Gary Twigg on his first season at Rovers

Gary Twigg interview following this years' PFAI awards where he was named the 2009 Ford PFAI Player of the Year. 

By Rachel Beresford, Ian Gaughran and Sharon Smith from www.pfai.ie

Twigg was the deserved recipient at the PFAI Awards banquet held at the Burlington Hotel. He beat off competition from Bohemians' trio Brian Shelley, Gary Deegan and Jason Byrne; Dundalk's Chris Turner and Raffaele Cretaro of Sligo Rovers.

PFAI Player of the Year Gary Twigg arrived at Rovers from Scottish club Brechin City, where he played under manager Michael O'Neill, and he credits the manager with a lot of his success this season, "The manager definitely had a lot to do with Rovers' and my own personal success this season and his influence on the side has been very obvious. He gave me a lot of encouragement and freedom to go out every week and show what I can do and that has obviously paid off.  To be honest I owe a lot him."

Twigg's goal tally of 24 was just one shy of the league's all-time record and he paid tribute to his teammates: "I don't go and beat ten players to score goals, so I have to give credit to the lads for supplying me with the chances to score goals. The lads have been unbelievable all year so thanks must go to them."

Speaking after claiming the prestigious award, the Scottish striker said that league glory is Rovers' number priority for next season and admits that finally having a home of their own was a big benefit for Rovers this season and recognises that the Rovers' fans played a big part in their rapid rise up the league table, and he is confident the Tallaghtmen can go one better in 2010.

"Obviously we can improve in certain areas and the manager will be looking to strengthen the squad in the close season," he said. "After coming so close to ending Bohemians' recent domination we'll be looking to come back next season and win the league. That's what I think we can do."

It's no secret that Twigg enjoys a special relationship with Rovers' fans, and he paid tribute to the unbelievable support they have received in their first season in Tallaght, "We have the best fans in the league bar none, and it inspires us week in week out to produce the goods for them.

"Playing in front of six thousand fans every week gives the players such a lift, and it's because of the fans that we put such a great run together and came so close to winning the league. Hopefully next season we can go one better and bring them home some silverware, because they really deserve it.

"If you ask any Rovers fan what they want, it's a league winner's medal, and I'm no different, I want a league winner's medal.  It's been a long time since Rovers won the league, too long in fact. I know the rivalry between Bohs and Rovers, and I know it hurts the fans to see Bohs going so well. We've had our settling in period in Tallaght, now the fans will expect us to end this drought and that's exactly what we're aiming to do."

The Scotsman is also looking forward to his first European campaign and believes Rovers can make an impact on the Europa League, "It's something to really look forward to, I haven't played in Europe myself, but I'm confident we can progress. You look at how well the other League of Ireland teams have done this year, so hopefully we can pick it up from there, do ourselves proud, and more importantly do the fans and the League of Ireland proud."

Rovers' fans can sleep easy too, as Twigg has no intentions of going anywhere in the near future. He could not have spoke more highly of how the club has handled its business during such an uncertain time in the league, "Obviously everyone understands the situation at the moment but I'm more than happy here. To be honest I think every other club aspires to be like Rovers, to have the stability we have here. I'm under contract and I'm fully focussed on winning trophies for Rovers."