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Ireland's U21 Player Of The Year Since 1997 - Where Are They Now?

Gary Reilly
By Gary Reilly
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Robbie Brady won the FAI's Young Player of the Year award for the third time last night. But where have previous winners ended up?

 

1997 - David Worrell 

The first winner of the prize back in 1997. A key member of Brian Kerr's side that finished third in the 1997 World Youth Championships, Worrell was a dependable right back who was on the books of Blackburn at the time of the award.

He failed to breakthrough at Ewood Park and headed for Scotland with Dundee United. Spells at Plymouth, Rotherham, Dundee FC and Montrose followed before embarked on a career in finance. Having undertaken his MSc in Financial Services from UCD, Worrell is currently working in the glamorous world of Dublin finance.

1998 - Kevin Kilbane

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A man that needs no introduction. Kilbane won the award while at Preston and went on to play 537 league games for West Brom, Sunderland, Everton, Wigan, Hull, Huddersfield, Derby and Coventry in a career that is also notable for the 'Zinedine Kilbane' nickname.

Kilbane went on to make 110 international appearances for the senior side, making him by far the best-capped member of this list. He is currently doing a lot of punditry work for TV3 and the BBC.

1999 - Alan Mahon 

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Mahon - an attacking midfielder - played with Tranmere Rovers at the time of winning the award, the highlight being an appearance in the 2000 League Cup final, which they lost to Martin O'Neill's Leicester City. He joined Sporting Lisbon that summer, where he played in the first half of a 4-0 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu before being loaned to Blackburn midway through that season.

Mahon stayed at Blackburn, where he was an unused substitute in the 2002 League Cup win over Spurs. In three years at Blackburn he made just 18 league appearances and after loan spells at Cardiff and Ipswich he eventually joined Wigan, for whom he made over 50 appearances between 2004 and 2006. He ultimately retired at Tranmere in 2011, via spells with Blackpool and Burnley.

Mahon's senior International career was a major disappointment: he made just two senior appearances. Both came in 2000, in friendly games against Greece and South Africa.

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2000 - Barry Quinn

Quinn played at centre-back and won the 2000 award while at Coventry City. Quinn spent six years with Coventry, making 83 appearances before dropping down the divisions to join Oxford United in 2004, via a loan spell at Rushden and Diamonds. Quinn went on to play 193 league games for Oxford, and was released in 2009. A further descent through divisions beckoned for Quinn: he ended up playing for Brackley Town from 2009 and 2012. Quinn retired and held a share in the company GQL, which owned a bar in Coventry. The company has since been placed in liquidation.

On the international front, Quinn played for Ireland in the 1998 Under-18 European Championships in Iceland. He went on to play four times for the senior side.

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2001 - Stephen Reid

Reid went on to have a fine career, but it could have been much better but for injuries. Reid was at Millwall in 2001, and sealed a move to Blackburn in 2003. Reid spent seven years at Blackburn but made 113 appearances in that time, as he suffered from serious hamstring and cruciate knee injuries. He then spent four years at West Brom and spent the final season his career with Burnley, retiring last year, and is now a first team coach at Reading.

Reid made just 23 appearances for Ireland, and was a member of the 2002 World Cup squad. He retired in 2010 to focus on his club commitments.

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2002 - Joe Murphy 

Murphy is the first man on this list who is still playing the game: he is currently warming the bench at Huddersfield. Murphy won the award while at West Brom, where he made just six appearances in three years. Murphy restarted his career at Scunthorpe, for whom he made 201 appearances between 2006 and 2011. He then joined Coventry, where he played consistently until 2014.

Murphy is another who has had an underwhelming senior career, with just two caps to his name.

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2004 - Glenn Whelan 

Whelan is one of the most consistent Premier League performers among the current Irish squad and has made 255 League appearances for the club since they were promoted from the Championship. Stoke's promotion to the Premier League in 2008 coincided with Whelan being handed his Irish senior debut, and Whelan has been ever-present since, making 69 appearances.

2005 - Kevin Doyle 

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Doyle won the award a few months after joining Reading from Cork City. He notched an impressive 55 goals in 157 games before joining Wolves. As Wolves slid down to League One, Doyle's career stalled. Following unsuccessful loan stints at QPR and Crystal Palace Doyle followed Robbie Keane to the MLS in 2015, where he is currently playing with Colorado Rapids. Five goals in 20 appearances is evident of a solid if unspectacular start.

Internationally, Doyle's career has followed his club career. He has made 61 appearances for Ireland, the last coming in 2014. At the age of 32, Doyle's international career appears to have come to a premature end.

2006 - Kevin Foley

Foley won the award while at Luton and joined Wolves six months after being handed the award, where he made more than 200 appearances. He had an unhappy stint in Denmark with FC Copenhagen last year, making just four appearances. He is currently playing with Mick McCarthy's Ipswich Town in the Championship.

Foley's international career is steeped in controversy. He has made eight appearances for the national side, but has not returned since being dropped by Giovanni Trapattoni the morning of the submission of the Euro 2012 squad. Foley said that he felt betrayed by Trap, and his replacement - Paul McShane - did not play a minute of the competition.

2007 - Stephen O'Halloran 

O'Halloran's career is another which has failed to take off after winning the award. The defender won the award while at Aston Villa, where he failed to make a single senior appearance. He was frequently farmed out on loan, before making a permanent transfer to Coventry in 2010. He has since dropped down the divisions - playing with Nuneaton Town and Stockport County - and is currently at Salford City.

Despite having not made an appearance for Villa, O'Halloran played twice for Ireland under Steve Staunton: in friendlies against Ecuador and Bolivia.

2008 - Owen Garvan

Garvan was midway through his stint with Ipswich Town when he won the award, making 163 league appearances for the Tractor Boys. He was then sold by Roy Keane to Crystal Palace. Following loans at Millwall and Bolton Garvan is currently at Colchester United.

Garvan is one of four men on this list without a senior Irish cap to his name, although he captained the Irish Under-21s between 2007 and 2010.

2009 - Seamus Coleman

Coleman won the award as an Everton player, whom he joined from Sligo Rovers a few months previous. One of the first names on the Everton team-sheet, Coleman is constantly linked with moves to bigger clubs.

He has made 23 senior international appearances for Ireland, which seems quite low. He was surprisingly omitted from Trapattoni's main Euro 2012 squad.

2010 - Seamus Coleman 

After a few touch and go years, the FAI realised they were on to a winner so they gave it to Coleman once again.

2011 - Robbie Brady 

Brady is among the best performing Irish players in the Premier League this season, and his three league goals will be looked back upon as vital if Norwich avoid relegation. Brady won the award as a Manchester United player but failed to make a senior league appearance at Old Trafford.A successful period with Hull allowed Brady kickstart his club career, and has helped contribute to his winning of 20 senior caps for Ireland thus far. He has notched an impressive four goals in those games.

 

2012 - Robbie Brady 

Much like Coleman, there's no point messing up a good thing.

2013 - Sean Murray

Murray is still at Watford, where he is struggling to make an impact at Premier League level. He has made 75 appearances for Watford, although all of them have come outside of the top division. He was loaned to Wigan at the beginning of this season and after seven games, returned to Watford.

He has yet to be capped by Ireland at senior level.

2014 - Jack Grealish

You all know where Grealish is. Or more pertinently, where he is not. Grealish is not among the English squad for the friendlies ahead of Euro 2016. Neither is he using the shamrock emoji very often, either.

See Also: On Twitter's Tenth Birthday, Here Are The First Tweets Sent By Irish Sports Stars

 

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