THE McHUGHS MAKE IT A FAMILY AFFAIR AT THE RTE SPORTS AWARDS
DONEGAL have been crowned Team of the Year at the national sports awards in Dublin tonight.
The RTE TV award, sponsored by Irish Sports Council, named the county as the winners.
Team manager Jim McGuinness and player Mark McHugh picked up the award on behalf of the team.
Jim said he was delighted to accept the award on behalf of all the coaches and players in the county.
Asked why people all around Ireland had voted for Donegal all night, Mark McHugh said he believed that people liked what the county had done after 20 years without a win.
Katie Taylor pipped Karl Lacey, Rory McIlroy and many others to win the overall Sports Star of the Year.
Unfortunately technical gremlins kicked in at the ceremony and viewers missed the announcement of that award.
As well as acknowledging this year’s sporting achievements, the RTÉ Sports Awards also paid tribute to one of Ireland’s sporting legends.
Former Republic of Ireland soccer manager Jack Charlton was honoured with the RTÉ/Irish Sports Council Hall of Fame Award.
During his 10 year reign as manager, the Republic of Ireland qualified for two World Cups, a European Championship and peaked at No.6 in the FIFA World rankings.
Jack was presented with his award by former Irish International Ray Houghton – family from Buncrana – who made his debut for the Republic of Ireland during Jack’s first match in charge against Wales in 1986.
Billy Walsh was named as the RTÉ Sports Manager of the Year in the category in which Jim McGuinness was also nominated.
The head coach with the IABA’s High Performance Unit headed up this country’s most successful Olympic Boxing team as they came home from London with a total of four medals.
