Keane’s silver lining on his weekend to forget

Nov 26 2007 by Sam Wood, The Journal

ROY Keane and Paul Collingwood were among the local sporting heroes and up and coming stars to win prizes at the North East Sports Awards last night.

Keane was named North- East sports personality of the year at the glitzy award ceremony held at the Seaburn Centre, Sunderland.

The Sunderland manager, who saw his team beaten 7-1 at Everton on Saturday, gained the award for getting the Black Cats promoted to the Premier League in April this year.

He follows past winners Jonathan Edwards, Steve Harmison and Jonny Wilkinson.

Durham and England cricket captain Paul Collingwood picked up the prize for sporting performance of the year at the region’s top sporting awards.

Paralympian Dame Tanni Gray-Thompson was presented with the Jackie Milburn award for outstanding contribution to sport at international, national and local level.

The awards, run by Sport England, also recognised the achievements of lesser known sporting figures from the region, such as disabled footballer Gary Davies of County Durham who is captain of the England cerebral palsy team. He has just returned from the disabled world cup in Brazil.

Judith Rasmussen, regional director for Sport England in the North East, said: “It has been a fantastic sporting year in the North- East. It was a privilege to celebrate the tremendous achievements of some amazing people. We hope many will be inspired by the achievements of the winners, be it to start participating in sport for fun and enjoyment or to push even further for success.

Other winners were;

Jemma Lowe, Hartlepool – Junior Sports Award. John Stephenson, Hartlepool Harriers – Coach of the Year. Durham Cricket Club – Team of the Year. Northumberland RFU – Governing Body of the year.