It’s getting on for five years now since the last Club Stars awards night – which took place in January 2020, shortly before the Covid pandemic hit and upended all our lives – but the premium event for club players within the county is back.

The awards event for this year’s Mayo Football Podcast Club Stars with EirGrid takes next Friday (13th December) at the Knockranny House Hotel in Westport, where throw-in is set for 7pm. Our Charity Partner for the event is Down Syndrome Mayo and our special guest on the night is well-known GAA pundit, Armagh’s Oisín McConville.

We’ve already announced a number of award winners who will be honoured on the night. These are:

• 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)

A number of other awards will be announced at the awards event on Friday night. There are:

• Senior Player of the Year (sponsored by EirGrid): the nominees under this category are Sam Callinan (Ballina Stephenites), David Clarke (Ballina Stephenites), Frank Irwin (Ballina Stephenites) and Aidan O’Shea (Breaffy)
• Intermediate Player of the Year (sponsored by AIB): the nominees under this category are Jordan Flynn (Crossmolina), Conor Loftus (Crossmolina) and Cian McHale (Moy Davitts)
• Junior Player of the Year (sponsored by Cartel Direct): the nominees under this category are Joe Corduff (Cill Chomáin), Justin Healy (Cill Chomáin) and Conor Redmond (Bonniconlon)
• Young Player of the Year (sponsored by EirGrid): the nominees under this category are Niall Coggins (Crossmolina), Brendan Collins (Ballina Stephenites), John MacMonagle (Castlebar Mitchels) and James Maheady (Crossmolina)

There’s also, of course, the small matter of the Team of the Year the full list of nominees for which are as follows:

If you want to get to the awards event at the Knockranny next Friday then you’ll need to move fast as there now only a limited number of tickets still available and we expect the event to be fully sold out shortly. The Eventbrite ticket link is here or alternatively you can contact us at themayofootballpodcast@gmail.com or call (087) 769 1669.