Rachel Furness was surprised by the sports personality of the year.
Rachel Furness was named the 2021 NI Sports Personality of the Year.
Northern Ireland was the only country to qualify for Women's Euro 2022.
She became Northern Ireland's all-time top scorer in November, scoring twice against North Macedonia to take her career tally to 38.
Furness was surprised by the award.
She is the latest in a long line of recipients of the annual honour.
Furness said that she was only the second woman to ever win the award, but that it wasn't just about her, it was about her team.
I want to give this award to my teammates in the Northern Ireland squad. We have achieved a lot over the past year and we hope this is the beginning of something really special.
Furness broke the NI goals record.
Furness was selected as the overall winner by the judging panel. Special mention was made of the achievements of the two gold medal winners from the Paralympics, as well as the All Ireland Football Championship success of the team.
The success of the Northern Ireland women's international team really stood out for the panel, according to Neil Brittain, executive editor of the NI edition of the BBC Sport NI.
"Rachel has been an inspiration to the team, leading by example, and they have gone from strength to strength." She may have been injured for the play-off decider but one of the most memorable images of 2021 is her cheering her team-mates on from the side-lines with her crutches in the air.
She battled back from that setback to break the record for international goals, and I have no doubt that she has inspired a generation of young girls and boys to take up the game.
The judging panel included Olympic gold medallist Lady Mary Peters, Kenny Archer, and Jim Gracey, as well as panel chair, Thomas Kane.
