Cork City’s Matthew Moore named Under-16 International Player of the Year 

CORK CITY’S Matthew Moore has won Men’s U16 International Player of the Year at the 33rd FAI International Awards, which were held on Tuesday evening at The Round Room in Dublin’s Mansion House.

The teenager collected the award just before he leaves Cork to join Bundesliga side Hoffenheim on July 1st.

Moore, who started out with Carrigaline United, recently made his name known nationally by helping Ireland reach the quarter finals of the U17 European Championships.

The midfielder played under Colin O’Brien and together they qualified from a group that contained Hungary, Poland, and Wales.

Ireland’s run to the quarter finals also put them in contention for a place in the play-offs for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Moore also captained the U16s team that won the Victory Shield in 2022.

The teenager recently impressed with a Cork City U19 squad that went to the United Kingdom for a series of friendlies.

Moore immediately made an impact as he scored for City in a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at the Bodymoor Heath Training Ground.

He will now move to Germany, and the League of Ireland side will receive an undisclosed compensation package in line with FIFA regulations, which includes future benefits for City as Moore’s career develops.

Carrigaline’s Rebekah Grant was named Football For All International Player of the Year. She recently played at the Deaf European Futsal Championships and helped Ireland beat Israel 5-0 and Switzerland 4-0.

Grant almost personally made sure that her country will be represented at next year’s World Cup as she scored a brace against Sweden, and that helped Ireland win 5-2 and qualify for next year’s showpiece event.

There was no joy for Rockmount’s Eoin Murphy as Killester Donnycarney’s Stephen Chambers won Amateur International Player of the Year.

Murphy was nominated after a stellar year with the Irish Amateur team, and that followed success for the winger in the Munster Senior League Premier Division, FAI Intermediate Cup, Keane Cup, and Tom Hand Cup.

Nathan Collins won Senior Men’s International Player of the Year and Courtney Brosnan won Senior Women’s International Player of the Year.

Amber Barrett won International Goal of the Year for her strike that sent Ireland through to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The striker was played through by Cork’s Denise O’Sullivan and she scored the only goal of the play-off with Scotland at Hampden Park.

Evan Ferguson was named Young Men’s International Player of the Year after a breakthrough season with his club and country.

The striker has established himself as a regular goal scorer at Brighton & Hove Albion, and he opened his account with Ireland by finding the back of the net against Latvia and Gibraltar.