History as David Clifford earns back-to-back footballer of the year awards
GROWING COLLECTION: David Clifford of Kerry with his PwC GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year award. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
David Clifford this evening made history as the first footballer to claim back-to-back PwC All-Star footballer of the year awards.
Clifford joins Meath's Trevor Giles (1996, ’99) and Dublin midfielder Brian Fenton (2018, ’20) as a two-time recipient of the game’s highest individual award.
From a shortlist compiled by the selection committee, he was favoured by his peers ahead of Fenton and Derry midfielder Brendan Rogers for his efforts this past season when he captained Kerry as they fell short of successfully defending their 2022 All-Ireland crown.
Prior to the accolade’s inception in 1995, Clifford's fellow Kerryman Jack O’Shea won successive Texaco footballer of the year awards in two sets of years (1980, ‘81, ‘84, ’85). Dublin great Jimmy Keaveney in 1976 and ’77 and James McCartan of Down in the early 1960s were also successive winners.
Clifford is only the fifth player in 28 years to win the top individual honour not having won the Sam Maguire Cup in the same season.
Before him were Steven McDonnell (Armagh) in 2003, Bernard Brogan (Dublin) in ’10, Lee Keegan (Mayo) in ’16 and Andy Moran (Mayo) in ’17.
Speaking on the historic achievement, Clifford said: "It's a nice honour. Maybe it's something you'll more so look back on at the end of your career.
"Ultimately, we didn't win the All-Ireland and that's all that will stick out from 2023. But it's something that's probably nice for your family and something to maybe look back on yourself at the end of your career."
Meanwhile, it was a famous night for Patrickswell as they celebrated a fourth hurler of the year award when Limerick star Aaron Gillane followed up club-mate Diarmaid Byrnes in being honoured.
Factoring in Cian Lynch’s successes in 2018 and ’21, the club have been responsible for four of the last six hurlers of the year titles. That handsome tally is now just one shy of Ballyhale Shamrocks – Henry Shefflin 2002, ’06, ’12, Michael Fennelly ’11 and TJ Reid ’15. Gillane was shortlisted along with Byrnes and Kyle Hayes.
In the young footballer and hurler of the year (U22) stakes, there was delight for Clare and Derry as Mark Rodgers and Ethan Doherty were chosen by their fellow players as the best in 2023.
Rodgers edged out his fellow Banner man Adam Hogan and Cork centre-back Ciarán Joyce, while Doherty, who was shortlisted in 2022, also beat a fellow county man in Eoin McEvoy and Roscommon goalkeeper Conor Carroll.
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