The RTÉ Sports Manager of the Year Award is an award given annually as part of the RTÉ Sports Awards ceremony each December. The award is given to the manager who was considered to have made the most substantive contribution to Irish sport in that year. The award is decided by RTÉ Sport department editorial staff.
The award was introduced in 2011 in recognition of the huge effort made behind the scenes and on the sidelines. The first recipient of the award was association football manager Giovanni Trapattoni. The award has been presented to people representing a wide range of sports. The most recent award was presented in 2023 to Andy Farrell.
Winners
By year
| Year | Nationality | Winner | Sport | Manager of | Rationale | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 |  ITA
|
Giovanni Trapattoni | Football |  Republic of Ireland men's national football team
|
for guiding the Republic of Ireland to Euro 2012 qualification, the team's first appearance at a major tournament in ten years. | |
| 2012 | IRL
|
Billy Walsh | Boxing | Olympic team
|
for guiding the Irish Olympic boxing team to four medals in total in London, including one gold. | |
| 2013 | IRL
|
Davy Fitzgerald | Hurling |  Clare senior hurling team
|
for guiding the Clare senior hurling team to the All-Ireland title for the first time since 1997. | |
| 2014 |  NZL
|
Joe Schmidt | Rugby union | Ireland men's national rugby union team
|
for guiding Ireland to RBS Six Nations glory and ending the year with a highest ever ranking of third in the world. | |
| 2015 |  NIR
|
Michael O'Neill | Football | Northern Ireland men's national football team
|
for guiding Northern Ireland to win their group and qualify for Euro 2016. | |
| 2016 | IRL
|
Stephen Kenny | Football | Dundalk F. C.
|
for guiding his team to a third successive League of Ireland Premier Division and achieving a first-ever victory for an Irish side in the group stage of European football. | |
| 2017 | IRL
|
Aidan O'Brien | Horse racing | Ballydoyle
|
for setting a new world record by training 26 Group 1 winners in one calendar year. | |
| 2018 | IRL
|
Graham Shaw | Field hockey | Ireland women's national hockey team
|
for guiding his team to a runners-up spot at the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup. | |
| 2019 | IRL
|
Jim Gavin | Gaelic football | Dublin men's gaelic football team
|
record-breaking five successive All-Ireland Championships. | |
| 2020 | IRL
|
John Kiely | Hurling | Limerick Hurling Team
|
Winners of the 2020 Munster Senior Hurling Championship, the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and the 2020 National Hurling League. | |
| 2021 | IRE
|
Dominic Casey | Rowing | Rowing Ireland
|
for Ireland’s first ever rowing Olympic gold medal. | |
| 2022 |  NED
|
Vera Pauw | Football | Republic of Ireland women's national football team
|
for guiding the Republic of Ireland to the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification, which was the team's first appearance at a major tournament. | |
| 2023 |  ENG
|
Andy Farrell | Rugby Union | Ireland men's national rugby union team
|
for guiding Ireland to a Six Nations title and Grand Slam. | |
| 2024 | IRE
|
Willie Mullins | Horse Racing | Carlow | Won the Grand National and had 9 winners at Cheltenham |
By nationality
This table lists the total number of awards won by managers of each nationality based on the principle of jus soli.
| Nationality | Number of wins |
|---|---|
| Ireland
|
9 |
| England
|
1 |
| Italy
|
1 |
| Netherlands
|
1 |
| New Zealand
|
1 |
| Northern Ireland
|
1 |
rBy sport
This table lists the total number of awards won by managers' sporting profession.
| Sporting profession | Number of wins |
|---|---|
| Football | 4 |
| Hurling | 2 |
| Rugby union | 2 |
| Horse racing | 2 |
| Boxing | 1 |
| Gaelic football | 1 |
| Field hockey | 1 |
| Rowing | 1 |
References
- "RTÉ Sports Awards shortlist revealed". RTÉ Sport. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- "McIlroy, Leinster and Trap win RTÉ awards". RTÉ Sport. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- "Katie Taylor named RTÉ Sports Person of the Year". RTÉ Sport. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- "Davy Fitz' scoops Manager's award". Hogan Stand website. 22 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- McCahill, Elaine (22 December 2014). "Year of triumph ends in more glory for Rory, Joe and BOD". The Herald. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
- "Michael Conlan named RTÉ Sport Person of the Year". RTÉ Sport. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- "Stephen Kenny lands RTÉ Manager of the Year award". RTÉ Sport. 17 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
- "Republic of Ireland's James McClean named 2017 RTE Sportsperson of the Year". The 42. 16 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
- "Ireland women's hockey coach Graham Shaw beats host of top contenders to win RTÉ Manager of the Year award". Irish Independent. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
- "Shane Lowry is RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year 2019". RTE Sport. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- "Katie Taylor named RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year for 2020". The 42. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
- "The RTÉ Sport Awards 2021 winners revealed – About RTÉ". about.rte.ie. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
- Haughan, Eric (17 December 2022). "Recap: RTÉ Sport Awards 2022". RTÉ.ie. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
- "The RTÉ Sport Awards 2023 winners revealed – About RTÉ". about.rte.ie. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
| RTÉ Sports Awards | |
|---|---|
| Awards | |