We’re delighted to announce the Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA winners and highly commended recipients of the England Football Grassroots Football Awards 2023.

The Grassroots Football Awards is our opportunity to celebrate the people and organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to grassroots football in the Sheffield & Hallamshire region. 

The local football community responded in their droves to our call out to nominate their grassroots heroes, with over 160 nominations received across the eleven award categories. We’d like to thank every single person who took the time to make a nomination. 

We announced all our winners and highly commended nominees on our Twitter channel this morning - click here to view the thread.

How the Awards Were Judged
An independent judging panel reviewed all the nominations anonymously, and selected winners and highly commended awards based on the positive impact a nominee has made on grassroots football.

Thank you to our judges for helping us to recognise our grassroots heroes:

• Becca Gallagher, Development Manager, Yorkshire Sport Foundation
• Chris Siddall, Head of Sport, Leisure and Strategic Partnerships, Rotherham Council
• Safiya Saeed, Project Manager (Volunteer), Reach up Youth
• Zanib Rasool, Community Projects Manager, Rotherham United Community Sports Trust

Award Winners
The following individuals were selected as local winners for the Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA and have been submitted to the National England Football judging panel for consideration for a national England Football Grassroots Football Award.

Category: The Lioness Award
Winner: Gail Fletcher
Club: Silver Strikers

Category: Grassroots Club of the Year
Winner: Kiveton Park FC

Category: Grassroots Grounds Team of the Year
Winner: Malcolm Geal
Club: Nortonthorpe Sports Club (Scissett FC)

Category: Grassroots Coach of the Year Male Pathway
Winner: David Johnson
Club: Tinsley JFC

Category: Grassroots Coach of the Year Female pathway
Winner: John Bridgman
Club: Hallam Rangers U12 Girls

Category: Grassroots Coach of the Year – Disability Pathway
Winner: Nathan Pearson
Club: Derek Dooley Football Academy

Category: Match official of the Year
Winner: Vance Warner

Category: Young Volunteer of the Year
Winner: Jack Johnson
Club: Elite Football Academy

Category: Grassroots New Volunteer of the Year
Winner: Helen Knight
Club: Barnsley & District Schools FA

Category: Positive Football Environment Award
Winner: Mike Stylianou
League: South Yorkshire Ability Counts League 

Category: League of the Year
Winner: South Yorkshire Ability Counts League

Highly Commended Awards
With so many incredible nominations, the judging panel also awarded a number of highly commended nominations where they felt the nominee only just missed on winning the category and deserved recognition for their incredible commitment to grassroots football.

Category: The Lioness Award
Highly Commended: Meg Wylde
Club: Millmoor Juniors

Category: Grassroots Club of the Year
Highly Commended: Darnall Diamonds

Category: Grassroots Grounds Team of the Year
Highly Commended: Will Burden 
Club: Wickersley Youth JFC

Category: Grassroots Coach of the Year Male Pathway
Highly Commended: Steven Beckitt
Club: Swinton Spartans

Category: Grassroots Coach of the Year – Female Pathway
Highly Commended: Holly Emery
Club: Sprotbrough and Cusworth Crusaders

Category: Grassroots Coach of the Year – Disability Pathway
Highly Commended: Martin Taylor
Club: Club Doncaster Titans

Category: Match official of the Year
Highly Commended: Jake Rhodes
Club: Beighton Magpies U13 Blue

Category: Young Volunteer of the Year
Highly Commended: Ryan Elliot
Club: Rossington Main FC

Category: Positive Football Environment Award
Highly Commended: Jan Milner
League: Doncaster Retro Rovers Walking Football Club

Category: New Volunteer of the Year
Highly Commended: Daniel Goddard
Club: Dearne & District FC

Category: League of the Year
Highly Commended: Doncaster & District Junior Sunday League

The Geldart Award
The Geldart Award was donated to the Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA in 2018 by David Geldart in memory of his parents, who did so much to establish and develop youth football in the Worksop area in the 1970s and 80s.

Winner: Steven Beckitt
Club: Swinton Spartans

What happens next?
Our marketing team will be visiting all our winners to capture their exceptional stories in a professional video, which we will share on our website and social media channels.
We’ll also be celebrating and recognising the fantastic achievements of all our grassroots heroes at a local awards ceremony later in the year (date and venue tbc).

If you have any enquiries relating to the awards, please contact marketing@sheffieldfa.co.uk