Many thanks to everyone who supported the Annual Dinner and Awards Night and who contributed to what was a highly successful evening.
The clubhouse looked at its best – the tables were decorated with black and red serviettes while our thanks to Mrs Phyllis Ammonds for the flower arrangements on the table.
As for the meal itself, hats off to Hafod Catering who provided us with an excellent meal – all those with whom I spoke afterwards felt it was probably the best meal we had enjoyed in years at a Dinner.
It was good to see so many of the Under 17s there on the night – fitting, perhaps, that they were there in numbers to mark the end of an era in which they, as a squad, have played together for the past decade.
Of course, we hope they will remain with the club going forward as they look to head into senior football.
Thanks to the managers for their speeches which were generally somewhere near the time frame they had been given by the vice-chairman!
The full list of award winners is below, but I should highlight some recipients – especially, perhaps, Tom Ammonds who was named Clubman of the Year for all his hard work over the past 12 months.
This was a well deserved accolade and was recognised as such by the standing ovation Tom received.
Well done to Spencer Napolitano who cleaned up in terms of the Reserves’ awards – collected on his behalf by his mum, Pru – and Anthony ‘Rambo’ Vernalls who picked up both the first team Players’ Player of the Season award and Supporters Player of the Season.
A particular mention too for Lewi Gardner whose unstinting support of the Under 17s squad over a number of years was recognised by a special award from the Under 17s’ management team.
The evening was concluded by dancing to Paul Charles’ disco – and a fine effort that was, too, as I recognised all the music he played.
Even if the Under 17s had never heard of most of the records, it didn’t stop them hitting the dance floor.
Once again, many thanks to those who supported the night and, in particular, those who organised it.
We are aware that a number of people were disappointed that they weren’t ‘invited’ to the Dinner – well, nobody was invited and it was made pretty clear on here, Facebook and throughout media that the event would be taking place.
But, for all of that, maybe we will have an extra push next season to ensure the word is out there in plenty of time and we can then shoehorn a few more into the clubhouse.
Finally, it was great to see some silverware on the top table in the shape of the Alfred Sparey Cup and the Edwin Traylor Cup.
Here’s hoping we can have even more of the shiny stuff to show off for next year’s Annual Dinner.
| Under 17s Players’ Player of the Season | Josh Gardner |
| Under 17s Manager’s Player of the Season | Jamie Barnett |
| Under 17s Special Recognition Award | Lewi Gardner |
| Reserves Players’ Player of the Season | Spencer Napolitano |
| Reserves Manager’s Player of the Season | Spencer Napolitano |
| First Team Players’ Player of the Season | Anthony Vernalls |
| First Team Manager’s Player of the Season | Callum Matthews |
| Supporters Player of the Season | Anthony Vernalls |
| Most Improved Player | Joe Mecke-Burford |
| Clubman of the Year | Tom Ammonds |