tony bird was denied the european golden shoe in the 1996–97 season after a new points scoring system was introduced based on uefa coefficient league rankings. players in higher rated leagues were awarded more points than those in lower ranked leagues meaning bird missed out on the award to ronaldo, who played in spain's la liga, despite scoring eight more goals than the brazilian. eifion williams won the golden boot in 1997 as he helped barry town win the league title without losing a game. the following season, he became the first player to win the award for both a second time and in consecutive years, despite being sold to english football league side torquay united with two months of the campaign remaining. eifion williams' goals-per-game ratio remains the highest of all-time in the competition.