THE TWO O’NEILLS, Martin and Michael, have this afternoon been named as the joint winners of the 2015 Philips Sports Manager of the Year award.
Martin O’Neill successfully guided the Republic of Ireland to next summer’s European Championships while Michael O’Neill steered Northern Ireland to their first major tournament in 30 years.
It is the third time the annual award has been shared.
The pair were presented with their award at a special lunch event in Dublin this afternoon with the other managers who had won monthly awards also in attendance.
Martin O’Neill won the November accolade after overseeing the Boys in Green’s play-off victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina to qualify for France and becomes the fifth different Ireland manager to join the roll of honour.
Jack Charlton, Mick McCarthy, Brian Kerr and Giovanni Trapattoni were the others.
“I felt with four games left we were still in the group and I don’t think it was really bravado. We had to win our games either at home to Germany or away to Poland but we knew it was possible,” Martin O’Neill said.
“The players came through and they have been fantastic. For us to join Michael [O'Neill] is great. I must admit that I felt really envious of him enjoying himself [after qualifying] when we were still in the doldrums, but we were delighted to qualify.”
