Now in its 13th year, and in these strangest of times, the 2020 Pitching In Northwest Football Awards on Monday, 9th November was unlike ever before, but no less exciting, seeing honours awarded to those who achieved footballing excellence both on and off the pitch in the unprecedented 2019/20 season, from grassroots level through to the elite level of the beautiful game.
All honours were presented throughout the day on Monday, with names from the world of football, including Dion Dublin, James Milner, Kevin Gallacher, Fabrice Muamba, Shaun Goater, Danny Webber, Joe Hart and Rachel Brown-Finnis, announcing the winners online. The Awards regular host, the BBC’s Dan Walker, even put in an appearance too!
Laura Wolfe, speaking on behalf of the Pitching In Northwest Football Awards said, “Despite the unprecedented times that we find ourselves in, it was important that we, at the NWFA, even in this most difficult of years, went ahead with the 2020 Awards and recognised the incredible work going on at all levels of the game across our region, both on the pitch and behind the scenes. As well as the trophies and celebrations at the upper levels of the game, at the other end of the scale, it has and remains to be a tough time off the field for many of our clubs, and it would have been remiss of us not to recognise this and show our support for the clubs, staff and fans who have been through and still continue to live through such tough times.
The current climate certainly presented us with a logistical challenge for this year’s Awards, but I think we managed to pull it off! We look forward to seeing everyone back in person in November 2021 for one hell of a celebration!”
This year, the NWFA was honoured to again be supporting the Darby Rimmer Foundation. Former Liverpool, Rochdale and Bolton Wanderers footballer, Stephen Darby, together with his close friend and former British Forces veteran, Chris Rimmer, set up the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation after Stephen’s sudden retirement from football in September 2018, on being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), aged just 29. MND is a degenerative condition that affects how nerves in the brain and spinal cord function. There is currently no cure. To donate, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/darbyrimmer-mnd.
For a full list of this year’s winners and to see the Awards’ presentations, go to: https://www.northwestfootballawards.com/2020-winners/
