Wikipedia

Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Player of the Year

The Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Player of the Year (often called the NIFWA Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in the NIFL Premiership. It is one of two association football Player of the Year awards in Northern Ireland, with the other being the Ulster Footballer of the Year award.

The award has been presented since the 1969–70 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst members of the association.[1] The first winner of the award was Des Dickson of Coleraine. The player to have received the award more than any other is Glenn Ferguson, who has collected the award on three occasions, the last of which was in 2006.[2] Two other players have won the award twice; Ivan Murray was the first in 1975 and Vinny Arkins was the most recent, in 2002.

Winners

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Year Player Nationality Club Also won[A] Notes Refs[B]
1969–70 Des Dickson   Northern Ireland Coleraine — — —
1970–71 Bryan Hamilton   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — —
1971–72 Billy Humphries   Northern Ireland Ards UFY — —
1972–73 John McPolin   Northern Ireland Crusaders — — —
1973–74 Ivan Murray   Northern Ireland Coleraine — — —
1974–75 Ivan Murray (2)   Northern Ireland Coleraine — [C] —
1975–76 Warren Feeney   Northern Ireland Glentoran UFY — —
1976–77 Billy Caskey   Northern Ireland Glentoran — — —
1977–78 Jim Martin   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — —
1978–79 Ray McGuigan   Northern Ireland Glenavon — — —
1979–80 Lindsay McKeown   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — —
1980–81 Gary Blackledge   Northern Ireland Glentoran — — —
1981–82 Felix Healy   Northern Ireland Coleraine UFY — —
1982–83 George Dunlop   Northern Ireland Linfield — — —
1983–84 Billy Murray   Northern Ireland Linfield — — —
1984–85 Martin McGaughey   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — —
1985–86 Trevor Anderson   Northern Ireland Linfield — — —
1986–87 Damien Byrne   Republic of Ireland Ards — — —
1987–88 Alan Paterson   Northern Ireland Glentoran UFY — —
1988–89 Marty Magee   Northern Ireland Portadown — — —
1989–90 Ollie Ralph   Republic of Ireland Newry Town UFY — —
1990–91 Stephen McBride   Northern Ireland Glenavon UFY — —
1991–92 Raymond Morrison   Northern Ireland Glentoran UFY — —
1992–93 Paul Byrne   Republic of Ireland Bangor — — —
1993–94 Noel Bailie   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — —
1994–95 Kevin McKeown   Scotland Crusaders UFY — —
1995–96 Peter Kennedy   Northern Ireland Portadown UFY — —
1996–97 Stephen Baxter   Northern Ireland Crusaders UFY — —
1997–98 Marty Tabb   Northern Ireland Cliftonville UFY — —
1998–99 John Devine   Northern Ireland Glentoran UFY — —
1999–00 Vinny Arkins   Republic of Ireland Portadown UFY — —
2000–01 Glenn Ferguson   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — [3]
2001–02 Vinny Arkins (2)   Republic of Ireland Portadown — [C] [4]
2002–03 Gary Smyth   Northern Ireland Glentoran UFY — [5]
2003–04 Glenn Ferguson (2)   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — [6]
2004–05 Mark Glendinning   Northern Ireland Glentoran — — [7]
2005–06 Glenn Ferguson (3)   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY [D] [8]
2006–07 William Murphy   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — [9]
2007–08 Michael Gault   Northern Ireland Linfield — — [10]
2008–09 Chris Scannell   Northern Ireland Cliftonville UFY — [11]
2009–10 Rory Patterson   Northern Ireland Coleraine UFY — [12]
2010–11 Stuart Dallas   Northern Ireland Crusaders — [13]
2011–12 Chris Morrow   Northern Ireland Crusaders — [14]
2012–13 Liam Boyce   Northern Ireland Cliftonville UFY — [15]
2013–14 Joe Gormley   Northern Ireland Cliftonville UFY — [16]
2014–15 Paul Heatley   Northern Ireland Crusaders UFY — [17]
2015–16 Billy Joe Burns   Northern Ireland Crusaders UFY — [18]
2016–17 Jamie Mulgrew   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — [19]
2017–18 Gavin Whyte   Northern Ireland Crusaders UFY — [20]
2018–19 Jimmy Callacher   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — —
2019–20 Joel Cooper   Northern Ireland Linfield — [21]
2020–21 Shayne Lavery   Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — [22]
2021–22 Chris Shields   Republic of Ireland Linfield UFY — [23]
2022–23 Leroy Millar   Northern Ireland Larne UFY — [24]

By player

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Player Total Years
  Glenn Ferguson 3 2001, 2004, 2006
  Ivan Murray 2 1974, 1975
  Vinny Arkins 2 2000, 2002

By country

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Club Players Total
  Northern Ireland 42 46
  Republic of Ireland 5 6
  Scotland 1 1

By club

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Club Players Total
Linfield 15 17
Crusaders 8 8
Glentoran 8 8
Coleraine 4 5
Cliftonville 4 4
Portadown 3 4
Ards 2 2
Glenavon 2 2
Bangor 1 1
Larne 1 1
Newry Town 1 1

See also

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Footnotes

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A. ^ : Player also won the Ulster Footballer of the Year award.
B. ^ : Sourced to the official website of the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association unless otherwise stated.[25]
C. a b : Won the award on two occasions.[25]
D. ^ : Won the award three times.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "Annual awards". Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  2. ^ M. Brodie (ed.), Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 2009-2010, p. 102. Belfast: Ulster Tatler Publications
  3. ^ "Linfield and Lennon celebrate awards". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  4. ^ "Weatherstone saves England C". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  5. ^ "Smith wins player honour". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  6. ^ "Blues dominate awards". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Glendinning wins top player award". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  8. ^ "Linfield double at Writers' awards". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  9. ^ "Jeffrey and Murphy in Blues double". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  10. ^ "Gault picks up NI Writers award". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  11. ^ "Top boss McDonald agrees new deal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  12. ^ "Patterson scoops top player award". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  13. ^ Crusaders' Stuart Dallas earns N Ireland writers double
  14. ^ Chris Morrow and David Jeffrey pick up NI Writers' awards
  15. ^ Liam Boyce wins Football Writers Player of the Year award
  16. ^ Cliftonville striker Gormley wins writers player of year award
  17. ^ It's treble joy for the Crusaders at Northern Ireland Football Writers' Awards
  18. ^ Crusaders pair Baxter and Burns win top awards
  19. ^ BBC
  20. ^ BBC
  21. ^ "Joel Cooper Wins Northern Ireland Player Of the Year". Oxford United. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  22. ^ "Shayne Lavery scoops another awards double and pays tribute to Linfield team-mates". Belfast Telegraph. 29 May 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  23. ^ "Player of the Year Chris Shields backs David Healy against his critics". Belfast Telegraph. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  24. ^ "Northern Ireland Football Awards: Larne midfielder Leroy Millar named Player of the Year". BBC. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  25. ^ a b c "Player of the Year". Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
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