Grecians recognised nationally with FA prize
Exeter City Football Club are delighted that they have been awarded the Football League Respect & Fair Play Award from The FA for 2013/14 season.
This is the fifth year that The FA have distributed the Respect & Fair Play Awards, where professional clubs, local leagues, grassroots organisations, individuals and County FAs are recognised. They are designed to help ensure that football is played in a fair, decent and enjoyable environment.
Chairman of the Club Edward Chorlton OBE said: “I am really pleased that all the work in support of fair play by our Manager Paul Tisdale, the coaches and the players over the years has been recognised nationally. This culminated last season in Exeter City being top of the Fair Play League of all 92 Premier League and Football League Clubs.
“The Manager and the Club Board have long advocated an approach of playing the game in a spirit of sportsmanship and the avoidance of some of the tactics which have been highlighted in the current World Cup such as diving, feigning injury and so on. I congratulate Tis and the Team for this well-deserved recognition.”
The FA awards are designed to recognise Leagues, Clubs, County FAs, grassroots organisations or individuals that are making a significant contribution to improving the behavioural standards in football. This might be achieved through the following approaches:
• Educating team, coaches, spectators or players
• Encouraging players, coaches, spectators or teams to strive for high standards of behaviour
• Dealing with poor behaviour
• Incentivising good behaviour
• Recruiting and retaining referees
• Valuing referees
• Improving a situation of established poor behaviour
• Captains who work well with referees to help manage on pitch behaviour
• Referees who gain respect for the way in which they manage games
• Campaigning in an effective and persuasive way
• The work of individuals that have improved the environment in which the game takes place
The Awards cover a number of categories including for the professional game for which the FA recognise the Fair Play Award Winners in the Premier League and the Football League. The latter is the category that has been awarded to Exeter City.
The award comes with £10,000 prise money which has to be spent on particular types of project. The club Board will consider this and make a submission to Greg Dyke, the Chairman of the FA, for his approval. The prize will be presented to the Club by the FA on the pitch at a home game before the end of this calendar year.