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	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]
2023–24	Kyle McClean	Northern Ireland	Linfield	UFY	—	[25]

Wins by player (multiple)

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

Wins by country

Club	Players	Total
Northern Ireland	43	47
Republic of Ireland	5	6
Scotland	1	1

Wins by club

Club	Players	Total
Linfield	16	18
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

• 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. ^[26]

C. ^{a b} : Won the award on two occasions. ^[26]

D. ^ : Won the award three times. ^[26]

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

External links

• Official website
• Irish League Archive - Player Awards