Five Golden Boot winners you've probably never heard of
Petar Zhekov (1968-69), Sotiris Kaiafas (1975-76), Tanju Çolak (1987-88), Arsen Avetisyan (1994-95) and Zviad Endeladze (1995-96) have all won.
The Golden Boot, which was first awarded in 1968, distinguishes the top scorer in Europe’s domestic leagues and since 1997 has been subject to a scoring system based on the relative strength of the national division. Before Uefa introduced that criteria, there were a few one-off winners from some of Europe’s less glamorous leagues.
Petar Zhekov (1968-69, CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria)
Zhekov scored 38 goles in the 1968-69 season and is CSKA’s highest-ever scorer, with 144 strikes between 1968 and 1975.
Sotiris Kaiafas (1975-76, AC Omonia, Cyprus)
Kaiafas banged in 29 goals en route to the league title and is Cyprus’ top scorer in history, bagging 261 league goals in a 17-year career at Omonia.
Tanju Çolak (1987-88, Galatasaray, Turkey)
The only Turkish player ever to have won the Golden Boot, Çolak scored 39 goals in the 1987-88 season and scored nine times in 39 appearances for his country.
Arsen Avetisyan (1994-95, Homenetmen, Armenia)
Avetisyan won the honour with 29 goals for Homenetmen, where he played for five seasons between 1992 and 1997 and scored a staggering 128 times in 149 games.
Zviad Endeladze (1995-96, Margveti, Georgia)
Endeladze scored 40 times in 1995-96 to land the Golden Boot and hit 69 goals in 90 games during four seasons at the club.