Top 20 players from the EirGrid GAA Football U20 All-Ireland Championship honoured
Following the conclusion of the 2020 season, sponsor of the U20 All-Ireland Championship, EirGrid, has announced the top 20 performers from this year’s under 20 football championship with the annual 20 U20 awards. In addition, the recipients of the EirGrid U20 Football Championship player of the year and manager of the year awards have also been announced.
This is the sixth year of the player awards and second year of the EirGrid Manager of The Year awards with the recipients being selected by the Gaelic Writers Association. The awards recognise the incredible talent, dedication and hard work displayed by those involved in this competition. Four players from Munster were nominated - Blake Murphy, St Vincents, is Cork’s sole award winner, joining a trio of players selected from Kerry.
GLYNN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Having played a critical defensive role in keeping Dublin’s top scorers at bay in the All-Ireland final, Galway captain Jack Glynn was the tournament’s standout player and has been named the 2020 EirGrid Under 20 Football Championship Player of the Year.
Ó FÁTHARTA TOP MANAGER
Galway manager, Donal Ó Fátharta has been named as the EirGrid Manager of the Year, after leading his squad to provincial and All-Ireland victories, despite it only being his first year in charge, and claiming the county’s first U20 title since 2013. Ó Fátharta worked tirelessly to grow and develop the skills of the young Galway team though this difficult year and his dedication paid off on the pitch.
RECIPIENTS
The Tribesmen’s efforts in the competition have been reflected with six players from the All-Ireland winning panel selected as worthy recipients of a 20 U20 award. These are Conor Flaherty, Jack Glynn, Conor Raftery, Paul Kelly, Matthew Tierney and Tommo Culhane.
All-Ireland finalists, Dublin, have four players included in this year’s list. These are Lee Gannon, Mark Lavin, Lorcan O’Dell and Ciarán Archer as do Ulster Champions, Tyrone with Darragh Canavan, Cormac Munroe, Ethan Jordan and Tiernan Quinn making the top 20. Sean O’Brien, Dan McCarthy and Ruairi Ó Beaglaoich are representing Kerry on the panel, with the remaining three slots going to Laois’s Ronan Coffey, Cork’s Blake Murphy and Aaron Doherty of Donegal.
Commenting on the awards, Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, John Horan said; “I commend all of the players honoured on this list but also all of those who competed in the EirGrid GAA Football U20 All-Ireland Championship in 2020 giving the testing set of circumstances everyone involved faced.
As ever with this grade of football the talent on show was difficult to ignore and I have no doubt that many of the names that feature on this list will have aspirations of further county representation in years to come.
“Thank you to EirGrid for their ongoing support of the GAA and their creativity in helping us to promote this competition and we look forward to working with them in 2021.”