Ulster Footballer of the Year
Introduction The '''Ulster Footballer of the Year''' is an association football player of the year award in Northern Ireland. One of two player of the year awards in Northern Ireland, the other is the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association award. The Ulster award is the older of the two.It is awarded by Castlereagh Glentoran Supporters' Club to the player who is adjudged by an independent committee to have been the best of the season in the NIFL Premiership. The award has been presented since the 1950–51 season, when the inaugural winner was Kevin McGarry of Cliftonville. The current holder of the award is Chris Shields, of Linfield. Glenn Ferguson has won the award most often: on three separate occasions.
Winners YearPlayerClub  1950–51   Kevin McGarry  Cliftonville  1951–52   Eric Treverrow  Ballymena United  1952–53   Sammy Hughes  Glentoran  1953–54   Jimmy Delaney  Derry City  1954–55   Maurice McVeigh  Glenavon  1955–56   Dick Keith  Linfield  1956–57   Wilbur Cush  Glenavon  1957–58   Jackie Milburn  Linfield  1958–59   Clancy McDermott  Coleraine  1959–60   Billy Neill  Glentoran  1960–61   Albert Campbell  Crusaders  1961–62   Tommy Dickson  Linfield  1962–63   Roy Rea  Glentoran  1963–64   Trevor Thompson  Glentoran  1964–65   Dougie Wood  Derry City  1965–66   Tommy Leishman  Linfield  1966–67   Walter Bruce  Glentoran  1967–68   Sammy Hatton  Linfield  1968–69   Billy McAvoy  Ards  1969–70   Billy Humphries  Ards  1970–71   Bryan Hamilton  Linfield  1971–72   Billy Humphries  Ards  1972–73   Sammy Lunn  Portadown  1973–74   Arthur Stewart  Ballymena United  1974–75   Eric Bowyer  Linfield  1975–76   Warren Feeney  Glentoran  1976–77   Peter Rafferty  Linfield  1977–78   Jim Martin  Linfield  1978–79   Roy Walsh  Glentoran  1979–80   Lindsay McKeown  Linfield  1980–81   George Dunlop  Linfield  1981–82   Felix Healy  Coleraine  1982–83   Jim Cleary  Glentoran  1983–84   Bobby Carlisle  Cliftonville  1984–85   Martin McGaughey  Linfield  1985–86   Pat McCoy  Crusaders  1986–87   Raymond McCoy  Coleraine  1987–88   Alan Patterson  Glentoran  1988–89   Lindsay McKeown  Linfield  1989–90   Ollie Ralph  Newry Town  1990–91   Stephen McBride  Glenavon  1991–92   Raymond Morrison (footballer)  Glentoran  1992–93   Stevie Cowan  Portadown  1993–94   Noel Bailie  Linfield  1994–95   Kevin McKeown  Crusaders  1995–96   Peter Kennedy  Portadown  1996–97   Stephen Baxter  Crusaders  1997–98   Marty Tabb  Cliftonville  1998–99   John Devine  Glentoran  1999–2000   Vinny Arkins  Portadown  2000–01   Glenn Ferguson  Linfield  2001–02   Mickey Keenan  Portadown  2002–03   Gary Smyth  Glentoran  2003–04   Glenn Ferguson  Linfield  2004–05   Paul Leeman  Glentoran  2005–06   Glenn Ferguson  Linfield  2006–07   William Murphy  Linfield  2007–08   Alan Mannus  Linfield  2008–09   Chris Scannell  Cliftonville  2009–10   Rory Patterson  Coleraine  2010–11   Alan Blayney  Linfield  2011–12   Gary McCutcheon  Ballymena United  2012–13   Liam Boyce  Cliftonville  2013–14   Joe Gormley  Cliftonville  2014–15   Paul Heatley  Crusaders  2015–16   Billy Joe Burns  Crusaders  2016–17   Jamie Mulgrew  Linfield  2017–18   Gavin Whyte  Crusaders  2018–19   Jimmy Callacher  Linfield  2019–20  No award due to COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland  2020–21   Shayne Lavery  Linfield  2021–22   Chris Shields  Linfield  2022–23   Leroy Millar  Larne===By player===PlayerTotalYears 32001, 2004, 2006 21970, 1972 21980, 1990===By country===ClubPlayersTotal566077 Republic of Ireland33 England11===By club===ClubPlayersTotalLinfield2124Glentoran1313Crusaders77Cliftonville66Portadown55Coleraine44Ards23Ballymena United33Glenavon33Derry City22Newry City11
See also *Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Player of the Year
References
External links * Irish League Archive - Player Awards