Long-running sports awards in Tipperary celebrate significant milestone

Above: The Annerville Awards recipients at the presentation ceremony at the Talbot Hotel Clonmel. Included, seated centre, are Knocknagow Award (sportsperson of the past) winner Sean McLoughlin; Eamonn Wynne, Chairman of the Tipperary United Sports Panel; and Derek Nolan, representing sponsors Bulmers. Picture: John D Kelly

The Annerville awards reached a very special milestone last weekend.

The awards, which celebrate the very best of amateur sport in Tipperary, have been presented by the Tipperary United Sports Panel for the last 65 years.

And the presentation of the awards at the Talbot Hotel Clonmel last Saturday night was the 60th occasion that they have been sponsored by drinks company Bulmers.

Derek Nolan, representing Bulmers, said the company had been associated with this event since 1964 and he was delighted that it was continuing to support the awards.

He said that some famous sportspeople in Tipperary had been honoured in the past, and the 2024 award winners would now join them.

It was a fantastic achievement for all these athletes to be recognised and it was nice that they had their family and friends with them at the ceremony.

Mr Nolan said that the awards recognised achievements in many different sports.

It was really important that athletes and sports people worked together, especially when things weren’t going well.

There were days when they might not feel like training, and when they might not feel good about their sport. This is when teamwork and working with coaches got them through those difficult days.

In the course of his address Eamonn Wynne, Chairman of the Tipperary United Sports Panel, said that Bulmers’ generosity had enabled these awards to thrive and flourish over the last six decades.

Bulmers and the United Sports Panel share a desire to promote Tipperary sport and he thanked the company for their support and generosity.

Sports Panel member Seamus McCarthy, who acted as MC, said that the Panel continued to be indebted to Bulmers for their continued interest in and support for the awards.

It had been a long and fruitful relationship, one that dated back to 1964. It is the longest sporting sponsorship in the country and one that the Sports Panel truly values and appreciates.

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He said that Bulmers representative Derek Nolan is a proud Tipperary man who continues to be a wonderful supporter of the awards and what they represent.