Durham County FA Frank Pattison Unsung Hero Award

For those not aware if there are any, Frank Pattison was the President of the Durham County FA from 1984 until July 2019 and was instrumental in making the Association one of if not the best County FA in the country.

Unfortunately Frank passed away in April 2020.

Franks family attended the awards ceremony, Wife Norma and children Rebekah and James wanted to provide an award which was very close to what Frank truly believed in and that was some kind of recognition for the ‘Unsung heroes’ in grassroots football, those that gave up all their time with no recompense for what they did.

We received over 100 nominations for the award which was short listed and provided to the family to choose the top two.

 
Durham County FA Frank Pattison Unsung Hero Award Winner: Vincent Williams 

This gentleman retired in June this year after numerous years of volunteer work within the Over 40s league and over 20 twenty years as the League Secretary.

The amount of time and effort he has put into keeping the League running has only recently been realised when his role was shared between current committee members. This has had an impact on his private and social life through the years of doing this role as well as looking after his wife through difficult times with personal health problems. He has always took these things in his stride and his focus has always been ‘to get things done’ and help others.

He has always kept a positive manner over the years of running the over 40s and this was evident through the past couple of years with the CORONAVIRUS EPIDEMIC where playing football was difficult due to global/national circumstances that we all found ourselves in.

He has built bridges with various County and Council officials which has projected the image of the Over 40s League into a fantastic position where it's well thought of throughout the region and nationally.

The league currently has 74 teams and Vince has always been there to help and guide them through testing times.

He has with assistance built one of the largest and well ran leagues in the UK.