Cornish Pirates – Awards 2019/20

Cornish Pirates – Awards 2019/20
Award 4

Sportsman of the Year

It is of great credit for someone to be recognised as the Sportsman of the Year, and annually the Pirates are fortunate that there has been no shortage of candidates.

Previous winners are: 1988 Mike Toms, 1989 Robert Freethy, 1990 Chris Roberts, 1991 Nicky Brooks, 1992 Des O’Connell, 1993 Julian Gwennap, 1994 Danny Hewett, 1995 Julian Gwennap, 1996 Mark Blewett, 1997 Matt Nicholas, 1998 Julian Gwennap, 1999 Jason Atkinson, 2000 Joe Bearman, 2001 Steve Evans, 2002 Richard ‘Rocky’ Newton, 2003 James Owen, 2004 Martin Worthington, 2005 Alan Paver, 2006 Gavin Cattle, 2007 James Moore, 2008 James Moore, 2009 Iva Motusaga, 2010 Gavin Cattle, 2011 Alan Paver, 2012 Phil Burgess, 2013 Tom Riley, 2014 Tom Kessell, 2015 Tom Channon, 2016 Toby May, 2017 Jake Parker, 2018 Nicolas De Battista, 2019 Will Cargill.

The winner in 2020 is someone who decided to announce his retirement nearing the end of the season. A very fine player, he has always been keen to contribute in a variety of ways and will naturally continue to do so in his new role of Team Manager. Well done – Matt Evans.

Cornish Pirates’ Joint Head Coach Alan Paver has commented:

Matt is a top bloke, his contributions to the Pirates massive and he will be able to continue that legacy in his new role with us. When you talk about someone giving their heart and soul to a club, Matt’s is the size of a basketball. His contributions on the field will be missed by the guys but we know we will continue to see that heart in his Team Manager’s role.

 

Note: The next 2019/20 award to be announced will be at noon tomorrow.