CHIEDOZIE OGBENE AND Courtney Brosnan have been named as the FAI Senior Men’s and Women’s International Players of the Year.
Ogbene — who is currently out injured — got the nod ahead of Gavin Bazunu and Evan Ferguson after his first-ever nomination, while goalkeeper Brosnan takes the women’s prize for the second year in a row. Katie McCabe and Niamh Fahey were the other nominees.
The duo were honoured at the 34th International Awards at the Aviva Stadium this evening, as winners were confirmed across several categories before Ireland’s Nations League clash with Finland.
Evan Ferguson and Heather Payne landed the Young Player of the Year awards for the second successive year, while McCabe’s World Cup Olimpico against Canada was selected as Goal of the Year.
92-cap Niall Quinn and Nora McHugh, the first WNT captain, were inducted into the FAI Hall of Fame, as recently-retired match official Michelle O’Neill received the Special Merit Award.
Shamrock Rovers’ Lee Grace was among the other winners as League of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year for performances in the 2023 season.
Otherwise, displays from June 2023 to June 2024 were considered, with a jury from Soccer Writers’ Ireland helping with certain selections.
FAI International Award winners
Senior Men’s International Player of the Year
- Chiedozie Ogbene
Senior Women’s International Player of the Year
- Courtney Brosnan
Young Men’s International Player of the Year
- Evan Ferguson
Young Women’s International Player of the Year
- Heather Payne
International Goal of the Year
- WNT | Katie McCabe vs Canada
Men’s Under-21 International Player of the Year
- Andrew Moran
Men’s Under-19 International Player of the Year
- Mark O’Mahony
Women’s Under-19 International Player of the Year
- Kate Thompson
Men’s Under-18 International Player of the Year
- Danny McGrath
Men’s Under-17 International Player of the Year
- Harry McGlinchey
Women’s Under-17 International Player of the Year
- Keeva Flynn
Men’s Under-16 International Player of the Year
- Michael Noonan
Women’s Under-16 International Player of the Year
- Ella Kelly
Men’s Under-15 International Player of the Year
- David Dunne
Under-15 Girls’ FAI Schools International Player of the Year
- Madison McGuane (Ardscoil Mhuire, Corbally)
Under-18 Boys FAI Schools International Player of the Year
- Daire Patton (Summerhill College, Sligo)
Football For All International Player of the Year
- Chloe Kenna (Street Leagues)
Amateur Player of the Year
- Garbhan Friel (Cockhill Celtic)
League of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year – Sponsored by SSE Airtricity
- Lee Grace (Shamrock Rovers)
Hall of Fame
- Niall Quinn
- Nora McHugh
Special Merit
- Michelle O’Neill
You can view the full list of nominees here>
Evan Ferguson , young player of the year this has to be a joke ?
@Michael Carroll: Don’t think there’s many other 20 year olds scoring for the senior team.
Sammi should have been nominated and received this reward. He was the best player in the Championship last year and is doing decently for Ipswich now.