The winners of the Kent FA Grassroots Workforce Awards have been announced.

A celebration of the individuals who make a difference to the county game took place at the Ashford International Hotel & Spa.

Kent FA chief executive Darryl Haden said: "Congratulations to all our fantastic award winners and to everyone who received a nomination this year.

“Equally, we want to thank all the individuals who gave their time to nominate individuals from their clubs and leagues.

“Without these nominations, we simply wouldn't have a platform to celebrate all the incredible achievements of our local grassroots volunteers, so on behalf of everyone at Kent FA, thank you.

“We look forward to hosting the event next year."

Having already been named national grassroots club of the year, it was a good evening on September 29 for Larkfield FC.

They won Kent FA grassroots club of the year while Jessica Bennett from the club picked up the adult’s coach of the year award.

“We are gobsmacked to be honest,” said chairman Russell Jeffery.

“This is for everyone, not just us three, or the people on the table. It’s for the hard work everyone has put in, not just with the football, but behind-the-scenes - the committee and the parents as well.”

Sarah M’Grady said: “The parents have really embraced it with the community stuff we have put together.

“A project is only as good as the people who support it. The whole club deserves this.”

Trina Haynes added: “We have got 250 players and, with all the parents that come with it, we are very lucky.”

They won club of the year after Bennett had earlier been the first person to pick up an award on the night.

She said: “My daughter was about nine so she started playing at the club and seven or eight of my players have been with me since about under-10s.

“At that point, obviously, I didn’t think I’d still be coaching at the club now. But I absolutely love it.

“It’s a privilege. It just seems weird to win this when it’s just something I do because I enjoy it.”

A 40 Years Dedicated Service award was given to Ide Hill’s Keith McGinn who dedicated the award to Jay Carr who recently died, aged 20.

McGinn said: “Obviously, I’m very privileged that somebody has nominated me for this award. I have just retired this year after 40 years so I'm looking to move back up to Durham.

“We lost Jay Carr who is only 20-years-old. I would love to dedicate this to him.

“He played for West Kingsdown and Aylesford FC, as well as ourselves, he was in our Kent County first-team.

“Twenty-years-old is too young for someone to lose their life, so I’d like to dedicate this to him.

“Apart from that, it’s been hard work but it’s nice to be appreciated.”

Tony Newington, who has been heavily involved with special needs football in Canterbury, was presented with The FA 50 Years Service award.

“It’s a surprise really because I don’t do it to get a reward,” he said.

“My reward is to see whatever I'm involved with - whether that be disability football or youth football - developing. So thank you to them for this award.”

Youth coach of the year went to Luke Gibbons who manages New Ash Green JFC under-11s.

“I didn’t expect it to be honest,” he said. “It’s nice to be nominated and to win is like an added bonus.”

Grassroots league of the year went to the Kent Disability Football League, with an official from the league saying: “It’s a bit of a shock if truth be told.

“Obviously, it’s humbling and it’s amazing there is something like this set up that acknowledges the work people put in.”

Ant Tomlinson of Cranbrook Juniors won grassroots volunteer of the year.

He said: “It’s great.

“I didn’t expect to win when I came here, it’s just a nice event to come to spend time with family, so to win the award is an added bonus.”

Rising Star of the year went to Sam Jones while Alan Philpott, of Woodnesborough, picked up the grassroots grounds team of the year gong.

Grassroots project of the year went to Anchorians.

Andy Brown, who runs the sessions, said: “It’s great to win.

“I think it’s deserved. Guys and girls come along. We’ve seen the progress, not only with their ability with football, but their mental health as well.

“They want to come back and enjoy themselves. It’s really positive.”

Luke Bacon, a vicar involved in the project, said: “It’s so great the hard work is being recognised.

“We love playing football, we love people, and we love the fact that football can be a tool for helping people re-establish some normality and structure in life. We are grateful to receive this award.”

Dean Clarke said: “I just come along and take part in the community football. It’s quite fun to see a lot of people come from all different backgrounds and have a good laugh.”

“I haven’t been with them long but it’s helped with my mental health and anxiety,” said Paul Flack.

“They’re like a family. If we can get more people to come along, the more, the merrier.”

Rashpal Shergill won grassroots match official of the year - and was given a thank you message from her son on screen - while Harley Webster was highly commended.

“I’m just absolutely overwhelmed with emotion,” Shergill said. “I really can’t believe it.

“To see my son on the screen, it’s nice to get a thank you now and again from your teenage kids. It’s the biggest compliment for a mum to get that acknowledgement from your own children.”

The Spirit of Football Award went to Thanet Leg-Ends, affiliated to Ramsgate FC.

Karina Barker said: “We are delighted, really. We only started doing it for a bit of a laugh.

“It was actually five years last week since we first started. I started it on my own. First week, I was on my own... because I forgot to tell anyone!

“Second week, there were two of us and, about three weeks after that, it was three of us. So we are really, really over the moon to be recognised.

“The one thing we do every single week is we laugh our heads off. We have so much fun, we almost forget about the football. That’s what it’s all about for us.”

Julia Musselwhite said: “I’m very proud to be part of the team and very honoured to have a great bunch of girls to play with every week - it’s absolutely fabulous.”

“I just thoroughly enjoy being with these girls and playing football,” added Jeannette Brown.

Teenager Charlie Sutton won The Colin Boswell Young Referee of the Year award which was first introduced last year.

The 15-year-old said: “It’s amazing.

“I’m just really grateful to everyone who has helped me throughout my journey, my mum and dad especially for basically taxi-ing me to games across Kent and I’m just really grateful.”

Digital club of the year went to Faversham Strike Force.

Stuart Benfield from the club said: “I have been with the club now for 15 years and this is a fantastic achievement for us.

“We put a lot into our social media. We have a lot of followers.

“We use it for all of our young age-groups and our senior age-groups, and we get a great response from it - from parents to supporters.

“It’s a fantastic way to get to more people - and younger people. You can get to so many people so quickly and it makes a massive difference.”

Colin Hall won a long and meritorious service award, saying he was inspired to give something back after his playing days had finished.

He said: “I have been involved a long time now.

“I always say to people when I played in the 60s and 70s, which is a long time ago, I used to play my game, go home and not give any thought whatsoever to who organised all the pitches and the fixtures.

“When I got the opportunity to come along to one of the league management meetings, I joined the committee and, from then on, it was another story.

“I’ve given something back that I got many years ago when I didn’t know what I was receiving.”

In total, 172 nominations were received this year across 12 award categories.

Kent FA partners DFDS, The Merit Group, Sleeping Giant Media, My Club Pro, Technical Surfaces, BAE Systems; and Kent FA board and council members also attended.