The Wiltshire FA announced their annual FA & McDonald’s Grassroots Football Awards this morning and there was fantastic news for the league itself, one of the clubs within the league and also one of the young referees who officiate on the league.
The Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League itself is proud to have won the League of the Year Award for the first time. League Secretary Jim Thorn commented following the announcement of the award by the Wiltshire FA,
“It is a deserved reward for all of the League Officers and Management Committee, who put so much time and effort into running a league how I believe clubs want it to be run. Last season, we started a Veterans Division, which provided additional work for the Fixtures, Registrations, Referees and Media Secretaries. In the initial stages, it may have been easier to dispense with the idea, but they stuck at it and our reward is a doubling of numbers in the Veterans section in our second season. Thanks also go to Lyndon Taylor at the Wiltshire FA for his support in getting the Veterans Division up and running.”
There was also good news for one of the up and coming young referees officiating on the league, with Ella Broad winning the Match Official of the Year Award, the third year in a row that Ella has won the award. Last season Ella refereed games in the Under 18 Division and was a refreees assistant in the Premier Division but with Ella also gaining a promotion to Level 5 at the end of Season 2019-20, she is now eligible to referee games in the Premier Division of the Corsham Print Wiltshire Senior League.
There was also a “double” for Stratton Juniors in the awards as the club was awarded the Club of the Year award and Chairman Magnus Painter won the Volunteer of the Year Award. Both awards reflect not only the well-run football operations of the club but also the excellent work that Stratton did for their local community when the Coronavirus struck, raising over £3,000 £3,000 to fund the supply of free meals to elderly and vulnerable residents of Stratton and surrounding areas of Swindon.
Well done to Ella, Magnus and Stratton Juniors on their respective awards and well done to all involved in the league, in whatever capacity, who have all contributed to the league winning the League of the Year award.