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.[1] Glenn Ferguson has won the award most often: on three separate occasions.[2]

Winners

Year Player Club
1950–51 Northern Ireland Kevin McGarry Cliftonville
1951–52 Scotland Eric Treverrow Ballymena United
1952–53 Northern Ireland Sammy Hughes Glentoran
1953–54 Scotland Jimmy Delaney Derry City
1954–55 Northern Ireland Maurice McVeigh Glenavon
1955–56 Northern Ireland Dick Keith Linfield
1956–57 Northern Ireland Wilbur Cush Glenavon
1957–58 England Jackie Milburn Linfield
1958–59 Northern Ireland Clancy McDermott Coleraine
1959–60 Northern Ireland Billy Neill Glentoran
1960–61 Northern Ireland Albert Campbell Crusaders
1961–62 Northern Ireland Tommy Dickson Linfield
1962–63 Northern Ireland Roy Rea Glentoran
1963–64 Northern Ireland Trevor Thompson Glentoran
1964–65 Scotland Dougie Wood Derry City
1965–66 Scotland Tommy Leishman Linfield
1966–67 Northern Ireland Walter Bruce Glentoran
1967–68 Northern Ireland Sammy Hatton Linfield
1968–69 Northern Ireland Billy McAvoy Ards
1969–70 Northern Ireland Billy Humphries Ards
1970–71 Northern Ireland Bryan Hamilton Linfield
1971–72 Northern Ireland Billy Humphries Ards
1972–73 Northern Ireland Sammy Lunn Portadown
1973–74 Northern Ireland Arthur Stewart Ballymena United
1974–75 Northern Ireland Eric Bowyer Linfield
1975–76 Northern Ireland Warren Feeney Glentoran
1976–77 Northern Ireland Peter Rafferty Linfield
1977–78 Northern Ireland Jim Martin Linfield
1978–79 Northern Ireland Roy Walsh Glentoran
1979–80 Northern Ireland Lindsay McKeown Linfield
1980–81 Northern Ireland George Dunlop Linfield
1981–82 Northern Ireland Felix Healy Coleraine
1982–83 Northern Ireland Jim Cleary Glentoran
1983–84 Northern Ireland Bobby Carlisle Cliftonville
1984–85 Northern Ireland Martin McGaughey Linfield
1985–86 Northern Ireland Pat McCoy Crusaders
1986–87 Northern Ireland Raymond McCoy Coleraine
1987–88 Northern Ireland Alan Patterson Glentoran
1988–89 Northern Ireland Lindsay McKeown Linfield
1989–90 Republic of Ireland Ollie Ralph Newry Town
1990–91 Northern Ireland Stephen McBride Glenavon
1991–92 Northern Ireland Raymond Morrison (footballer) Glentoran
1992–93 Scotland Stevie Cowan Portadown
1993–94 Northern Ireland Noel Bailie Linfield
1994–95 Scotland Kevin McKeown Crusaders
1995–96 Northern Ireland Peter Kennedy Portadown
1996–97 Northern Ireland Stephen Baxter Crusaders
1997–98 Northern Ireland Marty Tabb Cliftonville
1998–99 Northern Ireland John Devine Glentoran
1999–2000 Republic of Ireland Vinny Arkins Portadown
2000–01 Northern Ireland Glenn Ferguson Linfield
2001–02 Northern Ireland Mickey Keenan Portadown
2002–03 Northern Ireland Gary Smyth Glentoran
2003–04 Northern Ireland Glenn Ferguson Linfield
2004–05 Northern Ireland Paul Leeman Glentoran
2005–06 Northern Ireland Glenn Ferguson Linfield
2006–07 Northern Ireland William Murphy Linfield
2007–08 Northern Ireland Alan Mannus Linfield
2008–09 Northern Ireland Chris Scannell Cliftonville
2009–10 Northern Ireland Rory Patterson Coleraine
2010–11 Northern Ireland Alan Blayney Linfield
2011–12 Scotland Gary McCutcheon Ballymena United
2012–13 Northern Ireland Liam Boyce Cliftonville
2013–14 Northern Ireland Joe Gormley Cliftonville
2014–15 Northern Ireland Paul Heatley Crusaders
2015–16 Northern Ireland Billy Joe Burns Crusaders
2016–17 Northern Ireland Jamie Mulgrew Linfield
2017–18 Northern Ireland Gavin Whyte[3] Crusaders
2018–19 Northern Ireland Jimmy Callacher Linfield
2019–20 No award due to COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland
2020–21 Northern Ireland Shayne Lavery Linfield
2021–22 Republic of Ireland Chris Shields Linfield
2022–23 Northern Ireland Leroy Millar Larne

By player

Player Total Years
Northern Ireland Glenn Ferguson 3 2001, 2004, 2006
Northern Ireland Billy Humphries 2 1970, 1972
Northern Ireland Lindsay McKeown 2 1980, 1990

By country

Club Players Total
 Northern Ireland 56 60
 Scotland 7 7
Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 3 3
England England 1 1

By club

Club Players Total
Linfield 21 24
Glentoran 13 13
Crusaders 7 7
Cliftonville 6 6
Portadown 5 5
Coleraine 4 4
Ards 2 3
Ballymena United 3 3
Glenavon 3 3
Derry City 2 2
Newry City 1 1

See also

References

  1. ^ BBC
  2. ^ M. Brodie (ed.), Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 2010–2011. Belfast:Ulster Tatler Publications
  3. ^ "Gavin Whyte:Winger named Ulster Footballer of the Year". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 April 2018.

External links

National Men's Footballer of the Year award
Association football in Northern Ireland
Categories