The Gaelic Athletic Association Gaelic Players' Association All Stars Hurler of the of the Year, formerly known as the Vodafone Hurler of the Year and the Eircell Hurler of the Year, is a hurling

Hurling

Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...

 award, created in 1995, that honours the achievements of a hurler of outstanding excellence. The award is part of the GAA GPA All Stars Awards

GAA All Stars Awards

The All Stars Awards, currently sponsored by Vodafone, are given annually since 1971 by the Gaelic Athletic Association to the best player in each of the fifteen positions in Gaelic football and Hurling in Ireland. Additionally, one player in each code is selected as the player of the year...

, in which a "fantasy team" is picked, comprising the best players from the Hurling Championship

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in Ireland....

. Voting for the award is undertaken by a select group of journalists from television and the print media. The award itself is one of the most prestigious accolades in Gaelic games

Gaelic games

Gaelic games are sports played in Ireland under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The two main games are Gaelic football and hurling...

. In 2011 the GAA and GPA

Gaelic Players Association

The Gaelic Players Association The GPA was formed in 1999 when former IMG employee Donal O'Neill and a number of high profile inter-county players including Tyrone's Fergal Logan and Peter Canavan, Derry's Fergal McCusker and Dublin's Dessie Farrell were instrumental in the birth of the organisation...

 announced that their respective annual player awards schemes were to merge under the sponsorship of Opel

Opel

Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

.
The first merged awards were given out in 2011.

Winners

The award has been presented on seventeen occasions as of 2011, with sixteen different winners. The table also indicates where the winning player also won one or more of the other major "player of the year" awards in hurling, namely the Texaco Hurler of the Year

Texaco Hurler of the Year

The Texaco Hurler of the Year is a hurling award, created in 1958, that honours the achievements of a hurler of outstanding excellence. The award is part of the Texaco Sportstars Awards, in which Irish sportspeople from all fields are honoured....

 award (Texaco) and the now defunct Gaelic Players' Association Hurler of the Year

GPA Hurler of the Year

The GPA Hurler of the Year is a hurling award that honours the achievements of a hurler of outstanding excellence. At the end of every Hurling Championship the members of the Gaelic Players Association, the players 'union', vote on which of its members has played the best hurling in the previous...

 award (GPA).

Year		Player	County	|Notes
1995 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1995 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1995 was the 109th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition...			Clare Clare GAA The Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Clare GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Clare. The county board is also responsible for the Clare inter-county teams....
1996 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1996 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1996 was the 110th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition...			Wexford Wexford GAA The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Wexford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Wexford. The county board is also responsible for the Wexford inter-county teams.-History:Hurling has been played in...	Texaco
1997 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1997 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1997 was the 111th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition...			Clare Clare GAA The Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Clare GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Clare. The county board is also responsible for the Clare inter-county teams....	Texaco
1998 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1998 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1998 was the 112th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition...			Waterford Waterford GAA The Waterford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Waterford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for all levels of Gaelic games in County Waterford. The County Board is also responsible for the Waterford inter-county teams. The county...
1999 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1999 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1999 was the 113th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition...			Cork	Texaco
2000 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2000 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2000 was the 114th edition of Ireland’s premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran from May to September of that year, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin on 10 September...			Kilkenny Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...	Texaco
2001 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2001 -Ulster Senior Hurling Championship:-----------------All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship:Note: * = Provincial Champion, = Replay-------------------------Season:-Single game:-References:...			Kilkenny Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...	Texaco, GPA
2002 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2002 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2002 was the 116th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition...			Kilkenny Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...	Texaco, GPA
2003 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2003 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2003 was the 117th since its establishment in 1887. The first matches of the season were played in May 2003, and the championship ended on 14 September 2003...			Kilkenny Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...	Texaco, GPA
2004 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2004 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2004 was the 118th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Cork won the championship, beating Kilkenny 0-17 to 0-9 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.-Participating counties:-Calendar:...			Cork	Texaco, GPA
2005 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2005 The Guinness Hurling Championship 2005 began on Sunday, May 15, 2005. The 2005 championship saw some change with the introduction of a new format whereby after the provincial championships and the two new qualifying groups were completed, eight teams were left to face off in four quarter finals....			Cork	Texaco
2006 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2006 The Guinness Hurling Championship 2006 was won by Kilkenny, who defeated holders Cork in the All-Ireland final.-Format:The format of the 2006 championship remained the same as in 2005:...			Kilkenny Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...	Texaco, GPA
2007 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2007 The 121st All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship commenced in May 2007 and was retained by holders Kilkenny after overwhelming Limerick in the final on Sunday 2 September.-Format:The format of the 2007 championship remains the same as in 2006:...			Waterford Waterford GAA The Waterford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Waterford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for all levels of Gaelic games in County Waterford. The County Board is also responsible for the Waterford inter-county teams. The county...	Texaco, GPA
2008 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2008 The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship 2008 was the 122nd since its establishment in 1887. The first matches of the season were played on 25 May 2008, and the championship ended on 7 September 2008...			Kilkenny Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...	Texaco, GPA
2009 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2009 -Munster Senior Hurling Championship:---------------------Qualifiers:-------------------------Relegation play-offs:----...			Kilkenny Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...	Texaco, GPA
2010 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2010 The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship 2010 was the 114th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition since its establishment in 1887. A total of thirteen teams competed in the championship, with Tipperary unseating the four-time defending champions Kilkenny by 4-17 to 1-18 in the...			Tipperary Tipperary GAA The Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or C is one of over 30 regional executive boards throughout the world. These executive boards are known as County Boards even though some no longer correspond to the area under the jurisdiction of the counties from which their names...	Texaco, GPA
2011 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2011 The 2011 GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship was the 123rd staging of the All-Ireland championship since its establishment in 1887. The draw for the 2011 fixtures took place on 7 October 2010. The championship began on 14 May and ended on 4 September 2011...			Kilkenny Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...	Texaco

Winners by county

County	|Number of wins	Kilkenny Kilkenny GAA The Kilkenny County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kilkenny. The county board has its head office and main grounds at Nowlan Park and is also responsible for Kilkenny inter-county teams...	7	2000 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2000 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2000 was the 114th edition of Ireland’s premier hurling knockout competition. The championship ran from May to September of that year, culminating with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin on 10 September... , 2002 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2002 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2002 was the 116th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition... , 2003 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2003 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2003 was the 117th since its establishment in 1887. The first matches of the season were played in May 2003, and the championship ended on 14 September 2003... , 2006 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2006 The Guinness Hurling Championship 2006 was won by Kilkenny, who defeated holders Cork in the All-Ireland final.-Format:The format of the 2006 championship remained the same as in 2005:... , 2008 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2008 The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship 2008 was the 122nd since its establishment in 1887. The first matches of the season were played on 25 May 2008, and the championship ended on 7 September 2008... , 2009 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2009 -Munster Senior Hurling Championship:---------------------Qualifiers:-------------------------Relegation play-offs:----... , 2011 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2011 The 2011 GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship was the 123rd staging of the All-Ireland championship since its establishment in 1887. The draw for the 2011 fixtures took place on 7 October 2010. The championship began on 14 May and ended on 4 September 2011...
Cork	3	1999 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1999 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1999 was the 113th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition... , 2004 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2004 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 2004 was the 118th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition. Cork won the championship, beating Kilkenny 0-17 to 0-9 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.-Participating counties:-Calendar:... , 2005 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2005 The Guinness Hurling Championship 2005 began on Sunday, May 15, 2005. The 2005 championship saw some change with the introduction of a new format whereby after the provincial championships and the two new qualifying groups were completed, eight teams were left to face off in four quarter finals....
Clare Clare GAA The Clare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Clare GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Clare. The county board is also responsible for the Clare inter-county teams....	2	1995 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1995 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1995 was the 109th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition... , 1997 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1997 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1997 was the 111th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition...
Tipperary Tipperary GAA The Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or C is one of over 30 regional executive boards throughout the world. These executive boards are known as County Boards even though some no longer correspond to the area under the jurisdiction of the counties from which their names...	2	2001 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2001 -Ulster Senior Hurling Championship:-----------------All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship:Note: * = Provincial Champion, = Replay-------------------------Season:-Single game:-References:... , 2010 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2010 The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship 2010 was the 114th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition since its establishment in 1887. A total of thirteen teams competed in the championship, with Tipperary unseating the four-time defending champions Kilkenny by 4-17 to 1-18 in the...
Waterford Waterford GAA The Waterford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Waterford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for all levels of Gaelic games in County Waterford. The County Board is also responsible for the Waterford inter-county teams. The county...	2	1998 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1998 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1998 was the 112th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition... , 2007 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2007 The 121st All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship commenced in May 2007 and was retained by holders Kilkenny after overwhelming Limerick in the final on Sunday 2 September.-Format:The format of the 2007 championship remains the same as in 2006:...
Wexford Wexford GAA The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Wexford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Wexford. The county board is also responsible for the Wexford inter-county teams.-History:Hurling has been played in...	1	1996 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1996 The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1996 was the 110th staging of Ireland's premier hurling knock-out competition...