Nick Irvine honoured along with Morton and Hamilton

EHL commentator Nick Irvine was awarded the Graham Wilson Award for services to hockey journalism as the Hockey Writers’ Club (HWC) celebrated outstanding achievements in hockey at its 41st annual awards lunch held on Friday.

The event honoured exceptional performances, with Lee Morton receiving the Men’s Player of the Year award and Sophie Hamilton being named the Women’s Player of the Year.

Morton, 29, won the award for the first time after a superb year for club and country as he became the first Scottish player since Alan Forsyth to win the annual award.

Glaswegian Morton formed part of a successful Old Georgians team who won EHL bronze and the English men’s Premier Division before starring for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympics, notably scoring a double against the Netherlands in the pool stages.

Morton, who currently plays in the Hoofdklasse with Amsterdam and fresh off the Hockey India League, said: “I’m very delighted to win the award after a successful season for myself.

“It is great to get recognition from those outside that write and watch hockey and that’s something special so I am over the moon.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton won the women’s award for the first time after being a consistent force in the world game in recent seasons.

The 23-year-old starred for Surbiton at the league finals as she scored the winning goal to see the champions to their ninth title in the last 10 seasons.

Hamilton recently starred for Soorma HC in the Hockey India League where her franchise finished runners-up.

Other winners saw Simon Parker, of Southgate HC, recognised as photographer of the year while Josh Pinard, of Hockey Focus, won the first digital and social media award.

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