Barry Jones awarded George Churchward Medal
Football NSW’s State Dinner was held at the Warwick on Saturday 3rd of November in what was a fantastic celebration of community football with Bangor Football Club’s Barry Jones awarded the prestigious George Churchward Medal.
Football NSW Directors and Life Members all came together to recognise and acknowledge the elite few who have provided consistent and invaluable services at the community level for the world game.
Hosted by the reputable Stephanie Brantz, 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 2018 State Award Winners are:
- Brian Vella – Blacktown Districts Amateur Football Association
- Tony Antoniadis Snr – Canterbury & Districts Soccer Football Association
- Bob Hennessy – Football South Coast
- Kathy Tracey – Gladesville Hornsby Football Association
- Scott Chin – Granville & Districts Soccer Football Association
- Richard Hooker – Manly Warringah Football Association
- Frances Refalo – Nepean Football Association
- Elaine Gaffney – Southern Districts Soccer Football Association
- Tony Dunn – Southern Tablelands Football Association
- Stephen Matthews – St George Football Association
- John Lane – Sutherland Shire Football Association
Click here to view biographies of each of the 2018 State Award Winners
Football NSW Fair Play Award
The Football NSW Fair Play Award acknowledges individuals or teams playing within Football NSW who have demonstrated an outstanding example of Fair Play and good sportsmanship during the 2018 football season.
The 2018 Fair Play Award Winner was taken out by Canterbury & Districts Soccer Football Association and Lakemba Sports and Recreation Club’s Under 21’s coach Abdullah Osman.
Football NSW Competitions Coordinator Kim Burge received an email to a certain conduct witnessed at an Under 21 State Cup match.
The email stated the following:
“I just wanted to drop you a quick note to congratulate the Coach of the Lakemba Sports FC Under 21 State Cup team that played Barden Ridgebacks Under 21’s at the Ridge. I coached this Ridgeback team for a number of years and assisted the current coach from time to time.
“The Lakemba coach is a relatively young guy and he showed a great deal of maturity and respect.
“With his team down 5-0, one of his players became a little hot under the collar, received a yellow card from memory and the Lakemba Coach substituted him immediately. On his way off, the young player was a little rude to the Ridgeback bench and the crowd. One of the Lakemba players on the bench also became involved.
“To the Lakemba coaches credit, he admonished both players because of their behaviour, he told them they were being disrespectful and that they would not be going back onto the field and that “We will play with 10 rather than players that are rude and disrespectful”.
“Consequently, he stuck to his guns.
“The action of the coach took the sting out of the situation and taught the players a valuable lesson, he should be congratulated.”
George Churchward Medal
The stage was set as the main award of the evening, the coveted ‘George Churchward Medal’ was ready to be announced.
An award known to many as the most prestigious of all alongside the ‘Charles Valentine’ Medal, it was Bangor Football Club’s Barry Jones that took out the major prize.
Jones has been a long time stalwart of football with his own club, Bangor Football Club, the Sutherland Association, as well as Football NSW.
Barry’s association with football began in 1988, with the registration of his two sons.
In that time, Barry covered numerous positions across his son’s teams, his club and his association.
Ironically, during season 2018, Barry has been watching his grandchildren play and offering feedback in his Executive Committee role with the SSFA, on how ten years of MiniRoos style football has developed in the Sutherland Shire.
In addition to coaching his sons for 20 years from under 6’s, Barry held the following positions for the Bangor Football Club as a Vice President, Secretary and Equipment Officer as well as being voted in as a Life Member of the club in 1997.
In 1999 he was elected to the Association’s Management Committee which restructured to a smaller Executive Committee in 2008 and held positions such as Vice-President, Assistant Secretary and Executive Manager since 1999.
In 2008, Barry was voted in as a Life Member of the SSFA while in 2009, Barry received the Football NSW Merit Award.
In addition to a strong involvement with the Association’s management functions at Committee level, he carried out the duties of Chair of Judiciary Committees and Appeals Committees and was involved with the writing and updating of the Association’s Constitution, By Laws and Competition Rule Books and Procedures.
Since 2005, he occupied the position of the Association’s Player/Member Protection Officer. In this role wrote Procedural Manuals for the guidance of Clubs, and organised and conducted lectures to Club officials and Club MPIOs. He has been in regular contact with Football NSW and relevant NSW Departments to ensure the Association policies are updated in all aspects.
Barry has been a delegate to Football NSW in addition to his other numerous roles.
More recently, Barry has been involved in the grading of the vast nursery of the Sutherland Shire MiniRoos teams. This has become a task that takes days of work, due to the enormous size of the Sutherland Association.
It was a fitting end of the evening as Jones 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.
