Rams win John Slavin Trophy

Sun Aug 27 2017

The Rams were delighted to be named this week as one of the winners of this season’s John Slavin Trophy.

The award is presented biennially by the British American Football Referees’ Association (BAFRA) to honour the teams providing the best-organised gameday experience for officials and fans.

The Rams scooped the BAFA National League Division One prize for the 2017 season, which will be presented at the national final - appropriately to be staged at John Charles Stadium today. The Ipswich Cardinals took Division Two honours as well as the overall top prize, while the East Kilbride Pirates scooped the prizes for the Premiership and for under-19 football.

The award is a fitting feather in the cap of our outgoing gameday manager Ross Collins as he hands over the role to Ben Simmons for the coming season - no pressure Ben! Ross’ commitment to organising factors including ball-boys and the chain crew for Rams home games has been invaluable over recent seasons and his contribution is much appreciated.

Of course, we could not have achieved this honour without the efforts of those at John Charles Stadium and we would like to thank everyone involved in our home matches this year and last, who have helped us to establish a strong and growing presence in south Leeds.

The stadium played host to four Rams victories from five games this season, perhaps most memorably against division winners the Manchester Titans in our first Saturday evening game under the floodlights and our best-attended match of the campaign.

A host of Rams volunteers play important roles in making sure gameday flows smoothly - not least Jayne, Kathryn and Georgia Pawson, the wife and daughters of head coach David.

Lauren Stewart’s presentation and Carlos Hernandez’s commentary also contributed to the award, with players Stewart Hegarty and Jack Marshall chief among those putting in valuable work before and after the four quarters.

Ben Pallister, Cedric Auchere and Matt Quinney, as well as the aforementioned Ben Simmons, have been regulars on sideline duties under Ross’ stewardship while an army of photographers including Hubert Hung, Alex Daniel, Scott Smith and Craig Milner ensure our matches are captured for posterity.

We are grateful to all those who have played a part in the Rams winning this honour - we hope all fans have enjoyed their experience this season and we look forward to welcoming you back to the stadium next year!