Jodie Loughrey named as Ireland Under-16 player of the year

Jodie Loughrey has been named as the Republic of Ireland Under-16s Women's International Player of the Year.

The Buncrana woman had a superb year and has been recognised among the 32nd FAI International Awards winners.

In October Loughrey was captain and also scored the decisive goal as  the Republic of Ireland defeated Finland 3-2 in a Women’s Under-17 European Championship qualifier in Belfast.

Loughrey has been a regular for the under-16s and under-17s.

Loughrey was handed the armband by James Scott, the under-17 team manager, and scored in the SuperCup NI against Northern Ireland, in a 4-0 win, and in a 2-2 draw with Surf Select.

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She played for the Irish Under-17s in a 3-3 draw with Portugal in September.

Back in April, Loughrey scored in an 8-0 win over Malta at a Development Tournament with the Irish Under-16s. In the same tournament, Loughrey netted in a 4-0 win over Lebanon.

Loughrey also played for the Irish Under-16s in Portugal in January.

The midfielder, who came through the ranks at Buncrana Hearts, plays for the Donegal Women's League in the Women's National League at both under-17 and under-19 levels.

In June, Loughrey was the WNL Under-17 player of the month/

Earlier this year, Loughrey led the way as Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana defeated Presentation SS from Thurles on penalties to win the FAIS Junior Girls  U-17 National Cup.

Too ban's Georgie Kelly is also among the award recipients. Now with Championship side Rotherham United, Kelly is being honoured for his exploits with Bohemians in 2022, when he was named the PFAI Player of the Year after scoring 26 goals.

Kelly scored a memorable debut goal for Rotherham against Gillingham to seal promotion from League One in April.