County FAs recognised at Wembley Annual Recognition Awards

The 2026 County FA Recognition Awards took place at Wembley Stadium connected by EE on Wednesday 4 November to celebrate the best projects, products and services delivered by County FAs across England over the past 12 months.

This year saw 228 nominations received, highlighting exceptional delivery and showcasing innovation to improve grassroots football and increase participation across all levels of the game.

The winning projects are detailed below.

Club Development Award – Staffordshire FA, Around the Grounds

Staffordshire FA’s Around the Grounds series sought to communicate the history, volunteers and community values that run throughout their National League System to help clubs capitalise on opportunities to grow attendances, attract volunteers and deepen local engagement. Staffordshire FA invested 209 hours of filming and editing to deliver this through the production of a minidocumentary for each of the county’s 19 NLS clubs across the 2025-26 season, spending time with the people who keep the clubs running to build a film around what made them distinctive. 

The series has passed 9,500 views on YouTube and helped clubs showcase their facilities and community offers to local councils, and current and potential corporate partners. Around the Grounds will now be embedded within the NLS club development pathway, with the same approach extending to strategic grassroots clubs.

Coach & Volunteer Development Award – London FA, London Learning and Coaching Hub

London FA has ambitions for a football workforce that looks like the city it serves, but in East London less than 10% of those working in the game were from a South Asian background, despite that group accounting for over 37% of the East London population. Ongoing work in priority areas gave London FA a detailed understanding of the barriers affecting participation and progression and, in partnership with West Ham United Foundation, the London Learning and Coaching Hub was launched, with a professional football environment as its home.

Showcased during South Asian Heritage Month in July, the programme has since engaged 85 coaches, scouts and workforce practitioners, connecting them with professional club staff for continuing professional development, industry insight sessions and workshops – and around 90% of participants were of South Asian heritage. Six participants progressed onto the UEFA C Licence, four onto the UEFA B and four onto the FA Talent Identification Level 2 Award.

Employee Wellbeing & Engagement Award – Lincolnshire FA, HIVE Framework

Lincolnshire FA had run a Health and Wellbeing Group for over four years, and now the group has a new Terms of Reference and created a framework that gave it a purpose. HIVE stands for Health, Inclusion, Voice and Energy, four pillars drawn directly from what staff had said they needed.

The group accounts for 25% of all Lincolnshire FA employees and gives informal feedback somewhere to go, whilst meetings produce action plans that are shared with senior management and the board. The group has reviewed health plans and gym membership; prompted a simplification of policies; reshaped the Performance Development Review process; and improved work-life balance across the organisation. HIVE feeds directly into Lincolnshire FA’s People Plan, the People and Culture Subcommittee and the Board’s governance structure. 

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Award – Sussex FA, Sussex Bengals FC

Sussex Bengals had already established a regular, well-attended, community-run football offering for the local Bangladeshi community but wasn’t affiliated, meaning its players and organisers were cut off from the support, opportunities and recognition available to everyone else in the game. Sussex FA worked alongside the club to bring it into the affiliated game without changing what already worked, establishing six affiliated teams.

During Ramadan, they worked with Sussex Bengals to introduce a Ramadan Just Play offer that provided informal, lower-intensity sessions that let players stay active, connected and involved throughout the holy month without compromising their religious commitments.

In May 2026, England Football filmed with Sussex Bengals ahead of the FIFA World Cup, showcasing it nationally as an example of inclusive grassroots delivery. Sussex FA listened to what mattered to the club rather than expecting it to change, and players now feel valued, respected and part of the wider football family.

Facility Development Award – Nottinghamshire FA, Mining Heritage to Football Legacy: The Transformation of Calverton Miners Welfare

Calverton Miners Welfare FC’s six grass pitches are home to the club’s 34 teams and 24 from Arnold Eagles Girls FC. This usage meant grass pitches were being played well beyond capacity and both clubs were sending teams elsewhere to find 3G pitches.

Nottinghamshire FA identified the site as a priority and shaped a successful Lionesses Futures Fund application, leading to the conversion of an existing 11v11 grass pitch into a FIFA Quality 91x55m 3G pitch, as well as inclusive improvements to the community hub.

The investment has translated into participation. A women’s and girls’ only evening session is delivered each week, alongside a dedicated evening for disability provision. Women’s and girls’ peak usage of the ‘Mary Earps Pitch’ has reached 45% and affiliated women’s and girls’ sessions reached 51.9%. 

Football Development Award: Disability Pathway – Worcestershire FA, The REACH Project

Worcestershire had never had a football programme designed specifically to support mental health, so with a working group comprising disability football volunteers, care mentors, representatives from Sands, an NHS consultant physician and members of the county Disability Network, Worcestershire FA created The REACH Project.

Through this, three Mental Health Hub Clubs were recruited, each with two dedicated Mental Health Leads who completed accredited Mind training funded by the project. Two REACH Champions were appointed to work alongside Worcestershire FA’s Football Development Officer and the county’s Disability Football Ambassador. Each Hub Club delivered a weekly session called The Dugout, pairing an hour of informal recreational football through Just Play with an hour of facilitated social time. A bespoke brand, marketing toolkit and signposting materials helped clubs promote sessions and made local support services easy to find. The project reached 107 people across four new weekly sessions.

Football Development Award: Male/Mixed Pathway – Hampshire FA, Walking Football Community Sessions

Competitive walking football in Hampshire was in good health so, after Hampshire County Council had raised concerns about inactivity, loneliness and declining mental wellbeing among older residents, Hampshire FA turned their attention to recreational walking football. Following conversations with local councils, the charity Get Up & Go Havant, local walking football leaders and the FA Walking Football Advisory Group, Portsmouth was identified a priority area and every GP practice within 15 miles of the planned sessions was contacted to encourage referrals through social prescribing networks.

Following a pilot at King George V Football Complex, the programme expanded to three locations. At Front Lawn in Portsmouth, a dwindling existing offer was revived, whilst at Rowlands Castle, a partner-delivered model kept every session free through sponsorship. Every Walking Football Coffee & Cake session opens with 30 minutes of free tea, coffee, cake, fruit and conversation, followed by an hour of relaxed walking football. In four months, 131 unique participants have taken part. 

Partnership Award – Kent FA, Healthy Hearts ECG Screenings for Kent Football Community

Kent has over 62,000 registered players, and across the 2025/26 season Kent FA became aware of at least 10 cardiac-related incidents spanning every age and level of the game. Players, match officials and volunteers, collapsing at training and on matchdays. Kent FA partnered with KIMS Hospital and built a programme to take screening to football, making it available to everyone with a role in the game at a reduced cost. 

Healthy Hearts screenings run from age eight through to walking football players in their 70s. Participants book online, complete a short medical questionnaire in advance and are met on the day by Kent FA staff alongside clinicians. The ECG itself takes about five minutes and results follow within two weeks, with KIMS Hospital informing the participant’s GP where anything needs further investigation. By June, 189 screenings had been completed and 31 identified potential abnormalities requiring further investigation.

Progressive Governance Award – Manchester FA, Our Game in Manchester Governance Diversification

To boost representation, Manchester FA set measurable, public-facing diversity targets for females and people from ethnically diverse backgrounds. A governance review then discovered board sub-groups were lacking independent members.

Recruitment channels have been changed, female and ethnically diverse candidates that meet essential criteria are guaranteed interviews, and applicants are questioned on their understanding of EDI. Independent members and Young Leaders from the Young Leaders Academy now sit on every Board sub-group, and each working group includes female representation and EDI expertise.

A Board Observer Programme was established to give people from underrepresented backgrounds exposure to boardroom conversations and strategic decision-making. The Inclusion Advisory Board was rebuilt entirely, with targeted recruitment through club and community partners.

As a result, white representation across the workforce has fallen from 93% to 81%, Black representation stands at 6.7%, Asian representation has more than doubled from 3% to 7.8%.