Close to 400 people were in the Ratcliffe Suite on Saturday evening for the annual Awards Evening, with supporters joining players, management and directors as the 2012-13 season came to a close following the 1-0 win over Plymouth Argyle.
The highlight of the evening was a presentation to the family of Reg Jenkins. Chairman Chris Dunphy gave an emotional speech recalling his memories of the Dale legend. The family were give two canvas prints of Reg – one from his playing days and another from a visit to Spotland after being voted the club’s greatest ever player. The entire family were also given life time Trust membership.
Keith Hill presented the Brent Wilkinson Memorial Trophy to the club’s Player of the Year. This Cup was decided upon by Keith, Chairman Chris Dunphy and Chief Executive Colin Garlick. It was awarded to Jason Kennedy.
That was not the only trophy that Jason collected on Saturday night. He was also voted as the Supporters’ Player of the Year after a poll which saw a record number of votes. He won the vote with 35.5% of the vote ahead of Phil Edwards (17.6%) and Bobby Grant (16.3%). He can be seen in the picture collecting the shield from Trust Chairman David Gartside.
Supporters were treated to a DVD throughout the evening of the best goals throughout the season, with supporters voting on their preferred goal. The voting was very close indeed with three goals neck and neck throughout the count. Eventually, Rhys Bennett’s weaving run against York City was enough to win him the Frank Bishop Goal of the Year. Rhys can be seen in the picture being presented with the award by Frank’s son Chris.
The next trophy was the Players’ Player of the Year – the award as the name suggests where the first team squad vote themselves. This award went to goalkeeper Josh Lillis. He was presented with the award by Brian Barry-Murphy.
The next award was the Dale Dragons Player of the Season, where the young supporters at Spotland voted for their favourite. This award was made by Junior Dale trustee Jayne Prince. It was awarded to George Donnelly who wasn’t available to collect the award so it was picked up on his behalf by Brian Barry-Murphy.
Our next award was the Football in the Community award for the player who has done the most with this department working in the schools throughout the season. It was cited as being a very difficult decision this year due to some of the excellent work done by the players but it was awarded to Kevin McIntyre who was presented with the award by FITC’s Siobhan.
The SMAC lads (South Manchester and Cheshire Dale Supporters) have around since 2002 and been regulars at the Awards Ceremony. Their trophy was won by Bobby Grant who was unable to collect this award, so it was collected on his behalf by Joe Rafferty from SMAC’s Jed Topping and Tony Stagg.
The Wilson Family’s Trophy is probably one of the longest awarded trophies at the ceremony, where they reward the player that has improved the most over the season. They decided to award it to Rhys Bennett who collected the trophy from Veronica Wilson.
Another long standing award was the Maureen Peacock Youth Award. This as presented to Jamie Allen who was offered his first professional contract by the club last week.
