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.

List of 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 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 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 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 Republic of Ireland Portadown UFY — —
2000–01 Glenn Ferguson  Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — [3]
2001–02 Vinny Arkins (2) Republic of Ireland 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 Republic of Ireland Linfield UFY — [23]
2022–23 Leroy Millar Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Larne UFY — [24]
2023–24 Kyle McClean Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Linfield UFY — [25]
2024–25 Joel Cooper (2)  Northern Ireland Linfield [26][27]

Wins by player (multiple)

Player Total Years
Northern Ireland Glenn Ferguson 3 2001, 2004, 2006
Northern Ireland Ivan Murray 2 1974, 1975
Republic of Ireland Vinny Arkins 2 2000, 2002
Northern Ireland Joel Cooper 2 2020, 2025

Wins by country

Club Players Total
 Northern Ireland 43 48
Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 5 6
 Scotland 1 1

Wins by club

Club Players Total
Linfield 17 20
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

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.[28]
C. a b : Won the award on two occasions.[28]
D. ^ : Won the award three times.[28]

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. ^ "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. ^ "NI Football Awards 2024". NIFL. 22 April 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  26. ^ "NI Football Writers award winners announced at gala dinner". BelfastLive. 4 May 2025. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  27. ^ "NIFL Football Award Winners 2025". Northern Ireland Football League. 12 April 2025. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  28. ^ a b c "Player of the Year". Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
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