Ray Fanning awarded George Churchward Medal
To view the official State Dinner photos click here
Football NSW’s State Dinner was held at the Rosehill Gardens Grand Pavilion in what was a fantastic celebration of community football with Manly Association’s Ray Fanning awarded the prestigious George Churchward Medal.
NSW Minister for Sport and Recreation the Honourable Stuart Ayres, Member for Mulgoa Tanya Davies, Member for Smithfield Mr Andrew Rohan, Member for East Hills Mr Glenn Brookes, FFA’s Head of Community Football Emma Highwood, Football NSW Life Members, Football NSW CEO Eddie Moore and Football NSW Directors all came together to recognise and acknowledge the elite few who have provided consistent and invaluable service at the community level.
Hosted by Football NSW President Greg O’Rourke, the evening kicked off with the presentation of the State Award winners.
State Award winners are nominated by their Association in recognition of their tireless efforts and service to football in their local community.
State Awards formally recognise individuals who have provided consistent and valuable service at any level – Club, Association, Branch or State.
These contributions may include services such as: committee member, coach, manager, match official, canteen manager or grounds person.
The 2014 State Award Winners are:
Bruce Bugen – Blacktown District Soccer Football Association
Max Oddi – Canterbury Association
Darryl Walsh – Eurobodalla Association
Rob Robertson – Football South Coast
Bruce Fraser – Gladesville-Hornsby Football Association
Peter Mitchell – Bathurst District Football.
Jenny Mazuran – Macarthur Association
Michael Bosschieter – Manly Warringah Association
Gordon Aiken – Nepean Association
Kim Schaefer – North West Sydney Women’s Association.
Bernie Stedman – Orange and District Soccer Association
Paul Cameron – Lachlan Amateur Soccer Association
Jim Auld from Western Branch
To view a biography on each State Award winner click here
George Churchward Medal
The night’s final and most honoured award, the George Churchward Medal, presented annually to an individual who has exemplified an outstanding commitment to the sport was awarded to Mr Ray Fanning from the Manly Association.
Ray has had many and varied positions within “football” over the past two decades.
Ray arrived from sunny England started his career with a genuine personal interest/passion for football and the involvement of his son.
His son was involved with the Belrose Terrey Hills Soccer Club and soon he moved to Wakehurst Football Club to take on the role as Coaching Director.
In 1992 and 1993 he coached a team with the Manly Warringah Dolphins in the Metro League, soon taking on the role of Rep Convenor from 1994 to 2001.
Ray received a Meritorious Service Award from the MWFA for his service to football in 1999.
In 1999, Ray was successful in gaining support for a levy that was placed on all players of the MWFA. This was a significant milestone and generational change in the “development” of football on the Beaches
Initially this funding was to develop Cromer Park which included new lighting and the grandstand.
After the works at Cromer Park were complete, Ray successfully campaigned for the levy to remain and the funding sources moved from Cromer to the Association Clubs in the form of a Lighting Levy. This would allow the landlocked Association to play more games on existing pitches for a longer period of time.
Nearly all of the 17 Association Clubs have had new match standard lighting installed on their “home” grounds.
With the lights almost now complete, the MWFA is transitioning “Ray’s” levy to be used to upgrade amenities for all MWFA Association Clubs.
Ray was also instrumental in lobbying Warringah Council to invest $1.4M in a synthetic pitch to be installed at Cromer Park.
Through Ray’s vision, the Football Community has been transformed into a show piece for Football and something that everyone on the peninsula is very proud to be a part of.
Ray became the Senior Vice President of the MWFA in 2002 and held this role until 2005.
In 2006 Ray took over as President of the MWFA from George Churchward recipient Linda Ward and has held the position in high esteem until 2014 when he stepped down from the role.
Other positions of note Ray has been a director of the Manly Warringah District Soccer Football Club (owner of the building and the land at Cromer Park), the Manly Warringah Football Club (owns the liquor licence) and the Manly United Football Club for approximately 15 years.
It was a fitting end of the evening as Fanning received a standing ovation by the many in attendance.
It was a fantastic evening as Football NSW’s grassroots community embraced in what was a spectacular season for all involved.
-Football NSW Media Release
