‘GIMME, gimme, gimme a man after midnight’ was the first song played by DJ Eadzo at the end of the localwomensport.com Awards 2024.
Music has a funny way of throwing up ironies. Because in a room full of talented women, the last thing they needed at that moment was a man!
The second annual Local Women Sports Awards night was another star studded success with athletes from a wide variety of sports turning out for the glittering ceremony in the iconic Europa Hotel.
This year we saw double the amount of nominations across the board, 600, which made the job of judging even harder!
The 30 winners deserved all the recognition they received for their hard work, commitment and dedication to their chosen sports. I already can’t wait to see what next year brings as I am blown away when I read the nominations.
World Cup here we come! With Ireland co-captains Sam Monaghan and Edel McMahon at the Kingspan Stadium
Just a few hours before the awards got underway, the Ireland rugby team qualified for the Women’s World Cup by coming from behind at Kingspan stadium to defeat Scotland and finish third in this year’s Guinness Six Nations.
Tries from Katie Corrigan and Cliodhna Moloney and a winning penalty from Dannah O’Brien was enough to seal the victory and qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 2017. It’s a huge achievement from new head coach Scott Bemand and his team, especially as only a year ago they finished bottom of the Six Nations Championship.
England will host the women’s Rugby World Cup next year, and although they are streets ahead of everyone else, as shown by their dominance in the Six Nations, Ireland are on the right path as they try to follow in the men’s footsteps of becoming a dominant side in world rugby.
I had the pleasure of catching up with co-captains Sam Monaghan and Edel McMahon at their captain’s run in Belfast the day before the match. They have enjoyed travelling around different parts of the country to play their home games (Dublin, Cork, Belfast) and believe interacting with fans across the entire island is paramount to growing the women’s game.
Speaking of women’s sport on the rise, the Sports Direct Women’s Premiership is kicking off again and is one of the fastest growing competitions in local sport.
Attendances are up 66 per cent which is unrecognisable from the days when the women’s football league started here with a handful of spectators who were usually family members of players – some matches even had more dogs attending than people. But the turnaround has been incredible and huge credit most go to the governing body, NIFL, for treating the women’s game here with the same respect they show the men. The professionalism injected into the league by NIFL has done wonders and those figures mentioned above are testament to that.
At the moment Premiership and Irish Cup champions Glentoran Women, along with League Cup holders Cliftonville, are the teams to beat. It has been hard for others to catch them but, with each team strengthening during the transfer window, the gap could be about to get smaller.
What a year! I’m delighted for Keri Halliday winning Best Footballer of the Year at the Local Women Sports awards
Linfield striker Keri Halliday has attracted attention for all the right reasons this year and getting called into Northern Ireland squads last season was just reward for all her hard work, not just in matches but on the training ground – she is one of the hardest workers in the team.
Halliday told me after her home Northern Ireland debut earlier this year that she had dreamed of stepping out onto the pitch since she was about five when her dad read her a book about a girl who played football on the Windsor Park pitch. Despite playing for Linfield she doesn’t get to play on that pitch as the women’s team play at Midgley Park, just beside Windsor. That night when Northern Ireland manager Tanya Oxtoby brought her off the bench in Belfast, you couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She was like the Duracell bunny during the game, bringing bags of energy, but when the game was over the celebrations were extra special with her family and friends.
Halliday had more reason to celebrate before this season started as she was crowned footballer of the year at the Local Women Sports Awards.
Staying with football, the men’s Irish Cup will be contested between Linfield and Cliftonville this year.
This will be David Healy’s fourth season finale showpiece at Windsor Park, and this time he’s up against his good friend Jim Magilton. The pair have known each other for years as former Northern Ireland team-mates and Healy attributes Magilton for helping him into coaching and management as they worked with the under age international teams together.
This will be Magilton’s first Irish Cup final at Windsor Park as a manager, although he has attended the last two on punditry duties. He knows what it’s like to be on the winning side of a big occasion having played the last ever club match at the old Wembley Stadium when he was at Ipswich, defeating Barnsley in the play off final.
He watched what Barnsley went through that day so he doesn’t want to experience being on the losing side. But can he guide the Reds to the euphoria of winning their first Irish Cup since 1979? I know a big Cliftonville fan who was there that day who now lives in Australia, he’s making his way back to go to the Cup final on May 4.
Both managers and teams have earned the right to be at Windsor Park for the grand finale of the 2023/24 season – this one should be a thriller.
Leah McCourt couldn’t be there on the night but her beautiful daughter Izzy picked up her Sportswoman of the Year award
Also delighted for the legend that is Shirley McCay on being awarded Best Hockey Coach of the Year. Anna Pim accepted her award
Who will get their hands on the Irish Cup? Working around Windsor Park for UTV
Head to head – two Northern Ireland greats come up against each other in the Irish Cup final… Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton and Linfield boss David Healy
