Stephen Kenny has become just the third League of Ireland manager in the event's 35 year history to win the Philips sponsored Manager of the Year award.
The 45 year-old Dubliner, who is currently in Israel with Dundalk who face Maccabi Tel Aviv in their final Europa League group game tomorrow night, was named as winner ahead of the likes of Joe Schmidt, Pat Lam and Jim Gavin as well as coaches who had enjoyed significant successes in 2016 from horse racing, basketball and Olympic rowing amongst others.
Kenny, whose wife Siobhán and daughter Caoimhe picked up the award on his behalf, said that he had not even considered taking the top prize a possibility at the start of the year and that he had been honoured to have been named as a joint monthly winner (with Gavin) for October.
He said, however, that he was "hugely hounoured," to win the overall prize and to join a list of previous winners that includes the likes of Jack Charlton, Brian Kerr and Giovanni Trapattoni from football, Jim McLaughlin and Paul Doolin from the League of Ireland and some of the most successful other managers from across other irish sports over the last three and a half decades of Irish sport including Brian Cody, Sean Boylan and Declan Kidney.
The Dubliner led Dundalk to a third straight league title in 2016 with the club also embarking on the longest European run of any Irish club in history, a run that could be extended into next year if the club can get a result in Israel.
