Salford City Football Club’s joint managers, Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley – who shot to fame in the BBC Documentary ‘Class of ’92: Out of Their League’ after leading the non-league on an FA Cup run and promotion chase – have been nominated for one of the top honours at the MBNA Northwest Football Awards.
The Salford City duo, who was appointed by club owners and former-Manchester United stars, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, Gary and Phil Neville, will go head-to-head with Nick Cushing manager of Manchester City’s Women’s team, who made history becoming Women’s Super League champions for first time.
Gary Caldwell of Wigan Athletic, Sean Dyche of Burnley and John Coleman of Accrington Stanley are also nominated for the accolade, which was won by Simon Grayson of Preston North End last season and has previously been won by Sean Dyche, Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson amongst others.
Also shortlisted are six female players from the region in the Women’s Player of the Year and Women’s Rising Star categories (for the 2015/16 season) and these are decided by public vote.
Up for best Women’s Player are Simone Magill (Everton), Shanice Van De Sanden (Liverpool) and Isobel Christiansen (Man City), while the young stars up for an award are Everton’s Georgia Brougham, Niamh Charles of Liverpool and Georgia Stanway of Man City.
The winners will be announced at this year’s glitzy, black tie Awards ceremony at the Point, Emirates Old Trafford on Monday, 14th November.
The judging panel – which includes PFA’s Dennis Leman, Colin Bridgford, CEO of Manchester County FA and senior football broadcast journalists from BBC Radio Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire – had a tough job reaching their decisions, with a record number of nominations received this year.
This means that an impressive six football clubs from across the region have been shortlisted for their work in the community, recognising the unsung heroes and fantastic work that often goes unnoticed.
Everton, Manchester City, Burnley, Preston North End, Tranmere Rovers and Wigan Athletic were all picked out for their fantastic community contributions by the judging panel, which also included senior executives from Kick it Out, Women in Football, FC Business, She Kicks, the Football Foundation, the Football Medical Association, MBNA and Mob Sport.
The Fabrice Muamba Award for Outstanding Service to Football Medicine and Science also sees Preston North End’s Dr Thomas Little, Accrington Stanley’s Dr Joyce Watson and Liverpool Ladies’ Kathryn Wise all nominated.
A Lifetime Achievement Award will also be announced on the night, with past winners of this award including Kenny Dalglish MBE, Sir Alex Ferguson, Jimmy Armfield CBE, Sir Bobby Charlton and Dave Whelan.
Voting for all Player of the Year and Rising Star Award categories, which were revealed last month, remains open until noon on Friday 21 October.
The full list of finalists is:
Community Initiative of the Year, in association with the PFA
Bolton Wanderers Community Trust – Wanderers Fitter Fans
Blackburn Rovers Community Trust – Motivate!
Burnley FC in the Community – Parents on the Ball
Everton in the Community – Blue Mile
Preston North End Football Club – Women and Girl’s football at Preston North End
Wigan Athletic Community Trust – Pathway 2 Participation
Community Club of the Year- Premier League, in association with the PFA
Everton in the Community – Everton in the Community
MCFC City in the Community Foundation
Community Club of the Year- All other Leagues, in association with the PFA
Burnley FC in the Community
Preston North End Football Club
Tranmere Rovers Football Club
Wigan Athletic Community Trust
UCFB Business and Professional Services to Football
ATPI Sports Events
BDO LLP
Match Day Creative
StreamAMG
Best Club Marketing Campaign/Sponsorship or Engagement Campaign
Bolton Wanderers Community Trust – BWFC Club Together sponsored by Inchcape Volkswagen
New Vauxhall Astra – Players Prank – Liverpool Football Club
Robbie Fowler is new LFC (Store) Manager – With the LFC Credit Card
Standard Chartered – Liverpool Football Club
Tranmere Rovers Football Club – Tranmere Rovers – Super White Army 2 #SWA2
Football Journalist of the Year
David Conn – The Guardian
Jack Dearden – BBC Radio Manchester
Marc Iles – The Bolton News
Simon Stone – BBC
Fabrice Muamba Award for Outstanding Service to Football Medicine and Science, in association with the FMA
Dr Thomas Little – Preston North End Football Club
Dr Joyce Watson – Accrington Stanley Football Club
Kathryn Wise – Liverpool Ladies Football Club
Unsung Hero
Michael Kinsella – Tranmere Rovers Football Club
Phil Mason – Bolton Wanderers Football Club
Frank Melling – Wigan Athletic Community Trust
Rose Woolrich – Manchester City Football Club
Masters in Sporting Directorship Manager of the Year
Gary Caldwell – Wigan Athletic Football Club –
John Coleman – Accrington Stanley Football Club –
Nick Cushing – Manchester City Women’s Football Club
Sean Dyche – Burnley Football Club
Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley – Salford City Football Club
About MBNA Northwest Football Awards
The MBNA Northwest Football Awards (NWFA) celebrates the region’s footballing elite and pays tribute to those who have achieved footballing excellence both on and off the field in the 2015/2016 season.
