Cork City dominate the list of nominees for the latest Soccer Writers Association of Ireland awards with Seán Maguire, John Caulfield and Conor McCormack all making the shortlist of six for the 2017 Personality of the Year.
The list is completed by three other managers, Stephen Kenny, Kenny Shiels and Keith Long of Dundalk, Derry City and Bohemians respectively.
The two main title contenders over the course of last season are also represented in the Goalkeeper of the Year shortlist with Mark McNulty and Gary Rogers joined by Bohemians’ Shane Supple.
Voting takes place over the next four weeks with the winners to be announced on January 12th but Maguire, who was the league’s top scorer despite leaving for England in July, and Caulfield, who engineered city’s first double, look to be the front runners in the main category with McNulty, whose penalty save in the cup final completed that double for City, the favourite for the goalkeeping gong.
Shamrock Rovers, meanwhile, have been confirmed amongst the line-up for the 2018 Atlantic Cup, primarily a preseason tournament for clubs to compete in summer leagues.
Beijing Guoan, the Chinese club where Jim McGuinness is a member of the coaching staff as well as Hammarby of Sweden and Denmark’s Aarhus are amongst the other clubs signed up for this year’s event in the Algarve by the organisers. Previous winners of the tournament, which is entering its eighth year, include Dynamo Moscow, Zenit St Petersburg and FC Copenhagen.
