Premio Bulgarelli Number 8

The Bulgarelli Number 8 Award is an annual association football award given by the Associazione Bulgarelli and Italian Footballers' Association, with the support of FIFPRO, to the best midfielder of the previous calendar year. The award is named in honor of Giacomo Bulgarelli, considered one of Italy's greatest midfielders; the number 8, which Bulgarelli wore throughout his career, is associated with a midfield player in the traditional football numbering system.^[1][2]

Premio Bulgarelli Number 8

Sport	Association football
Awarded for	Best midfielder of each calendar year
Local name	Premio Bulgarelli Number 8 (Italian)
Country	Italy
Presented by	Associazione Bulgarelli Italian Footballers' Association
History
First award	2011
Editions	11
First winner	Xavi (ESP) (2012)
Most recent	Lewis Ferguson (SCO) (2024)

History and regulations

The award originated from an idea by Italian journalist Luigi Colombo. The award is given by a jury. In the first edition, the jury was chaired by Fabio Capello and composed of former football players and managers Sandro Mazzola, Gianni Rivera, Sergio Campana, Damiano Tommasi, Luis Suárez, Cesare Prandelli, Giovanni Trapattoni, José Altafini, Giovanni Lodetti, Francesco Janich, Romano Fogli, Ezio Pascutti, Marino Perani, Leonardo Grosso as well as Colombo himself.^[2]

The award was temporarily interrupted after the 2013 edition due to a lack of financial sponsors.^[3] The award was restored in 2016.^[4]

Winners

Season	Men		Women		Ref.
	Winner	Club	Winner	Club
2011–12	Xavi	Barcelona	–		[5]
2012–13	Andrea Pirlo	Juventus			[6]
2013–14	Yaya Touré	Manchester City			[7]
2016–17	Paul Pogba	Juventus			[4]
2018	Andrés Iniesta	Barcelona			[4]
2017–18	Daniele De Rossi	Roma			[8]
2018–19	Nicolò Barella	Cagliari	Marta Carissimi	Milan	[9]
2020–21	Manuel Locatelli	Sassuolo	Valentina Cernoia	Juventus	[10]
2021–22	Sandro Tonali	Milan	Manuela Giugliano	Roma	[11]
2022–23	Davide Frattesi	Sassuolo	Alice Parisi	Fiorentina	[12]
2023–24	Lewis Ferguson	Bologna	Giada Greggi	Roma	[1]

Other awards

Best Women's Serie A Coach

Season	Winner	Club	Ref.
2018–19	Rita Guarino	Juventus	[9]
2020–21	Elisabetta Bavagnoli	Roma	[10]
2021–22	Gianpiero Piovani	Sassuolo	[11]
2022–23	Alessandro Spugna	Roma	[12]
2023–24	Sebastián De La Fuente	Fiorentina	[1]

Best Serie A Coach

Season	Winner	Club	Ref.
2020–21	Roberto Mancini	Italy	[10]
2021–22	Stefano Pioli	Milan	[11]
2022–23	Luciano Spalletti	Napoli	[12]
2023–24	Simone Inzaghi	Inter Milan	[1]

Best Young Player

Season	Winner	Club	Ref.
2021–22	Giacomo Raspadori	Sassuolo	[11]

Best Serie A Referee

Season	Winner	Ref.
2021–22	Daniele Orsato	[11]
2022–23		[12]
2023–24	Marco Guida	[1]

Lifetime Achievement

Year	Winner	Ref.
2022	José Altafini	[11]
2024	Gianluigi Buffon	[1]