Cheshire Football League shortlisted for National FA Award.

The Cheshire Football League has been named the winner of the North-West Regional Charter Standard League of the Year Award, in the 2016 FA Community Awards, presented by McDonald's.

Thanks to winning the North-West regional award, the league is now in the running to win a national award at The FA and McDonald's Community Awards national ceremony later in the year.

Representatives of the league collected their county award and were announced as the regional winner at the recent Cheshire FA Awards Evening, which took place at Carden Park Hotel on 3 June 2016.

Following its expansion in 2014 to a five division structure, comprising a total of 39 clubs and 64 teams, the Cheshire Football League continues to grow and has already received interest from ten new clubs for the 2016-17 season.
The league is now into its seventh season of its Club Development Grant scheme. An increased number of applications from clubs provide funds for club development such as floodlights, toilet blocks, accessibility to facilities & changing room alterations to meet FA Standards.
The league will also run a Level Two Coaching course this summer, following the Level One held in 2015, which will be subsidised. This will bring better coaching methods and practices to the league and improve the quality of players within the league.

In addition to that, they provide free Emergency Aid and Child Protection Courses to improve the level of cover for injured players and players aged between 16 and 18 years old.

In 2015 the League was awarded the Cheshire FA Social Media Award and continues to expand its use of technology all the time.

Simon Gerrard, Cheshire FA Chief Executive, said: "It is fantastic that the Cheshire Football League have gone through to represent the Cheshire FA as a North-West Regional winner in the national awards shortlist. It is a great honour to be named as a regional winner and we couldn't be more proud of them.

"The league’s representatives and volunteers work tirelessly week in week out and to have been recognised at regional level and possibly a national one must be extremely rewarding. We wish them all the best at the national awards stage."

The seventh annual FA and McDonald's Community Awards celebrate local heroes who dedicate their time and effort to grassroots football in their communities, giving them the recognition that their achievements deserve.
McDonald's has been a Community Partner with The FA for 14 years, during which time thousands clubs have benefitted from this partnership. Working with the FA for the next four years, McDonald's will be giving over 4,500 FA Charter Standard clubs with a junior team, the opportunity to order a brand new strip each season until 2018.

To find out more about how McDonald's and The FA support community football and the winners of this year’s community awards visit: www.mcdonalds.co.uk/BetterPlay