Waterford striker Ronan Coughlan has been named the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for November.
Coughlan scored a penalty in the Blues promotion/relegation playoff win against Cork City, helping Waterford secure promotion back to the Premier Division after a two year absence.
It was the final strike of a stellar season for Coughlan, who scored 37-goals in league and cup action.
Coughlan became the only First Division player in the 52-year history of the award to win the Player-of-the-Month twice in one season.
In a vote of SWI members, Coughlan just pipped St Patrick's Athletic's Jamie Lennon to the prize.
The midfielder was named Man of the Match in the Saints' FAI Cup Final victory over Bohemians earlier this month. Lennon’s teammate Sam Curtis finished a very close third in the ballot.
Coughlan's 37-goal haul set a new scoring record for the second tier. Surpassing Andy Myler's 29 in 2001 and equalled the all-time League of Ireland goalscoring record. A record set by Cork's Jimmy Turnbull in 1936.
The double win comes 50-years after the first and only Waterford player to earn two Player-of-the-Month awards in one season, Alfie Hale.
The striker's first win this year came in April after an extraordinary eight goals in the month. Including four in a 30-minute spell as Waterford beat Athlone Town 4-3.
Two monthly wins in one season
"It's a great achievement for myself to be the first player from the First Division to win the award twice in one season” said Coughlan.
“It's special when you win it in any month but to win the last one is extra special with the month that I had personally”.
"It was a seriously successful season for myself, as an individual” added Coughlan. “Ultimately, that's all well and good but you want to win something and achieve something at whatever club you go to”.
“That was my main objective when I came to the club, to get the promotion” added Coughlan. "We didn't do it the easy way”.
An FAI Cup winner with St Pat's in 2021, Coughlan says the playoff final win at Tallaght Stadium ranks just as highly as a career highlight.
"I had won the cup with Pats where it's a once off night. “An unbelievable spectacle and that was the first time I'd really won something”.
The forward has just completed his UEFA B License, on a course set up by the players union, PFAI. Coughlan already has an eye on coaching and management when his playing days are over.
"It's fantastic what the PFAI can offer you in terms of getting on the ladder. When I sit down with my family and my girlfriend to talk about what the future holds. I can't really see it away from football”.
“I'm a real student of the game. I'm enjoying it" enthused Coughlan
The six-man shortlist for November's Player of the Month award also featured St Patrick's Athletic's Joe Redmond. Coughlan's Waterford teammate Connor Parsons and Dylan Watts of Premier Division champions Shamrock Rovers.
