Cardiff Football club crowned FAW national winner

CARDIFF FOOTBALL CLUB CROWNED NATIONAL COMMUNITY CLUB OF THE YEAR AT THE FAW & MCDONALD’S GRASSROOTS FOOTBALL AWARDS

The national winners of the annual FAW & McDonald’s Grassroots Football Awards have been revealed, with Caerau Ely Juniors from Cardiff being crowned the winner of the 2020 Community Club of the Year award.

The awards celebrate the efforts of grassroots football volunteers across Wales who go the extra mile to support their local communities. 

Launched in March this year by former Wales striker and McDonald’s Fun Football ambassador John Hartson, the public response has been extremely strong, with the People’s Choice category in particular receiving over 45% more votes this year versus 2019.   The awards feature a wide mix of categories which reflect the huge range of roles that volunteers play.

Caerau Ely Juniors joins a long list of inspirational grassroots football clubs who have been recognised by the awards programme. The club currently have over 200 players and 20 teams and a further 200 accessing their community projects across the week. They have recently been awarded the Ribbon Insport award for disability inclusion from Sport Cardiff and achieved super club status. Caerau Ely Juniors make football as accessible as possible by making the fees as affordable as possible and for some projects have absorbed the costs to encourage participation.

The club was judged alongside the other regional winners from the Community Club of the Year 2020 category and will receive the prestigious national award during a virtual awards ceremony in Cardiff.

Jayne Ludlow, Wales Womens National Team Manager, said: “It’s been a really difficult year for the whole country, but I’m so pleased we’re able to recognise and celebrate the clubs who go above and beyond to have a positive impact on their local communities. The tireless work of community clubs like Caerau Ely Juniors is what keeps the game going. They should be extremely proud of all their achievements and grassroots football in Wales is in a much better place with them being a part of it.”

Local McDonald’s Franchisee, Ralph Parker, who is an avid supporter of grassroots football in Cardiff, added: “We just want to congratulate Caerau Ely Juniors on their fantastic win, it’s great to see a national winner from Cardiff. Community clubs like that keep the grassroots game going from strength to strength and we hope that this win inspires other clubs in Cardiff to get involved in grassroots football.”

McDonald’s is the longest-standing supporter of grassroots football in the UK, having worked with the four UK FAs for 18 years. Throughout this time, it has continually championed the work of volunteers who invest countless hours of time to deliver safe, fun football to children and young adults regardless of age, gender or disability.

The FAW & McDonald’s Grassroots Football Awards are part of McDonald’s ongoing Community Partnership with the FAW. To find out more about McDonald’s partnership visit http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/funfootball or on Twitter @FunFootballUK.