We all had a great night out last night at the gala awards event for Mayo Football Podcast Club Stars with EirGrid. Close to 400 people attended the sell-out awards event at the Knockranny House Hotel in Westport, where the festivities went on into the wee hours.

From our perspective, the event was a huge success, vindicating our decision to bring back the Club Stars after a gap of almost five years. The positive reaction we got from everyone at the event proved we’re not the only ones who are glad that the premier club players’ event in the county is now firmly back in the calendar once more.

There were so many highlights from the night. James Carty, representing our charity partners Down Syndrome Mayo, spoke with eloquence about his organisation’s vital work. Liam Breheny, former Chairperson of Charlestown Sarsfields and a driving force behind the club’s development of the Colm Horkan Memorial pitch, paid a heartfelt tribute to their sadly departed club member and the work the club has done to honour his memory.

Tommy O’Malley regaled the full house with stories of his life and times in football, while Aidan O’Shea recounted a wonderful tale of how Tommy, then a Mayo selector, had taken him under his wing as the young Breaffy boy watched in wonder at a training session for the county team.

The Westport ladies team, plus their management and backroom entourage, converged en masse up on the stage, demonstrating beyond doubt that when they’re out, they’re really out. John Reilly came up onto the stage alone but, in doing so, was at pains to confirm that he was there representing his entire management group as he chatted about Kilmeena’s great achievements.

Special guest Armagh’s Oisín McConville spoke about how great local rivalries often inspire dreamed-for performances and results and he also recounted a cautionary tale about the theory and practice of coaching Under-6s. Seán Regan spoke about his Antrim roots and about how they fired his love for hurling, while still leaving him with a bit of time to kick some ball with the Stephenites too.

Mike, as well as being our unflappable MC, also conjured up the quiz question of the night, which was how many All-Star awards were held by people in the function room. The correct answer (16) took a while to come and even then, over breakfast this morning, John Casey was arguing about whether or not all the relevant people were actually in the hall when Mike read the question out. It was that kind of night!

We couldn’t have done the event without our sponsors, in particular our main sponsor EirGrid, who have backed us for two years (so, yes – we’ll definitely be back next year). We’re also hugely grateful to all our other sponsors, whose support was so important to us in making the night a success.

It was gratifying and in no small measure humbling to see so many players, along with their partners, families and friends, turn out last night – dressed to the nines, the lot of them – in such huge numbers. The night belonged to them and they enjoyed it in that spirit. And sure why not? It was, after all, the Club Stars.

Here’s a quick recap on all our Mayo Football Podcast Club Stars with EirGrid award winners for 2024:

Manager of the Year Award (sponsored by AIB): Niall Heffernan (Ballina Stephenites)

Personality of the Year Award (sponsored by AIB): Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy)

Club of the Community Award (sponsored by Turin Components): Charlestown Sarsfields

Team of the Year Award (sponsored by McHugh’s Spar, Ballindine): Westport LGFA

Outstanding Achievement Award (sponsored by Connacht GAA): Seán Regan (Ballina Stephenites and Tooreen)

Special Achievement Award (sponsored by StreamSport): John Reilly (Kilmeena)

Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by Noble Structures): Tommy O’Malley (Ballinrobe and Castlebar Mitchels)

Senior Player of the Year (sponsired by EirGrid): Sam Callinan (Ballina Stephenites)

Intermediate Player of the Year (sponsored by AIB): Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers)

Junior Player of the Year (sposored by Cartel Direct): Justin Healy (Cill Chomáin)

Young Player of the Year (sponsored by EirGrid): James Maheady (Crossmolina Deel Rovers)

Club Stars Team of the Year (sponsored by EirGrid): David Clarke (Ballina Stephenites); David McHale (Knockmore), David Drake (Ballaghaderreen), David Tighe (Ballina Stephenites); Sam Callinan (Ballina Stephenites), David McBrien (Ballaghaderreen), Conor Loftus (Crossmolina Deel Rovers); Frank Irwin (Ballina Stephenites), Matthew Ruane (Breaffy); Cian McHale (Moy Davitts), Conor McStay (Ballina Stephenites), Mikey Murray (Ballina Stephenites); Aiden Orme (Knockmore), Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy), Kuba Callaghan (Ballaghaderreen).