Shane Duffy named Republic of Ireland Player of the Year
Shane Duffy has been named as the Republic of Ireland’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.
The Albion centre back becomes the first man since Shay Given in 2006 to retain the crown in what was largely a disappointing 2018 for the Boys in Green. They failed to win a single game in the UEFA Nations League and were relegated to the third tier of the competition (whatever that means) with Martin O’Neill paying with his job.
Duffy was one of the few Irish players to come out of a torrid year with any credit, enhancing his reputation as one of the Republic’s best. His exploits at international level also saw him set a new Brighton record of most caps won by a player while representing the Albion of 17.
The previous record was held jointly by Gerry Ryan and Steve Penney, who earned 16 for the Republic and Northern Ireland respectively during their time with the club. Duffy celebrated the milestone in October’s first round of international matches by helping Ireland to a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with Denmark at the Aviva Stadium. He also managed to get himself booked for diving in the box in an attempt to earn the Irish a penalty in the final few minutes, which is exactly what you expect from a tough-as-nails defender.
Duffy wasn’t on hand to collect his award in a lavish ceremony held in Montrose as Sunday’s FA Cup Quarter Final clash with Millwall going all the way to penalties meant he missed his scheduled flight to Dublin.
Second place in the awards went to Middlesbrough goalkeeper Darren Randolph while West Ham United‘s Declan Rice was rather superbly voted into third before deciding he’d rather play for England from now on.
No Ireland player has ever won the award three times in a row, but given the form that Duffy has been in for the Albion in 2019-20 you wouldn’t bet against him doing so. He’s outshone Lewis Dunk at times at the heart of the Seagulls defence and has popped up with some vital goals at the other end as well, weighing in with five. It would be a huge surprise if he doesn’t feature highly in the Albion’s Player of the Season Awards which are coming up soon.
Duffy tweeted that he was delighted to win the Ireland crown and will no doubt be spotted celebrating in Molly Malone’s at some point over the next few weeks once he returns to Sussex after international duty. Ireland open their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign away in Gibraltar on Saturday before hosting Georgia next Tuesday.
