The Albert Goldthorpe Medal is an award that has been created by Rugby Leaguer & League Express

Rugby Leaguer & League Express

Rugby Leaguer & League Express is a weekly newspaper published every Monday in the United Kingdom. Other rugby league titles published by League Publications Ltd include the monthly magazine 'Rugby League World' and the annual 'Gillette Rugby League Yearbook'.It features match reports and pictures...

to honour the leading players in Super League

Super League

Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...

 and to honour Albert Goldthorpe

Albert Goldthorpe

Albert Goldthorpe was an English rugby footballer from the period around 1895's schism in English rugby, which led to the formation of rugby league football around the turn of the century.One of five brothers , Goldthorpe made his first...

 who was English rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

's first superstar at the turn of the 20th century.

The Albert Goldthorpe Medal is a solid gold medal worth several thousand UK pounds, incorporating a photograph of Goldthorpe with "All Four Cups

All Four Cups

Between 1905 and 1970 there were four trophies available to any British rugby league side:* Challenge Cup* Rugby Football League Championship* County league * County cup...

".

The award was introduced in the 2008 season to commemorate the centenary of the feat of Goldthorpe in leading Hunslet

Hunslet Hawks

Hunslet Hawks is a professional rugby league club based in Hunslet, West Yorkshire, England. The club, sometimes known as 'the Parksiders' after their former stadium, are currently champions of Championship One.-History:-Early years:...

 to become the first club to win all four major trophies in one season in 1908.

It is intended to parallel the 'Dally M Medal

Dally M Medal

The Dally M Medal is the premier individual award in the Australian rugby league competition, which is given to the player voted by sports commentators as the best and fairest in the competition for that year....

' named after the great Australian player Dally Messenger

Dally Messenger

Herbert Henry "Dally" Messenger was an Australian rugby union and rugby league footballer, recognised as one of the greatest ever players in either code. Messenger, or 'The Master' as he was dubbed, represented his country in both rugby football codes, playing two rugby union tests and seven...

, which is awarded to the NRL player of the year by rugby league writers associated with the News Limited series of newspapers in Australia.

League Express reporters will cast votes for the Albert Goldthorpe Medal after every Super League game in the regular season. The three players who, in the opinion of the reporter, have been the three 'best and fairest' players in the game will receive three points, two points and one point respectively. To be eligible for a vote, a player must not have been suspended from the competition at any stage during the season.

Winners

• 2008 Danny Brough
  Danny Brough
  Danny Brough is a Dewsbury born English international rugby league footballer.Danny Brough plays for the Huddersfield Giants in Super League. He has also played for the Scotland...
  
   (Wakefield Trinity Wildcats)
• 2009 Michael Dobson (Hull Kingston Rovers)
• 2010 Pat Richards
  Pat Richards
  Pat Richards is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Wigan Warriors of Europe's Super League. An Ireland and Exiles international representative winger, he previously played in the National Rugby League for Sydney clubs the Parramatta Eels and Wests Tigers, winning the 2005...
  
   and Sam Tomkins
  Sam Tomkins
  A pre-season unofficial friendly match provided Tomkins his first experience against top-flight opposition as he came off the bench during Lee Briers' testimonial match in a 30–22 loss to Warrington Wolves. Noble followed this up by providing Tomkins, aged 19, with his first team debut on 12 May...
  
   (both Wigan Warriors) (shared)
• 2011 Rangi Chase
  Rangi Chase
  Rangi Chase is a professional rugby league footballer who currently plays in the Super League competition for the Castleford Tigers. He attended famous Maori school Te Aute College in 1999 before moving to Australia where he attended Keebra Park State High School...
  
  (Castleford Tigers)

External links

• Points table for Albert Goldthorpe Medal