GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year

The Gaelic Athletic Association & Gaelic Player's Association All Stars Footballer of the Year — known for sponsorship reasons as the PwC GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year — is a Gaelic football award. It is presented annually to the footballer who performed outstandingly in that year's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year
Aidan O'Mahony of Kerry (left) and Eoin Bradley of Derry (right) in action at Croke Park during the final of the 2009 National Football League.
Awarded for	Excellence in Gaelic football
Sponsored by	PwC
Location	Convention Centre Dublin
Country	Ireland
Presented by	Gaelic Athletic Association/Gaelic Players Association
First awarded	1995
Currently held by	Paul Conroy
Website	Broadcast partner
Television/radio coverage
Network	RTÉ One
Runtime	51 minutes

History

Created in 1995, the award is part of the All Stars Awards, which selects a "fantasy team", comprising the best players from that year's All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Voting for the award is undertaken by a select group of journalists from television and the print media.

Winners and nominees

Table key

‡	Indicates the winner

1990s

Year	Player	County	Ref(s)
1995	Peter Canavan ‡	Tyrone
1996	Trevor Giles ‡	Meath
1997	Maurice Fitzgerald ‡	Kerry
1998	Jarlath Fallon ‡	Galway
1999	Trevor Giles ‡	Meath

2000s

Year	Player	County	Ref(s)
2000	Seamus Moynihan ‡	Kerry
2001	Declan Meehan ‡	Galway
2002	Kieran McGeeney ‡	Armagh
2003	Steven McDonnell ‡	Armagh
2004	Tomás Ó Sé ‡	Kerry
2005	Stephen O'Neill ‡	Tyrone	[1]
2006	Kieran Donaghy ‡	Kerry
2007	Marc Ó Sé ‡	Kerry	[2][3]
	Colm Cooper	Kerry
	Declan O'Sullivan	Kerry
2008	Seán Cavanagh ‡	Tyrone	[4][5]
	Colm Cooper	Kerry
	Brian Dooher	Tyrone
2009	Paul Galvin ‡	Kerry	[6]
	Graham Canty	Cork
	Tomás Ó Sé	Kerry

2010s

Year	Player	County	Ref(s)
2010	Bernard Brogan ‡	Dublin	[7]
	Danny Hughes	Down
	Michael Shields	Cork
2011	Alan Brogan ‡	Dublin	[8][9]
	Stephen Cluxton	Dublin
	Darran O'Sullivan	Kerry
2012	Karl Lacey ‡	Donegal	[10]
	Colm McFadden	Donegal
	Frank McGlynn	Donegal
2013	Michael Darragh MacAuley ‡	Dublin	[11][12]
	Stephen Cluxton	Dublin
	Lee Keegan	Mayo
2014	James O'Donoghue ‡	Kerry	[13][14]
	Diarmuid Connolly	Dublin
	Neil McGee	Donegal
2015	Jack McCaffrey ‡	Dublin	[15][16]
	Bernard Brogan	Dublin
	Philly McMahon	Dublin
2016	Lee Keegan ‡	Mayo	[17][18]
	Brian Fenton	Dublin
	Ciarán Kilkenny	Dublin
2017	Andy Moran ‡	Mayo	[19][20]
	David Clarke	Mayo
	Stephen Cluxton	Dublin
	James McCarthy	Dublin
2018	Brian Fenton ‡	Dublin	[21][22]
	Ciarán Kilkenny	Dublin
	Jack McCaffrey	Dublin
2019	Stephen Cluxton ‡	Dublin	[23][24]
	Jack McCaffrey	Dublin
	Con O'Callaghan	Dublin

2020s

Year	Player	County	Ref(s)
2020	Brian Fenton ‡	Dublin	[25][26]
	Ciarán Kilkenny	Dublin
	Cillian O'Connor	Mayo
2021	Kieran McGeary ‡	Tyrone	[27][28]
	Lee Keegan	Mayo
	Conor Meyler	Tyrone
2022	David Clifford ‡	Kerry	[29][30]
	Cillian McDaid	Galway
	Shane Walsh	Galway
2023	David Clifford ‡	Kerry	[31][32]
	Brian Fenton	Dublin
	Brendan Rogers	Derry
2024	Paul Conroy ‡	Galway	[33]
	John Maher	Galway
	Barry McCambridge	Armagh

Winners listed by province

Province	Number of wins	Winning years
Leinster	9	1996, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020
Munster	9	1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2014, 2022, 2023
Ulster	7	1995, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2021
Connacht	5	1998, 2001, 2016, 2017, 2024

Multiple Winners

Three players have won the award on more than one occasion. They are:

• Trevor Giles of Meath in 1996 and 1999.^[34]
• Brian Fenton of Dublin in 2018 and 2020.^[34]
• David Clifford of Kerry in 2022 and 2023.

Brothers

Two sets of brothers have won the award. They are:

• Brogan: Bernard and Alan of Dublin
• Ó Sé: Tomás and Marc of Kerry

References

1. "O'Neill completes Footballer of the Year hat-trick". Irish Examiner. 26 November 2005. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
2. "GAA Player of the Year shortlist revealed". RTÉ. 5 October 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
3. "O'Sé brothers create history at All-Stars". Irish Examiner. 19 October 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
4. "GAA Player of the Year nominees revealed". RTÉ. 30 September 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
5. "Cavanagh named player of the year". BBC Sport. 17 October 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
6. "Galvin is named Footballer of the Year". RTÉ. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
7. Roche, Frank (16 October 2010). "No debate over Brogan award". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
8. "GAA Player of the Year nominees revealed". RTÉ. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
9. Roche, Frank (22 October 2011). "Alan keeps it in the family". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
10. "Donegal defender Karl Lacey wins Player of the Year award". BBC Sport. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
11. "Michael Darragh Macauley, Stephen Cluxton and Lee Keegan nominated for Footballer of the Year". RTÉ. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
12. O'Rourke, Steve (8 November 2013). "Michael Darragh Macauley crowned Footballer of the Year". The 42. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
13. Keys, Colm (8 October 2014). "Champions Kerry head All Star football nominations list". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
14. "Kerry's James O'Donoghue is Footballer of the Year". RTÉ. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
15. "McCaffrey, Brogan & McMahon nominated for Player of the Year 2015". RTÉ. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
16. Moran, Seán (6 November 2015). "Jack McCaffrey named Footballer of the Year as Dublin dominates All Stars". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
17. O'Toole, Fintan (6 October 2016). "Here's the players who make the shortlist for the GAA-GPA Footballer of the Year awards". The 42. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
18. "Lee Keegan named footballer of the year". RTÉ. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
19. "Stephen Cluxton and Andy Moran both shortlisted for Player of the Year". RTÉ. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
20. Wilson, Calum (4 November 2017). "Andy Moran scoops top prize as Dublin dominate team of the year". Sky Sports. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
21. "PwC All-Stars 2018 Football nominations". Gaelic Athletic Association. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
22. McKeon, Conor (2 November 2018). "Dublin star Brian Fenton crowned Footballer of the Year as Kerry's David Clifford claims Young Player of the Year". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
23. "PwC All-Stars 2019 Football nominations". Gaelic Athletic Association. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
24. Begley, Ian (2 November 2019). "Cluxton claims gong as goalkeeper named GAA Footballer of the Year". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
25. "Brian Fenton, Ciaran Kilkenny and Cillian O'Connor nominated for Footballer of the Year". Sky Sports. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
26. "Dublin's Brian Fenton scoops Player of the Year award for second time in three years". Irish Independent. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
27. O'Toole, Fintan (2 November 2021). "Tyrone duo and Mayo star nominated for 2021 Footballer of the Year award". The 42. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
28. "Tyrone's Kieran McGeary named Footballer of the Year as Red Hands dominate All Stars". BBC Sport. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
29. "PwC All-Stars Football Nominations 2022". Gaelic Athletic Association. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
30. "PwC Footballer of the Year David Clifford reflects on an outstanding 2022". Gaelic Athletic Association. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
31. "PwC GAA/GPA Gaelic Football All-Star nominations announced". Gaelic Athletic Association. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
32. Fogarty, John (17 November 2023). "History as David Clifford earns back-to-back footballer of the year awards". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
33. "Conroy and O'Donnell scoop Player of the Year awards". RTÉ News. 1 November 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
34. Browne, P. J. (27 June 2023). "The Best Gaelic Footballers Of All Time: The Greatest to PlayThe Game". Balls.ie. Retrieved 5 February 2024.