LONGCROFT LIONS are the first winners of the RCD League’s Club of the Year award.

All clubs in the league were marked on being a welcoming club and having good administration, Child Protection, and Fair Play, and the Lions filled these criteria to be the first to lift the award.

The award came as a complete shock to a highly-delighted chairman Alison Haydock.

It’s a complete surprise,” she said, on receiving the award. “It’ll give all our members a great boost for the coming season.”

The club now have 11 teams in the league ranging from Under 7 to Under 15.

The idea of the award came from RCD chairman David Armitage, who said the award was a recognition of clubs which ‘Do the job properly’.

And in announcing the first winners he said:

“We wanted to make an annual award to clubs whose first priority is building a club where players can enjoy themselves in safety, and this award is about the quality of the club – not how many trophies they have won.”