Shane Long's goal against Germany has been voted as the most memorable moment on 2015, in a recent survey.
The annual PSG Sport and Sponsorship Sentiment Index is in it's sixth year, and surveyed 1,000 people around the country. Long's goal finished ahead of the injury to Paul O'Connell against France in Cardiff and the Six Nations late night celebrations in Murrayfield.
The former Ireland rugby captain O'Connell was named as Ireland's most admired athlete, gaining 22% of the votes. He finished ahead of Olympic gold medallist and World Champion Katie Taylor, with the UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor finishing in third place.
Despite their quarter-final loss to Argentina in the World Cup, the Ireland men's rugby team were named as the Team of the Year. Joe Schmidt's side finished won the Six Nations in March for the second year in a row and finished ahead of the Irish men's football team and the women's rugby team.
The football team's qualification for Euro 2016 was seen as the greatest achievement of the year. Martin O'Neill's side defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina in a two-legged play off to reach France next summer. Unsurprisingly, Ireland's participation in Euro 2016 was seen as the event most fans are looking forward to.
Football was voted as the countries favourite sport, gaining over 20% of the votes. Gaelic Games and Rugby both received 16% with Tennis and Swimming completing the top five.
. @ShaneLong7's goal for @FAIreland against Germany is the Most Memorable Irish Sporting Moment of 2015 #sponsindex pic.twitter.com/bzvznVtl1g
— PSG Sponsorship (@PSGSponsorship) December 18, 2015
Speaking After the release of the Sport and Sponsorship Sentiment Index, Mick O’Keeffe, Chief Executive of PSG Communications said; “The Sports and Sponsorship Sentiment Index gives us huge insight into the passion Irish people have for sport and their sporting allegiances and preferences and we feel it is a vital piece of thorough research and we are proud to detail the findings.”
Kieran McSweeney, Account Director with PSG Sponsorship said; “There were the highs of the Six Nations wins, gold medals and the soccer team’s victories against Germany and Bosnia to the lows of the Rugby World Cup exit and defeat to Poland in Euro 2016 qualifiers. The see-saw nature of these two teams’ fortunes in particular dominate the results of the 2015 ‘SSSI’. Despite the exit from the Rugby World Cup, Joe Schmidt’s side still claim the title of Team of the Year while that never-to-be-forgotten Shane Long goal is unsurprisingly the top sporting moment."
The research was carried out between the 10th and 15th December, which may account for Conor McGregor's knockout of Jose Aldo not featuring on the list of most memorable moments. McSweeney though added that McGregor's popularity had increased since last year. "It is interesting to see the impact Conor McGregor has had was not a flash in the pan. Last year he was the country’s sixth Most Admired Sports Star while this year he moves up to third as his popularity and profile continue to rise."
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