RSSSF

The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football.^[1] The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the world.

Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
RSSSF

Available in	English
Created by	Lars Aarhus Kent Hedlundh Karel Stokkermans
URL	www.rsssf.org
Launched	January 1994; 29 years ago (1994-01), as Northern European Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (NERSSSF)
Current status	Active

History

This enterprise, according to its founders, was created in January 1994^[2] by three regulars of the Rec.Sport.Soccer (RSS) Usenet newsgroup: Lars Aarhus, Kent Hedlundh, and Karel Stokkermans. It was originally known as the "North European Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation", but the geographical reference was dropped as its membership from other regions grew.^{[citation needed]}

The RSSSF has members and contributors from all around the world and has spawned seven spin-off projects to more closely follow the leagues of that project's home country. The spin-off projects are dedicated to Albania, Brazil, Denmark, Norway, Romania, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Egypt.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

RSSSF's database has been described as the "very best" for football data.^[2][3][who?]

Rec.Sport.Soccer Player of the Year

Since 1992 a vote for the Best Footballer in the World among the readers of the rec.sport.soccer newsgroup. It was held yearly until 2005, when it was discontinued. The voting works as follows: each voter chooses five players, at most two of the same nationality, in order; these obtain five to one points. The nationality restriction was dropped for the 2003 vote, in which voting was restricted to 173 pre-selected players.^[4]

Year	Rank	Player	Team	Votes
1992^[5]	1st	Marco van Basten	AC Milan	207
	2nd	Hristo Stoichkov	Barcelona	87
	3rd	Peter Schmeichel	Manchester United	62
1993^[6]	1st	Roberto Baggio	Juventus	407
	2nd	Romário	Barcelona	295
	3rd	Dennis Bergkamp	Inter Milan	178
1994^[7]	1st	Romário	Barcelona	269
	2nd	Hristo Stoichkov	Barcelona	254
	3rd	Paolo Maldini	AC Milan	158
1995^[8]	1st	George Weah	AC Milan	153
	2nd	Paolo Maldini	AC Milan	102
	3rd	Patrick Kluivert	Ajax	88
1996^[9]	1st	Ronaldo	Barcelona	348
	2nd	Alan Shearer	Newcastle United	241
	3rd	Matthias Sammer	Borussia Dortmund	215
1997^[10]	1st	Ronaldo	Inter Milan	276
	2nd	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	129
	3rd	Gabriel Batistuta	Fiorentina	75
1998^[11]	1st	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	335
	2nd	Gabriel Batistuta	Fiorentina	175
	3rd	Lilian Thuram	Parma	136
1999^[12]	1st	Rivaldo	Barcelona	536
	2nd	David Beckham	Manchester United	313
	3rd	Andriy Shevchenko	AC Milan	186
2000^[13]	1st	Luís Figo	Real Madrid	648
	2nd	Zinedine Zidane	Juventus	535
	3rd	Rivaldo	Barcelona	272
2001^[14]	1st	Michael Owen	Liverpool	288
	2nd	Luís Figo	Real Madrid	234
	3rd	Raúl	Real Madrid	216
2002^[15]	1st	Ronaldo	Real Madrid	447
	2nd	Roberto Carlos	Real Madrid	371
	3rd	Zinedine Zidane	Real Madrid	341
2003^[16]	1st	Pavel Nedvěd	Juventus	818
	2nd	Thierry Henry	Arsenal	540
	3rd	Zinedine Zidane	Real Madrid	350
2004^[17]	1st	Ronaldinho	Barcelona	437
	2nd	Andriy Shevchenko	AC Milan	329
	3rd	Deco	Barcelona	297
2005^[18]	1st	Ronaldinho	Barcelona	482
	2nd	Frank Lampard	Chelsea	281
	3rd	Steven Gerrard	Liverpool	191

Wins by player

#	Player	Winner
1	Ronaldo	3 (1996, 1997, 2002)
2	Ronaldinho	2 (2004, 2005)
3	Zinedine Zidane	1 (1998)
4	Romário	1 (1994)
	Luís Figo	1 (2000)
6	Rivaldo	1 (1999)
7	Marco van Basten	1 (1992)
	Roberto Baggio	1 (1993)
	George Weah	1 (1995)
	Michael Owen	1 (2001)
	Pavel Nedvěd	1 (2003)

Wins by country

#	Country	Winner
1	Brazil	7
2	France	1
	England
	Portugal
	Italy
	Netherlands
	Liberia
	Czech Republic

Wins by club

#	Club	Winner
1	FC Barcelona	5
2	Juventus	3
3	Real Madrid	2
	AC Milan
5	Inter Milan	1
	Liverpool

References

1. "The Introduction Page of the RSSSF – The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation". RSSSF. from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
2. Loek Groot (25 January 2008). Economics, Uncertainty and European Football: Trends in Competitive Balance. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-78100-823-2. from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
3. Richard Witzig (2006). The Global Art of Soccer. CusiBoy Publishing. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-9776688-0-9. from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
4. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year Award". RSSSF. from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
5. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1992". RSSSF. from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
6. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1993". RSSSF. from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
7. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1994". RSSSF. from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
8. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1995". RSSSF. from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
9. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1996". RSSSF. from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
10. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1997". RSSSF. from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
11. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1998". RSSSF. from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
12. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 1999". RSSSF. from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
13. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2000". RSSSF. from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
14. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2001". RSSSF. from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
15. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2002". RSSSF. from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
16. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2003". RSSSF. from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
17. "Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2004". RSSSF. from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
18. "Call For Votes – Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year 2005". RSSSF. from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2022.

Bibliography

• Finkelstein, Daniel (15 November 2003). . The Times (London). Archived from the original on 29 April 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2008. Archived 23 January 2014

External links

• Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
• RSSSF charter