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. The current holder of the award is Stuart Dallas.

Winners

Year	Player	Nationality	Club	Also won[A]	Notes	Refs[B]
1969–70	Dickson, DesDes Dickson	Northern Ireland	Coleraine	—	—	—
1970–71	Hamilton, BryanBryan Hamilton	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	—	—
1971–72	Humphries, BillyBilly Humphries	Northern Ireland	Ards	UFY	—	—
1972–73	McPolin, JohnJohn McPolin	Northern Ireland	Crusaders	—	—	—
1973–74	Murray, IvanIvan Murray	Northern Ireland	Coleraine	—	—	—
1974–75	Murray, IvanIvan Murray (2)	Northern Ireland	Coleraine	—	[C]	—
1975–76	Feeney, WarrenWarren Feeney	Northern Ireland	Glentoran	UFY	—	—
1976–77	Caskey, BillyBilly Caskey	Northern Ireland	Glentoran	—	—	—
1977–78	Martin, JimJim Martin	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	—	—
1978–79	McGuigan, RayRay McGuigan	Northern Ireland	Glenavon	—	—	—
1979–80	McKeown, LindsayLindsay McKeown	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	—	—
1980–81	Blackledge, GaryGary Blackledge	Northern Ireland	Glentoran	—	—	—
1981–82	Healy, FelixFelix Healy	Northern Ireland	Coleraine	UFY	—	—
1982–83	Dunlop, GeorgeGeorge Dunlop	Northern Ireland	Linfield	—	—	—
1983–84	Murray, BillyBilly Murray	Northern Ireland	Linfield	—	—	—
1984–85	McGaughey, MartinMartin McGaughey	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	—	—
1985–86	Anderson, TrevorTrevor Anderson	Northern Ireland	Linfield	—	—	—
1986–87	Byrne, DamienDamien Byrne	Republic of Ireland	Ards	—	—	—
1987–88	Paterson, AlanAlan Paterson	Northern Ireland	Glentoran	UFY	—	—
1988–89	Magee, MartyMarty Magee	Northern Ireland	Portadown	—	—	—
1989–90	Ralph, OllieOllie Ralph	Republic of Ireland	Newry Town	UFY	—	—
1990–91	McBride, StephenStephen McBride	Northern Ireland	Glenavon	UFY	—	—
1991–92	Morrison, RaymondRaymond Morrison	Northern Ireland	Glentoran	UFY	—	—
1992–93	Byrne, PaulPaul Byrne	Republic of Ireland	Bangor	—	—	—
1993–94	Bailie, NoelNoel Bailie	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	—	—
1994–95	McKeown, KevinKevin McKeown	Scotland	Crusaders	UFY	—	—
1995–96	Kennedy, PeterPeter Kennedy	Northern Ireland	Portadown	UFY	—	—
1996–97	Baxter, StephenStephen Baxter	Northern Ireland	Crusaders	UFY	—	—
1997–98	Tabb, MartyMarty Tabb	Northern Ireland	Cliftonville	UFY	—	—
1998–99	Devine, JohnJohn Devine	Northern Ireland	Glentoran	UFY	—	—
1999–00	Arkins, VinnyVinny Arkins	Republic of Ireland	Portadown	UFY	—	—
2000–01	Ferguson, GlennGlenn Ferguson	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	—	[3]
2001–02	Arkins, VinnyVinny Arkins (2)	Republic of Ireland	Portadown	—	[C]	[4]
2002–03	Smyth, GaryGary Smyth	Northern Ireland	Glentoran	UFY	—	[5]
2003–04	Ferguson, GlennGlenn Ferguson (2)	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	—	[6]
2004–05	Glendinning, MarkMark Glendinning	Northern Ireland	Glentoran	—	—	[7]
2005–06	Ferguson, GlennGlenn Ferguson (3)	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	[D]	[8]
2006–07	Murphy, WilliamWilliam Murphy	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	—	[9]
2007–08	Gault, MichaelMichael Gault	Northern Ireland	Linfield	—	—	[10]
2008–09	Scannell, ChrisChris Scannell	Northern Ireland	Cliftonville	UFY	—	[11]
2009–10	Patterson, RoryRory Patterson	Northern Ireland	Coleraine	UFY	—	[12]
2010–11	Dallas, StuartStuart Dallas	Northern Ireland	Crusaders		—	[13]

By player

Player	Total	Years
Ferguson, GlennGlenn Ferguson	3	2001, 2004, 2006
Murray, IvanIvan Murray	2	1974, 1975
Arkins, VinnyVinny Arkins	2	2000, 2002

By country

Club	Players	Total
Northern Ireland	33	37
Republic of Ireland	4	5
Scotland	1	1

By club

Club	Players	Total
Linfield	11	13
Glentoran	8	8
Coleraine	4	5
Crusaders	4	4
Portadown	3	4
Ards	2	2
Cliftonville	2	2
Glenavon	2	2
Bangor	1	1
Newry Town	1	1

See also

• Ulster Footballer of the Year

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.^[14]

C. ^{a b} : Won the award on two occasions.^[14]

D. ^ : Won the award three times.^[14]

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. ^ ^{a b c} "Player of the Year". Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association. Retrieved 20 August 2010.

External links

• Official website