The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Young Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Young Player of the Year, the PFAI Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) award is given to the footballer in the top-flight of Irish football, the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

, who is seen to have been the best player of the previous season and is under 23 years of age. The shortlist is compiled by the members of the

Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFAI) is the representative body for professional and semi-professional footballers in Republic of Ireland. Players from all nationalities in the League of Ireland are represented, not just Ir ...

(the PFAI), and then the winner is voted for by the other players in the league. The award was first given in 1982, and was won by Bohemians player

Jacko McDonagh Jacko McDonagh (born 26 April 1962) is an Irish former professional footballer who played for Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers during his career in Ireland. Career McDonagh signed for Shamrock Rovers in the summer of 1982 departing for France to ...

. The most recent winner of the PFAI Young Player of the Year award was Danny Grant of Bohemians.

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

saw three former winners of the award making appearances at the finals tournament in France, with two of them (

Wes Hoolahan Wesley Patrick Hoolahan (born 20 May 1982) is an Irish professional footballer who most recently played as an attacking midfielder for League One club Cambridge United. Hoolahan began his playing career with Shelbourne and has previously play ...

of the Republic of Ireland and

Niall McGinn Niall McGinn (born 20 July 1987) is a Northern Irish professional footballer, who plays for Scottish Championship club Dundee. McGinn has also played for Dungannon Swifts, Derry City, Celtic, Brentford, Aberdeen (two spells) and South Korean ...

of Northern Ireland) scoring goals for their countries.

List of winners

''Highlighted players are winning the award for a second time.''

2020s

2010s

2000s

1990s

1980s

Breakdown of winners

Winners by club

Winners by country

Trivia

*In 2000, Richie Baker became the first – and so far only – player to win the award twice. He achieved this feat by winning the award in successive seasons *In 1990, the award was shared between Vinny Arkins and

Tony Cousins Tony Cousins (born 25 August 1969 in The Liberties) is an Irish football coach and former player. He is head coach of Shamrock Rovers U17's. Cousins was involved in full-time football from the age of sixteen when he joined English club Chel ...

. This is the only year that the award was shared. *In 1989, Liam Coyle became the first player from outside of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

to win the award.

External links

Professional Footballers Association of Ireland
{{PFAI awards

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Awards established in 1982 1982 establishments in Ireland Annual events in Ireland Association football player non-biographical articles