The Ebony Shoe award (Dutch: Ebbenhouten schoen, French: Soulier d'ébène) is a football award in Belgium given annually to the best African or African origin player in the Belgian Pro League. The jury is composed of the coaches of league clubs, the Belgium national team manager, sport journalists, and one or more honorary jurors.
As of 2026, Mbark Boussoufa (3 wins), Daniel Amokachi (2 wins), Vincent Kompany (2 wins) and Dieumerci Mbokani (2) are the only players to have won the trophy more than once.
History The Ebony Shoe was created in 1992 by Cerina de Rosen, Fely Samuna, Bernard Malaba Tshienda, Eugene Bunga and Moro Mukota in association with the African Culture Promotion. The reasoning for it was because it was felt by a number of African students in Belgium that football players of African origin were being overlooked for individual awards. It was based upon the Golden Shoe award that already existed. Eligibility was determined as a player being born in Africa or being of African descent for those born outside of Africa. It also led to the inspiration of the creation of Le Lion Belge (Belgian Lion Award) by for the best player of Magrebian origin, also using a panel of journalists and honorary jurors to determine the winner. For a number of players, it is the first individual award they have received in their careers.
Selection for the award is made by a panel of club managers from Belgium's top three divisions, the Belgium national football team manager as well as journalists, judges and honorary jurors. The award is made in two parts. Three quarters of the way through a season, a vote is held to determine the five player shortlist with a second vote being held after the season has finished to decide which of the shortlisted players had won the Ebony Shoe.
In 2021, Paul Onuachu won the Ebony Shoe, becoming the first Nigerian to win it in 25 years while also winning the Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year and being the top scorer in Belgium. In 2023, La Tribune discussed which winner had the most impact, with Vincent Kompany and Mbark Boussoufa being named as the two that had.
Winners YearWinnerSecondThirdPlayerClubPlayerClubPlayerClub 1992 Club Brugge only the winner declared 1993 RFC Liège Beveren Club Brugge 1994 Club Brugge Charleroi Seraing 1995 Eendracht Aalst Anderlecht Anderlecht 1996 Anderlecht Harelbeke Lommel 1997 () Mouscron () Mouscron Lommel 1998 Club Brugge Genk Club Brugge 1999 Genk only the winner ranked; the rest of the top 5 unordered (Fadiga, Keita, É. Mpenza and M. Mpenza) 2000 Club Brugge Anderlecht Lokeren 2001 Gent Club Brugge Lokeren 2002 Genk Lokeren RWDM 2003 Anderlecht Lokeren Germinal Beerschot 2004 () Anderlecht Anderlecht () Mouscron 2005 () Anderlecht Standard Liège Anderlecht 2006 Gent Zulte Waregem Standard Liège 2007 Anderlecht Anderlecht Gent 2008 () Standard Liège Anderlecht Standard Liège 2009 Anderlecht Lokeren Mechelen 2010 Anderlecht () Anderlecht Club Brugge 2011 () Anderlecht Standard Liège Standard Liège 2012 Anderlecht Anderlecht Standard Liège 2013 Zulte Waregem Anderlecht Anderlecht 2014 () Standard Liège Lokeren () Standard Liège 2015 Charleroi Gent Anderlecht 2016 Mechelen Gent Anderlecht 2017 () Anderlecht () Oostende Anderlecht 2018 () Club Brugge Standard Liège Genk 2019 Genk only the winner ranked; the rest of the top 5 unordered (Boli, Carcela, Dimata and Danjuma) 2020 Antwerp Club Brugge Club Brugge 2021 Genk Club Brugge () Genk 2022 Gent Genk () Anderlecht 2023 () Genk Union SG Gent 2024 Cercle Brugge Union SG Genk 2025 Genk Union SG Genk 2026 Genk Union SG Club Brugge
Breakdown of winners
By country of origin CountryNumber of winsWinning years Democratic Republic of the Congo 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020 Nigeria 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2021, 2025 Morocco 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2022, 2026 Burundi 2007, 2023 Ghana 1998 Guinea 1999 Egypt 2001 Burkina Faso 2002 Ivory Coast 2003 Senegal 2013 Algeria 2016 Tanzania 2019 Togo 2024
By club ClubNumber of winsWinning years Anderlecht 1996, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017 Genk 1999, 2002, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025, 2026 Club Brugge 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2018 Gent 2001, 2006, 2022 Standard Liège 2008, 2014 RFC Liège 1993 Eendracht Aalst 1995 Mouscron 1997 Zulte Waregem 2013 Charleroi 2015 Mechelen 2016 Antwerp 2020 Cercle Brugge 2024
References