ANNUAL LEAGUE AWARDS ANNOUNCED

The annual awards for the Ebac Northern League were announced today.

The Arthur Clark Award given to the volunteer for their work at their club and for the league was given to Keith Greener at Chester-le-Street Town.  Keith has been at the club for 40 years.  Each year he helps the league compile the season’s fixture list as well as working behind the scenes at the club, including producing the match programme,

League chairman Glenn Youngman said: “This has been one of the most challenging years we’ve seen for many years, with hundreds of games postponed.

“But these awards are our recognition of all the hard work and success both on and off the pitch at the clubs in our league.

“As ever, thanks go to all the people involved in keeping our league flourishing:  the players, managers, coaches, volunteers, officials and spectators.  We’ll see you in a couple of months for the start of the 2024/25 season.”

Managers of the Year:

Division One – Chris Hardy at Bishop Auckland

Division Two – Ollie Hotchkiss at Easington Colliery

Players of the Year:

Division One – Scott Robson at Whickham

Division Two – Ben Fell at Blyth Town

Young Players of the Year:

Bob Moreland Award: Division One – Josh Scott at West Auckland Town

Division Two – Dan Lanning at Newcastle Blue Star

Top goal scorers:

Division One – Scott Robson at Whickham

Division Two – Levi Collins at Jarrow

Referee of the Year:

Mark McMahon

Fair Play awards:

Guisborough Town and Chester-le-Street United won the Fair Play awards for the two divisions.

The Fair Play award is based on on-field discipline with the winners accruing the fewest points for cautions, dismissals and misconduct

Respect awards:

Shildon won the Respect award for Division One and the joint winners for Division Two were Blyth Town and Chester-le-Street United.

The Respect award goes to the clubs with the fewest bookings and dismissals for dissent.

Certificates were also presented to Bishop Auckland and Blyth Town for winning the Division One and Division Two titles.

Nine clubs won administration awards for completing the season without incurring a penalty: Birtley Town, Heaton Stannington, Penrith, Tow Law Town, Whitley Bay, Chester-le-Street Town, Esh Winning, Redcar Town and Ryton & Crawcrook Albion.

£500 was also raised for the Cystic Fibrosis Fund at the RVI and St Cuthbert’s in Durham at the league’s annual dinner which was held at the Ramside Hall Hotel.  The hotel also sponsors the Arthur Clark Award.

(Pictured – Keith, Scott and Ben)