TOP PRIZE FOR BLUES

THE Footballer of the Year will be from Dublin for the first time since 2015 as the All-ireland champions enjoyed a clean sweep of the nominations.

The four-in-a-row winners didn’t carry off the game’s biggest individual honour in each of the last two years as Mayo pair Lee Keegan and Andy Moran came out on top in the players vote.

But with Jack

Mccaffrey, Ciaran Kilkenny and Brian Fenton filling the three nomination slots this year, there can be no denying the champions.

While Kilkenny may be the favourite, Mccaffrey could be poised to join illustrious company in winning the award twice having been the recipient three years ago (inset).

James Mccartan Snr (Down), Jimmy Keaveney (Dublin), Jack O’shea (Kerry), Pat Spillane (Kerry), Peter Canavan (Tyrone) and Trevor Giles (Meath) are the only players to win the Footballer of the Year, in its various guises over the decades, more than once. Since the award as it is now known was created and linked to the All Stars scheme in 1995, Giles (1996 and ‘99) is the only player to win it twice.

Canavan won the inaugural award in 1995 while in 2003 he was Texaco Footballer of the Year, which was discontinued in 2012 but was the most prestigious award of its kind for up to four decades after its initiation in 1958.

Along with Fenton, the Raheny club also has a player nominated for Young Footballer of the Year as Brian Howard is shortlisted alongside David Clifford (Kerry) and Michael Mckernan (Tyrone).

It’s set to be a tight call between Howard and Clifford, who both enjoyed outstanding seasons in which they made their first SFC starts.

The player of the year nominees are chosen by a panel of journalists and