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The hunt is on to find the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League's number one supporter.

With the league’s fans widely hailed as the most passionate and community orientated in Non-League football, title sponsors Evo-Stik have teamed up with the NPL to sponsor a new Bostik Supporter of the Year Award.

The new accolade is also playing a key role in the league’s backing for the Football Association sponsored Fan Based Experience project. Designed to help clubs maximise their potential for attracting new supporters as well as providing something extra for existing fans, the initiative has just been launched at a series of regional league seminars for all 68 clubs.

Entry forms and voting rules for nominating the inaugural 2014 Supporter of the Year Award are on their way to FC United and the league’s 67 other clubs with the top fan set to be unveiled at next April’s third annual Evo-Stik League Players of the Year Awards.

Doncaster Rovers manager Brian Flynn handed out the accolades on a star-studded night last April and the supporters who make a shortlist of five finalists will be invited to the 2014 event in Barnsley as guests of the league and the sponsors. They’ll enjoy a courtesy overnight stay at the Four Star Brooklands Holiday Inn with the winner announced on the night alongside the Evo-Stik NPL’s top playing performers.

To ensure the competition recognises a broad range of supporting heroes, organisers are deliberately setting no strict criteria for nominations and instead are leaving it clubs to nominate their most worthy fans for the new award.

Evo-Stik NPL Operations Manager Alan Allcock said: “Nominations are effectively up to the clubs and all will be considered on merit so we end up with a very special supporter winning the inaugural award. We have some amazing fans and unsung heroes involved in the league and this is a fantastic opportunity to see them recognised and honoured.

“We want our clubs to consider worthy supporters who they believe really stand out for the award. This could be for their charitable work or for helping a local community organisation. Exceptional volunteers who work for the benefit of their clubs or someone who has overcome a personal challenge or disability to regularly support their team are the people who help to make our league special and we want to recognise and reward them.???

Next April’s awards night is the brainchild of former Manchester City keeper and NPL man Alan Ogley. The event is unique in the top levels of Non-League with their focus purely on players and the winners decided by the league’s managers and coaches. World Cup referee Howard Webb and BBC 5 Live Non-League Show Presenter Caroline Barker were guests of honour at the inaugural awards.



First Posted ~ 20:32 Mon 28 Oct 2013
News ID ~ 5163
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021