Right, here’s the final bit of business from this year’s title-winning National League campaign to box off, which is the result of the poll on our Player of the League for 2023.
Voting is now closed and the winner by a large margin is Aidan O’Shea. The Breaffy clubman got 56% in the poll, followed by Ryan O’Donoghue (last year’s winner) on 27% and Jordan Flynn on 16%.
Now in his 15th season as a Senior inter-county footballer, Aidan enjoyed an extremely productive spring campaign this year. The tactic of playing him up top and feeding him with the right kind of ball has given us an entirely new angle in attack and Aidan has thrived in a role that looks tailor-made for him.
It’s worth noting, though, that Aidan’s first MOTM display for us this year – in that madcap match against Armagh up at the Athletic Grounds – came when, in Diarmuid O’Connor’s absence, he was stationed for the most part in midfield. For his second MOTM performance of the year, up in Donegal, he was, however, operating in the full forward line and I’d say Shaun Patton’s flashbacks haven’t yet begun to abate following that one.
Congrats to Aidan on winning the 2023 Player of the Year award here on the blog and here’s to an equally productive summer campaign from him.
I totally agree with the result of this poll what a transformation since he went inside .Well done Aiden
Hopefully he will get the all Ireland medal that he has battled so hard for .as said on here previously it’s only when he is gone everyone will realise how good he was .I don’t believe we would have reached all those all Ireland finals without aidans contribution
What a great servant to foireann Mhuigeo since 2011? Comhghairdeas to Aidan agus go neiri leath i gconai! He opened our local festival in Cilldownet, Oilean Acla a few years ago, what a great gentleman who speaks really well!
A great interview last Sunday after the league final. A class act!
Aodan abú!
Well done Aidan, delighted for him. This young fella could have a bright future in the game.
Fair play to Aidan. A mighty footballer and he has adjusted his game to great affect. He’ll be needed more than ever now as we head in to the championship. Continued stellar performances, please and thanks.
Congratulations Aidan on a fantastic league.
As I have said so many times before about a player who never misses a game, puts the team ahead of his own game but takes an unmerciful amount of stick within the county – we will miss him when he is gone !
Well done Aido
Rossie Team named. Great to see David Murray corner back. A fouling machine.
It is a pity that it took so long to find out that this is Aidans most suitable and productive position.
Fair play to Kevin, but then again he has been advocating this for years , therefore extending his playing career.
Aidan made his Senior debut in 2009, Oilean acla, the year he did his Leaving Cert!
@Thatteamwontstart that team won’t start?
Keep him around the square, let the young fellows track back ,with that we will get a few more years out of him .
Congratulations Aidan and well deserved. A wonderful servant to Mayo football and it seems that he will not be fully appreciated by some until he hangs up his boots. Always seems to be the scapegoat for our failures and has been the target of totally unwarranted criticism both inside and outside Mayo, often by people trying, unsuccessfully, to be relevant and controversial. e. g. that idiot Bernard Flynn. Would love to see him get the Celtic Cross, at last.
The Aidan to full forward experiment never worked before this season and Aidan always got the blame for it. Lo and behold we finally find out it was the type of ball played into him that was the problem. A superb player and an unbelievable servant to his county.
Probably not Mayo Magic! That is a weak full back line
In my view AOS is our greatest ever.I know many will say Leeroy and with good reason but for me he carried us through qualifer after qualifer game after game.Never hid always led, played in every line other than goalline and excelled in all… amazing record of appearances from FBD League and Championship and amazing discipline given the abuse he has had on and off the pitch from BOTH mainstream media journalists and keyboard warriors…..and he is a gentleman too when you meet him.We are damn lucky to have him
Ripped apart by the media for club and county, for the best part of 10 years from ’12 to ’22.
An easy and lazy target for collective failure.
2023, Kevin plus management deliver where he is most effective, the edge of the small square.
James Carr, Ryan, Tommy and Cillian will be the next benefactors of Aidan wearing 13.
On to the Rossies, take a sledgehammer to a pumice stone and drive them home.
@1989, a gentleman he is, for sure. He’s been an admirable servant to Mayo football but our greatest ever? Not in my opinion. I’m not sure he’d even make our all time 15? On his day he can be unstoppable but unfortunately for him and us, his performances on AIF day have been less than stellar. However, in his defence, I think he has been hugely under utilised since 2018. I’ve said for years on here that FF should be his position provided it’s done the right way and not just randomly thrown into the edge of the square. McStay & Co are doing it the right way. Horan part 2 didn’t and we missed a trick by not doing so. Hopefully Aidan has another year or two in him and hopefully Mayo continue to maximise his strengths.
I thought it a bit OTT to be on knees looking toward heaven after a league final win.
Mayonaze – Winning a national title doesn’t come easy and Aidan might never get the opportunity to win another one, he has given up all his adult life to try and win some silverware year in / year out and had many sacrifices in doing so. There nothing OTT about him cherishing one of the highlights of his career, there isn’t many people outside or Kerry, Dublin, Tyrone or Mayo still playing who have a national title in their back pocket.
Super Aidan. So we’ll deserved. Has had to put up with alot of crap over the last few years. As has his family. Well he has certainly answered his critics and I hope he will reap the rewards before he has to retire which I hope is a long way off. How many times has he saved Mayo from defeat. Thank you Aidan and all your team mates for so many wonderful years of delight.
Aidan’s hounding of Shaun Patton (a very good keeper btw), will live long in the memory. Textbook pressing which yielded rich rewards. If you haven’t seen it get hold of it some, any, how.
Aiden never reacts to all the fouling over all the years – now that takes some discipline. All he has to do is save energy and he can damage any opposition in his new role.
Mayonaze….i could see why you might not think he is our best….not in top 15 though….i struggle with that
A monumental player for Mayo for over a decade. Instrumental on our greatest days – all the way back to his big hit on Noel O’Leary in 2011, which told then All-Ireland champions Cork that Mayo were finished bowing down to them in the championship. And Cork haven’t beaten us in championship since.
The abuse that he has gotten is just baffling to me. So he didn’t score on All-Ireland final day – so what? He’s not a scoring forward, and never was. He isn’t now. He’s a big man and takes so long to get his shot away that the best defenders will always get a block in. If Aidan is going to score in championship 2023, it’ll be from marks. But his potential to generate scores from winning it and dishing it to others is unlimited, if the ball into him is good enough. McStay understands this, and that’s why we’ve seen the performances we’ve seen this spring.
Aidan does have a performative side, as seen in the above photo, and in ill-advised sideline gigs he got sucked into over the years. I can’t say that I give a shit. When the physical punishment is being handed out on the field, I know that he will be right in the middle of it, taking hits, giving hits and never complaining. Nobody has given more for Mayo football. He deserves every accolade that he gets.
Spotted himself and the Donie Vaughan in Castlebar one day jumping into a car. Thankfully there was a traffic jam! Knocked on the window and nabbed them both to sign the jersey. No hassle at all, Donie invited me down the shop to get the kids jerseys signed and a photo. Both legends. AOS reminds me of Andy M coming to the end of his tenure. Just getting better with every game. His passing with both hand and feet has been sublime of late especially. Always hangs on long after the matches for the fans. # Legend
DavyJ, 100% agree with you.
The big man’s one of our greatest ever imo.