Great to see Seanie Maguire’s remarkable season rewarded by his fellow pros, and the gang at EA Sports.
26 goals and 10 assists for Cork City before earning a move to English Championship side Preston North End. The performances for his new club were excellent and the goals eventually followed, four of them. Throw in a couple of assists and man of the match accolades too.
The Preston fans are convinced they got a steal. Most were not surprised when Maguire finally made his Ireland debut against Moldova in the World Cup qualifiers.
Maguire then tore his hamstring in training and that impressive ascent was halted. He will be back in 2018 but it is good to see his 2017 form has been rewarded.
First up, Maguire was celebrating when his former Cork teammates secured him a league winners’ medal and then followed that by claiming the domestic double. He was then named the PFA Ireland Players’ Player of the Year and a glitzy ceremony at the Marker Hotel, in Dublin.
Maguire was in attendance at the awards with his partner, Claudia Rose Long, and was sporting a leg brace as he is still recovering from the hamstring tear that prevented him from taking part in Ireland’s World Cup playoff matches with Denmark.
The cap it all off, EA Sports have recognised his stellar year by giving Maguire a massive boost in their player ratings for Fifa 18.
Maguire’s overall rating, available to pack for the next week in an in-form Fifa Ultimate Team, has shot up from 62 to 82. Not bad going.
His pace stats are now an impressive 93. That is level with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Sadio Mané and Mo Salah but still a few off Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang [96/100].
Also at the PFA awards night, Cork manager John Caulfield [Manager of the Year] and Katie McCabe also had their accomplishments of the past year recognised.
Republic of Ireland WNT captain Katie McCabe has won the #PFAIrelandAwards17 eir Sport Senior Women's International Player of the Year pic.twitter.com/qFIA124Bal
— sportsfile (@sportsfile) November 19, 2017
