A general view of awards before the GAA Champion 15 Awards ceremony at Croke Park. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
The overall footballer of the year and hurlers of the year in the Tailteann Cup football championship and Joe McDonagh, Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard and Lory Meagher Hurling Cups were announced tonight at a black-tie event in Croke Park.
The gathering celebrated the teams of the year which were announced earlier this week and also unveiled the distinguished list of players who were voted as the overall top performers in each of the competitions.
Tailteann Cup footballer of the year is Down’s Pat Havern. Named at corner forward on the Tailteann Cup team of the year, the versatile forward contributed 0-25 to the Mourne men’s successful campaign.
Joe McDonagh Cup hurler of the year is Offaly’s Charlie Mitchell. Man of the match in the final victory over Laois, the Kilcormac-Killoughey forward scored 1-18 in the Faithful’s successful run.
Christy Ring Cup hurler of the year is London’s Jack Goulding. The Kerry native was named at full-forward on the Champion 15 selection in recognition of his prolific return of 5-50 in their five matches.
Nickey Rackard Cup hurler of the year is Liam McKinney from Donegal. The Burt clubman was named wing forward on the Champion 15 in recognition of the phenomenal 1-22 he scored from play in their campaign.
Lory Meagher Cup hurler of the year is Longford’s Cian Darcy. He was the competition’s top scorer with the Tipperary native scoring 3-36 in six outings.
Uachtarán CLG Jarlath Burns said: “Congratulations to the five players who have been singled out tonight for an additional honour in recognition of their memorable contributions to these competitions.
“To Pat, Charlie, Jack, Liam and Cian – these additional awards are the bonus to your great summer and just reward for the great enjoyment that you brought to so many and the impact you made on your peers. Comhghairdeas arís.”
Tom Parsons, CEO of the GPA, said: “I want to extend heartiest congratulations to Pat, Charlie, Jack, Liam and Cian on picking up the Player of the Year awards for their respective competitions at the Champion 15 Awards night this evening.
“This marks you out as being the best of the best in your championships in 2024 and that’s something in which you should take great pride. Well done on this achievement. It’s not what you would have started the year out thinking about but, it’s a nice way to mark your individual excellence in 2024.”
The awards were determined by a selection committee of GAA media and presented at a special function in Croke Park which was streamed on the GAA Youtube channel.
The PwC All-Stars for the Sam Maguire and Liam MacCarthy Cup championships will be presented on Friday, November 1 in the RDS.
Tailteann Cup POTY: Pat Havern (Down)
Joe McDonagh POTY: Charlie Mitchell (Offaly)
Christy Ring Cup POTY: Jack Goulding (London)
Nickey Rackard POTY: Liam McKinney (Donegal)
Lory Meagher POTY: Cian Darcy (Longford)