footballing career with Premier Soccer League side Mame ...

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

both ended the campaign on 11 goals. Players from

Moroka Swallows Moroka Swallows Football Club (often referred to as Swallows or The Birds) is a South African professional football club based in Soweto, Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province. Founded in 1947, Swallows are one of the original two Soweto clubs ...

and Kaizer Chiefs have won the award the most times, with each club having four unique winners.

Winners

Awards won by nationality

Awards by club

References

{{featured list Premier Soccer League African football trophies and awards 1997 establishments in South Africa