Staffordshire Football Association, along with the Birmingham FA and Leicestershire FA, has landed the award in the Women & Girls category at the 2020 County FA Recognition Awards for its Female Football Series.

The Awards, which were hosted online for the first time due to Covid-19 restrictions, recognise and endorse the best projects, products and services launched by County FAs over the past season while sharing best practice and learnings from around the country.

Over 125 submissions were entered from the 50 County FAs operating across England, highlighting continuous improvements and showcasing how they are innovating to improve football and increase participation across all levels of the game. 

The ten categories recognised at the awards were: 

• Brand Engagement
• Digital Engagement
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Football Development
• Insight & Data
• Partnership
• Women & Girls
• Respect
• Youth Council
• Special Recognition.

Staffordshire FA, along with the Birmingham FA and Leicestershire FA, was handed the Women & Girls award for our collaborative project, Female Football Series, which is focused on females with disabilities. The judges felt it was a strong football development programme that delivers outcomes against a challenging area of work, with County FAs and club community organisations effectively working together. 

Adam Evans, CEO, Staffordshire FA said: “We are absolutely delighted and very proud to win this award, along with our colleagues at the Birmingham FA and Leicestershire FA. Huge credit must go to all the staff involved in the project, which focuses on a particularly challenging area of work. To see three County FAs coming together to collaboratively work together on this project and make it the success it has been to date, is fantastic to see. We look forward to seeing the project develop and having an even greater impact on more participants in the future.”

The FA’s Director of Football Development, James Kendall added: 

“It gives us great pleasure to recognise and reward our County FAs for the vital work they continue to deliver across their local communities, and I want to thank each and every one of them for the resilience and leadership they have shown over the course of the year.

"In what has been an unprecedented year of challenges, we now have the highest number of males playing affiliated football recorded to date, and we have delivered on our collective ambition to double participation in the female game. This is testament to the hard work of all our County FAs and everyone should be congratulated for these achievements.”