Shelbourne midfielder Harry Wood has been named the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for August.
The 23-year-old Englishman topped the poll of SWI members with six points to spare over runner-up Rory Gaffney of Shamrock Rovers and third-placed Mason Melia of St Patrick’s Athletic to claim his first ever monthly award.
Shelbourne are currently fourth in the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division table and have UEFA Conference League ties against Hacken, Shkendita, Drita, AZ Alkmaar, Crystal Palace and Celje to look forward to.
"It’s a first for me and it’s an award that I will cherish for the rest of my life," said Wood.
"I am relishing my time at Shelbourne. It’s been a season for firsts for me in that I have never played European football before.
"It’s great for us to have achieved European qualification and I am really looking forward to our Conference campaign."
Half-time: Shelbourne 1-0 Linfield
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 21, 2025
A second penalty in four minutes for the hosts and Harry Wood converts this one
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Wood had a stellar August, scoring in both legs as the Reds won their play-off with Linfield to progress to the league phase, and he is eagerly looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead this autumn.
"It’s a great experience for us to have the opportunity to play against top-quality opposition," he said.
"We have to make the most of it because it might not come around again, even though that’s a target for us this season. We will give every team we play the respect they deserve that’s for sure," he added.
The Shels’ No 7 was at the Manchester United academy before joining Hull City's, and had loan spells with Scunthorpe United, Shelbourne (2023) and Grimsby Town after turning pro with the Tigers.
He joined the Dubliners on a permanent, two-and-a-half-year contract in July last year and scored the winning goal away to Derry City on the last day of last season as Shels won their first league title since 2006.
The holders have been well off the pace of runaway league leaders Shamrock Rovers but remain in contention to qualify for Europe again with eight games remaining, having gone the last five unbeaten.
"Our league season is all about consistency at this stage and we need to keep building on our performances," said Wood. "It's a case of keep the momentum going now to the end of the league campaign."
Watch the Sports Direct FAI Cup quarter-finals with RTÉ Sport. Drogheda United v Shamrock Rovers on Friday from 7pm and St Patrick's Athletic v Galway United on Sunday from 5.30pm. Both matches on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
