Essex football volunteers who’ve contributed their time and energy for the benefit of parents, coaches, clubs, leagues, fellow volunteers, match officials and more have been recognised with 2024 Grassroots Football Awards for Essex.

The awesome local volunteers who’ve give so much, week in, week out, rain or shine, have been appreciated through this year’s awards, which say thank you to all the people and organisations who give their time to make the game happen.

Essex football has taken the opportunity to pass on appreciation for these volunteers thanks to a recent nomination process which has enabled us to highlight these amazing people, share their story nationally, celebrate them and say a huge thank you.

Nominations included details of what the nominees do, how they make a difference to others’ lives and where they’ve had an impact in their community. Essex’s winners were:

Coach of the Year (Female Pathway): Varsha Patel (FC Redwing), Highly Commended: Ian Hogan (Buckhurst Hill YFC)

Coach of the Year (Male Pathway): Chris Mascall (Dagenham United FC), Highly Commended: Harvi Singh (Buckhurst Hill YFC) and Riz Khan (Bealonians YFC)

Coach of the Year (Disability Pathway): Fin Morton (Lancaster Lions FC)

Club of the Year: Ridgeway Rovers FC, Highly Commended: Little Canfield Stars FC

League of the Year: Southend Borough & District Football Combination

Young Volunteer: Zoe Eldridge (Valley Green YFC), Highly Commended: Max (Essex Minors (Hornchurch) FC) and Eden (Basildon Boys & Girls Club FC)

New Volunteer of the Year: Carl Oliver (Colchester United Women FC)

Grounds Team of the Year: Brian Rafis (Blackmore FC)

Match Official: Graham Austin, Highly Commended: Matt Jarvis (Blackwater & Dengie Youth League)

Keeping Football Positive Award: Jozef Dymond (Southminster United FC)

Lioness Award: Deva Sunassee (Central Park Allstars FC), Highly Commended: Debbie Leitch (Essex Women's Walking Football League)

Bobby Moore Award: Sheryl MacRae

Lana Gillard, Essex County FA Football Development Officer, was delighted to see so many local nominations, commenting: “Thank you to everybody who put a deserving volunteer forward for these awards. It’s always rewarding when the countless volunteers who deserve recognition across the county receive a nomination in the various categories. Everyone deserves a great deal of praise... and congratulations to all the winners!”

If you’d like to get involved with grassroots Essex football as a volunteer, browse the 'Volunteers' menu above. You can also interact with @EssexCountyFA on Twitter/X and ‘EssexFootball’ on Facebook.