# RSSSF
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSSSF
> Source revision: 1355700372
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{{Short description|International organization collecting football stats}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}
{{Infobox website
| name = RSSSF
| logo = RSSSFlogo.png
| logo_size = 200
| language = English
| author = {{Hlist|Lars Aarhus|Kent Hedlundh|Karel Stokkermans}}
| url = {{Official URL}}
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|1994|1}}, as ''Northern European Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation'' (NERSSSF)
| current_status = Active
}}
The '''Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation''' (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about [association football](/source/association_football). The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the world.
== Website ==
The RSSSF website contains football-related statistics in the form of lists without commentary and it is maintained by volunteer contributors.[{{Cite web |last=Finkelstein |first=Daniel |date=15 November 2003 |title=Weighting in vain for Fifa's ranking aficionados |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/fink_tank/article1017246.ece |access-date=14 March 2024 |website=The Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715225149/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/fink_tank/article1017246.ece |archive-date=15 July 2011 }}] It is considered one of "the most complete" publicly available statistical football databases in the world, and has virtually every piece of historical information.[{{Cite book |last=Witzig |first=Richard |title=The Global Art of Soccer |publisher=CusiBoy Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=0-977-66880-0 |location=New Orleans |pages=418}}] According to its founders, this enterprise was created in January 1994[{{cite book|author=Loek Groot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fHQnlF2LJawC&pg=PA5|title=Economics, Uncertainty and European Football: Trends in Competitive Balance|date=25 January 2008|publisher=[Edward Elgar Publishing](/source/Edward_Elgar_Publishing)|isbn=978-1-78100-823-2|page=5|access-date=10 July 2021|archive-date=22 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122130903/https://books.google.com/books?id=fHQnlF2LJawC&pg=PA5|url-status=live}}] by three regulars of the [Rec](/source/Big_8_(Usenet)).Sport.Soccer (RSS) [Usenet](/source/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|date=December 2022}}
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](/source/Football_in_Albania), [Brazil](/source/Football_in_Brazil), [Denmark](/source/Football_in_Denmark), [Norway](/source/Football_in_Norway), [Romania](/source/Football_in_Romania), [Uruguay](/source/Football_in_Uruguay), [Venezuela](/source/Football_in_Venezuela), and [Egypt](/source/Football_in_Egypt).{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}} In November 2002, the Polish service 90minut.pl became the official branch of RSSSF Poland.[{{Cite web |title=O stronie |url=http://www.90minut.pl/strona.php?id=o_stronie |access-date=2023-05-30 |website=90minut.pl|language=pl}}]
== Player of the Year award ==
thumb|right|upright|Van Basten was the inaugural winner of the award in 1992.
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Player of the Year Award was an annual football award presented by the organisation. First presented in 1992, the readers of the newsgroup voted in a format similar to that of the ''[France Football](/source/France_Football)'' [Ballon d'Or](/source/Ballon_d'Or) award. It recognised the best player in the world and was discontinued after the 2005 edition.[{{Cite web |title=Rec.sport.soccer Player of the Year Award |url=https://www.rsssf.org/rssbest/rsspoy-overview.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705005622/http://www.rsssf.com/rssbest/rsspoy-overview.html |archive-date=5 July 2022 |access-date=29 June 2022 |publisher=RSSSF}}]{{Primary source inline|date=March 2024}} Brazil's [Ronaldinho](/source/Ronaldinho) was the last ever winner, in 2005.
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|+ Award winners