NIFG

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award was launched in 1954 and remains one of the channel's major broadcasts of the Christmas period. As well as the main Sports Personality  there are also a number of other awards as well as a local BBC Northern Ireland regional awards ceremony. Sports Personality of the Year (no overall winners) 1969 George Best (third place) 1971 George Best (second place) Lifetime Achievement Award 2002 George Best Coach of the Year BBC NI Sports 2015 Michael O'Neill ( BBC Video ) Unsung Hero Award 2015 Damien Lindsay (St James Swifts FC founder) Sports Personality of the Century (one off award) 1999 George Best (finalist) Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year 2005 David Healy 2007 David Healy BBC Sports

The CW Alcock Cup When Northern Ireland's senior team next take the field they will face Italy for the virtual honour of the CW Alcock Cup and the title: Unofficial Football World Champions [ UFWC ] . The last time we competed for the crown we were a missed penalty away from taking it from the Netherlands! The idea of the UFWC follows the boxing model, a title holder defends his belt in each match, retaining it if he wins or draws, or passing it on to the one that defeats him. The idea goes back to 1967 when Scotland defeated World Cup holders England, and were jokingly proclaimed as World Champions. Given Northern Ireland had faced England in their first post-'66 match, we could have held the UFWC title if not for the small matter of a 2-0 defeat! Formalised in 2003 by Paul Brown, the award was retrospectively dated back to the second ever international fixture in 1873, when England claimed the title with a 4-2 win over Scotland. This was a repeat of the first ever internatio...