A healthy Anchorians contingent were celebrating as the Gillingham club again received national recognition.

Having first won in 2018, Anchorians claimed the FA’s Club of the Year award at Wembley Stadium ahead of the Community Shield game, which saw Manchester City beat Manchester United on penalties this month.

The club got their hands on a few more tickets this time.

“When we went in 2018, I think they only gave us four tickets in total, which was hard when we had a committee of 12 or 13 people,” recalled chairman Leigh Willis.

“But this time around, we managed to get 11 tickets, which was fantastic.

“It meant we could bring pretty much our whole committee - minus about five people - three of whom had gone the first time. It was only fair that the others got a chance, as well.

“They could then see what it’s all about, celebrate what we have achieved and be really proud to be part of that.

“They have all played their part, laying the foundations to get us to this stage.

“It’s not about winning awards.

“At the end of the day, it’s about getting active and getting people out there but it is nice to receive recognition.”

National joy came after Anchorians were victorious at last month’s Kent FA Grassroots Workforce Awards, held at Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium.

Mr Willis, who was presented with the award by former Arsenal and England defender Martin Keown, also got to meet ex-Liverpool striker Emile Heskey, as well as one-time Tottenham, Arsenal and England defender Sol Campbell.

He explained: “How it works is the Kent FA award winners then get sent to the FA judging panel.

“Across the 40-odd county FAs in the country, they then choose a winner from that. We were fortunate enough to win it back in 2018, as well. That was amazing.

“We just didn’t ever think we would get to that level so to win it six years later, it’s fantastic.

“I feel that we have evolved very well since 2018.

“We have just continued what we are doing, expanded slightly in certain areas and feel really proud of what we have achieved.”

Anchorians weren’t the only club in the county to win a national gong, either, award-winning Lorraine Humm, head of Maidstone United’s disability section and the FA’s National Grassroots Keeping Football Positive Award winner, carried the Community Shield on the hallowed turf at Wembley before kick-off.

Mr Willis said: “Larkfield won this award in 2022 so, in six years, it’s been won by Kent clubs three times. That’s probably really rare.

“We have got some amazing clubs around in Kent.”

Anchorians’ triumphs come despite challenges to find enough volunteer coaches, with levels of commitment on the decline in some cases in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s getting harder and harder to get volunteers,” said Mr Willis. “It’s been a real struggle this year.

“I think that’s why it was quite a surprise that we got it this time around.

“I hate to keep using it but Covid has changed things massively. It just opened peoples’ eyes to their families and being able to do things with their family more.

“It was great in that regard because it has brought people and families closer together. The thought of not seeing loved ones for quite a period of time, it did wake people up.

“But peoples’ commitment levels to being in a team and being part of a team has changed quite a bit.

“The squads have got bigger because the commitment levels aren’t quite where they were before.

“We’re also finding that trying to get volunteers involved is even harder - there’s a lot of ‘I’m too busy’, ‘I’m doing this’ - and there just seems a bit more of a reluctance to get involved as a volunteer.

“We were surprised that we got it because we have had a bit of a tough time with that.

“We’ve lost a few teams because a few people have given up and nobody else was prepared to take the teams on, which is a real shame, but it happens.

“Perhaps we just don’t see it as much as other teams do and, normally, we can back-fill to get people in.

“But for this forthcoming season, we have lost a few teams because we haven’t been able to get anyone to replace the coaches that have left. They’ve done their three, four or five years and decided that they want a break and there’s just no one to take the team.

“But any publicity to promote winning the award should help.

“That should help raise the awareness and our profile a bit more. Hopefully, we can get some more much-needed volunteers out of it.

“Players? I haven’t got a problem with - it’s the volunteer numbers.

“I could probably create another 15 or 20 teams if I wanted to but, as of right now, we just haven’t got the people to run them.”

Visit the club website at www.anchoriansfc.co.uk for more details.