Ex-Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray is set to collect a prestigious local award.
Former Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray has been named this year’s North East Football Writers’ Association Personality of the Year Award, which is given annually in association with The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.
The 62-year-old, from Saltburn-on-Sea, is an extremely well-regarded figure in the North East having spent stints with both the Black Cats and Middlesbrough, and has enjoyed a storied and wide-reaching career in the professional game having also represented the likes of Ipswich Town, Hibernian, West Bromwich Albion, Celtic, Coventry City, Blackburn Rovers, and Birmingham City, in either a playing or managerial capacity.
Announcing this year’s award, which will be given to Mowbray during a ceremony at the Ramside Hall Hotel in Durham on Sunday, March 1st, the North East Football Writers’ Association stated that “his fortitude, quiet dignity, and passion for the game set him apart as a man who transcends traditional football rivalries”.
The Personality of the Year Award recognises someone who uses their position in football to benefit the wider community, and was handed to Newcastle United defender Dan Burn in 2025.
What has Tony Mowbray said about receiving North East Football Writers’ Association Personality of the Year Award?
Reacting to the news, Mowbray said: “I’m so honoured to receive this special award and so proud to have been moulded in the North East and brought up with the values that people of this part of the world bring to supporting their football club.
“I first experienced Ayresome Park as a seven-year old with my dad, smelling the Bovril and watching Jack Charlton’s amazing team of the mid 70’s. St. James’ Park was where I made my league debut in 1982 against Kevin Keegan and Mick Channon up front for Newcastle and, of course, I had an amazing experience managing Sunderland at The Stadium of light, feeling the warmth and incredible support that the supporters gave the team and indeed myself.
“I feel very lucky to have experienced the huge passion and emotion football brings in our part of the world, not just in the stadiums, but in our communities, too.”
Colin Young, Secretary of the North East Football Writers’ Association, said: “Tony was an extremely popular choice for this award. He’s a man from and for the North East, and someone we can all be proud of.
“Whether he’s speaking passionately about the game, supporting community initiatives and charities, or showing immense courage in facing his own health issues, he conducts himself with an honesty and humility that inspires us all.”
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Other recipients set to be honoured at this year’s ceremony include Sunderland talisman Dan Ballard, who has won Men’s Player of the Year, Black Cats talent Katie Kitching of Sunderland, who has been named Women’s Player of the Year, Lewis Miley of Newcastle United, who has scooped Young Men’s Player of the Year, and Sunderland’s Katy Watson, who will collect the Young Women’s Player of the Year gong.
Special recognition awards are also being presented to Spennymoor Town after their FA Trophy Final journey last season, and Middlesbrough FC Women, who won promotion to the National League North and are currently chasing a second successive promotion to the WSL2.
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