Cumberland FA has been saluting the grassroot volunteers who help keep the game ticking over so well in the county.
The annual Grassroots Football awards were presented at a function hosted by the county FA in Cockermouth.
Each year, the awards are an opportunity to celebrate the people who make grassroots football great for everyone across Cumberland as volunteers take on a variety of roles and make a positive difference.
In 2023, more than 5,000 nominations were made across the country, with Cumberland one of the county FAs who surpassed their ‘personal best’ of nominations received for the categories. The grassroots community nominate those who they think have made an impact.
England Amputee International Thomas Atkinson was the special guest to present the winners with their awards.
Thomas, with 26 England caps plays his football for Portsmouth FC and Legia Warsaw. Starting as a youngster playing outfield for Carlisle City and then Northbank, Thomas was signposted to an England Amputee session and made his England Under-21 debut at 15 as a goalkeeper before a full call up at 17.
At only 20 years old, Thomas has already achieved so much, including 1 Nations League Winner 2023, 1 Nations League Best Goalkeeper 2023, 1 Champions League Best Goalkeeper 2023, 3 League Cups, 1 EAFA Premiership Title, 2 EAFA Premiership Golden Glove
Winners
Coach Of The Year – Female Pathway – Katie Adams (Gillford Park)
Katie has made a huge impact supporting girls football in Carlisle for a number of years, including leading the Weetabix Wildcats sessions which have seen more than 160 taking part since it began in 2020.
Having led a number of Gillford Park JFC teams and coached at Cumbria Football Academy delivering on the girls pathway, Katie’s positive impact has been seen on many female footballers across the county.
On the nomination form, one comment included “Katie is an amazing coach, she puts the girls first and foremost in her sessions, she definitely wants the girls to achieve their potential and for girls football to improve and grow in Carlisle and the surrounding areas.”
Coach Of The Year – Male Pathway – Damon McRea (Aspatria JFC)
Damon has been a key driver of Aspatria Junior Football Club since it restarted following the pandemic. Prior to the restart, children in the town had to travel elsewhere to play football or simply miss out. As well as coaching a number of teams, the award winner is also the club secretary.
His passion, dedication and desire to educate not only the children on the game of football, but also the parents, carers and club coaches too. He makes it his mission to ensure the children have a safe space to learn, make mistakes and have fun with no pressure from the side lines.
The nomination said: “The whole town is thriving when there are matches on and they are so well attended. It’s more than football it’s a community. Damon made this happen.”
Coach Of The Year – Disability Pathway – Roman Todd (Windscale Pan Disability)
Roman has been running the Windscale disability team for a number of years and has been a fundamental reason for their continued growth, from sorting kits to organising training and matches.
Roman is a fantastic role model, who’s hard work and commitment has had a positive impact on so many players in the grassroots game.
On his nomination, one said: “I would love for him to get this award to show that his hard work and commitment has not gone unnoticed and to show how much he is appreciated”
Grounds Team Of The Year – Raymond Patterson (Cleator Moor Celtic)
Ray is a retired volunteer who cuts three pitches week in week out and keeps the Cleator Football pitches in top condition.
Not only does he use his time to look after the pitches, he sorts the waste, toilets, organises the seeding, fertilising and basically has a hand in everything to provide children with the safe space to play football.
According to the nomination form, the surfaces have improved dramatically because of Ray and therefore the experience for the children has hugely improved.
Included in the nomination was the comment: “We cannot play and have the exceptional surface like we do without Raymond’s outstanding dedication.”
Club Of The Year – Workington Diamonds FC
The growth of the club has been plain to see. Starting with girl’s teams, in seven years Workington Diamonds FC have grown from having just seven girls interested to providing 21 teams with regular playing opportunities with girl’s teams, boys (mixed) teams, disability teams as well as a women’s team linked to the club.
Around 400 players were involved in the club at the end of the 2023 season and the club now have their own place to train and play football with home and away changing rooms along with toilet facilities and a cafe area.
Diamonds consider themselves as one big football family, making everyone feel welcome.
Match Official Of The Year – Georgia Vyse
Georgia was promoted twice during the 2022-23 season, going Level 7 to Level 6 on the Men’s Referee Promotion Pathway and 4w to 3w on the Women’s Referee Promotion Pathway. Her determination saw her develop considerably, from starting her referee course to refereeing an England Women’s U15 game at St George’s Park in March 2023.
Georgia is really keen to learn and has benefited from being in the County CORE and National CORE Groups seeking out opportunities and has signed up for the FA Women’s Referee Emerging Talent Programme.
Georgia officiated the Cumberland FA Women’s Cup Final in 2023.
New Volunteer Of The Year – Robyn Jewell (Clear Your Head Kick About)
With initial support from Cumberland FA, Robyn set up a free football session on a Wednesday evening at Cumberland Sports Stadium. Robyn continued the ‘Clear your Head Kickabouts’ giving up Wednesday evenings to enable opportunities for the turn up and play sessions.
Robyn ensured the sessions were welcoming for all and provided a safe environment for people to come along for a kickabout.
The nomination said: “It’s an environment where you aren’t judged and don’t feel pressured to talk about your feeling or problems. The sessions are something to look forward to during the week and is an escape from the stresses of work and home life. It also a good excuse to get out the house and exercise.”
Young Volunteer Of The Year – Ben Welsh (Langwathby FC)
Ben has been nominated for a number of years in the Ground Team category and was once again nominated this year. As a 21-year-old, Ben has volunteered tirelessly for a number of years with Langwathby FC gaining funding from the Football Foundation to support the upgrade of the pitches and continued maintenance.
Ben maintains three pitches supporting both adult and junior teams. He also supports the maintenance of stadium pitches at Penrith AFC and Carlisle United FC and it’s said he lives for pitch work!
The number of hours Ben puts in to maintain the pitches is commendable and is appreciated locally and across the county when opposition teams play on them. He is constantly looking to learn and improve.
The fact that Ben is still in the young volunteer category is testament to the amount of years he has put into the grassroots game, he seems to have been around for many many years!
One comment on the nomination form said: “Our pitches have improved enormously since his input. We are always complimented on how good they play and well they look.”
The Lioness Award – Whitehaven AFC
The club have completed a 12-13 year project to have a full Girls & Ladies Football Pathway offering an inclusive opportunity to local girls to join the club from Under-6s all the way to a Senior Ladies Team.
At the end of 2023, with 15 teams, the impact is huge for the local area with those at the club proud to be part of such an inclusive and fun environment with opportunities to progress further for players.
However, there are many other girls who love the game for the social and health reasons and it’s given them huge amounts of self-esteem, confidence and life skills.
It has been a huge team effort to get the club to where they are now, from a handful of girls of mixed ages, to now having every year group covered, most with multiple teams. All coaches are qualified and it’s opened up so many doors to so many people as well as giving so many great memories!
The club also hosted The FA’s Stepping Over the Sidelines workshop supporting female volunteers by bringing parents on board to build their confidence to support the girl’s teams in the future.
Positive Football Environment Award – Rob Fowler
Rob supported his team at St Bees from Under-7 to Under-13. During this time wins were in short supply, however they managed to fulfil pretty much every fixture and have healthy numbers at training.
The nomination told us, this is testament to Rob, his approach and his personality. He is only ever positive with his instructions and behaviours and created an excellent atmosphere and culture within the team.
Rob has never turned a player away and has ensured that all players who are available have the chance to play. Being part of a team has clearly positively impacted the players well-being and friendships across different schools and social groups have been made that will last forever and this is all due to the fact that they feel comfortable and know that no matter what or how they play or if they make a mistake they will not be shouted at or made to feel worse as this is just not the coaches style.
The nomination form said: “There won’t be many people who deserve an award more than Rob. In fact the only person who would say they didn’t deserve it would be Rob and that tells you everything you need to know about him.”
Highly commended
The quality of the nominations was so great, that there were a number of nominees shortlisted deserve recognition for their work and dedication in the grassroots game and have been given a highly commended award:
Coach Of The Year – Female Pathway
- Mark Ewing (Northbank JFC)
- Dave Lace (Whitehaven AFC)
- Patrick Malkinson (Bransty Rangers JFC)
- Mark Nichols (Whitehaven AFC)
- Jamie Reay (Allerdale Girls)
- James Telford (Whitehaven AFC)
Coach Of The Year –Male Pathway
- Mark Blaylock (Warwick Wanderers JFC)
- Dan Percival (Warwick Wanderers JFC)
- Steven Stoddart (Maryport Athletic JFC)
- Lee Tedford (Northbank JFC)
- Anne Taylor (Silloth JFC)
- Shaun Todhunter (Carlisle Centurions JFC)
Coach Of The Year – Disability Pathway
- Paul Allen (Carlisle Reivers)
- Andy Rush (Workington Super Diamonds)
Club Of The Year
- Allerdale Girls
- Gosforth
- Silloth Juniors FC
Grounds Team Of The Year
- Tom Banks (Kirkoswald FC)
- Geoff Turrell (Windscale AFC)
- Ben Welsh (Langwathby FC)
Match Official Of The Year
- Andrew Carruthers
- Joe Fell
- Alex Kitchen
- Seb O’Reilly
- Jackson Slack
- Lee Tedford
Young Volunteer Of The Year
- Erin Duffy (Whitehaven AFC)
- Jasmin Irwin (Silloth JFC)
New Volunteer Of The Year
- Gay Frankland (Whitehaven AFC)
- Scott Whittle (Silloth JFC)
The Lioness Award
- Allerdale Wildcats
- Gillford Park Wildcats
Positive Football Environment Award
- Katie Adams (Gillford Park Wildcats)
- Simon McCubbing (Creighton Rangers)
- Dave Lace (Whitehaven AFC)
- Peter Shepherd (Northbank FC)
