Shelbourne defender Sean Gannon picked up a unique Man of the Match prize for his performance in Tuesday’s friendly against Celtic.
18:34, 08 Jul 2026Updated 18:34, 08 Jul 2026
Shelbourne’s Sean Gannon(Image: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo)
Sean Gannon has earned a place in League of Ireland history for his record-breaking haul of nine Premier Division titles.
But the Shelbourne star has another claim to fame now.
He has sealed his spot on an illustrious list thanks to his performance in Tuesday night’s friendly against Martin O’Neill‘s Scottish Premiership and Cup winners Celtic.
Gannon was named man of the match prize after the 1-1 draw – and he won himself a very unusual prize.
There have been some strange man of the match goodies handed out around the world down through the years, and Gannon can add his to the roll of honour.
Match sponsors Chadwicks sent Sean Duggan from their marketing team to present the defender with a brand new chainsaw.
So where does it rank in the list of bizarre man of the match prizes?
Here are some of our favourites…When former Ireland striker Connor Sammon won the man of the match award for Partick Thistle in February 2018, his prize was a free pizza from sponsors Pizza Express. It looked delicious, but Sammon didn’t seem too enthused by it.Content cannot be displayed without consentNorwegian side Bryne FK have a habit of handing out odd MOTM prizes – and maybe this one was a hint to their goalkeeper Jan de Boer that he needed to muscle up. He was handed four protein-packed slabs of eggs for his performance against Molde.Content cannot be displayed without consentWho needs eggs when you can go straight to the source. Polish side Gornik Zabrze are known on these shores for their 7-0 hammering of Shamrock Rovers in the old UEFA Cup, but more recently they have hit the headlines for their bizarre man of the match prizes, including a live hen!Content cannot be displayed without consentFair play to River Plate goalkeeper Franco Armani for getting through his MOTM interview with a Burger King crown on his head. That was his prize for his performance in a 2018 win over CA Patronato.Content cannot be displayed without consentSeeing footballers emerge from the dressing room post-match with a curry or lasagne is commonplace these days, given the focus on nutrition and fueling recovery. But such treats were once the preserve of MOTM winners at Carlisle United. Goalkeeper Joe Riley won a curry from the local takeaway for his performance against Forest Green Rovers.Content cannot be displayed without consentIt’s hardly fair that after playing 90 minutes of top-level football, you have to wheel 55kg of spuds home. But that’s what happened to Maxime Soulas when he was named man of the match for Danish Superliga club Sonderjyske after their win against Nordsjaelland.Content cannot be displayed without consent