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 IFA 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

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]

By player

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

By country

Club Players Total
 Northern Ireland 40 44
 Ireland Republic of Ireland 4 5
 Scotland 1 1

By club

Club Players Total
Linfield 13 15
Crusaders 8 8
Glentoran 8 8
Coleraine 4 5
Cliftonville 4 4
Portadown 3 4
Ards 2 2
Glenavon 2 2
Bangor 1 1
Newry Town 1 1

See also

Footnotes

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.[22]
C. a b : Won the award on two occasions.[22]
D. ^ : Won the award three times.[22]

References

  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. "Player of the Year". Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
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