It was a big one at the Coach and Horses on Saturday for everyone connected with Prestwich Heys FC as it was awards night and we had a massive turn out of players management fans and volunteers.
Fan, organiser and compare for the evening Conrad Mcgeown ( wearing a very interesting red jacket!) started proceedings thanking everyone connected with the day to day running of the club from the bar staff, grounds man to the media team etc and mentioned about how it had been an interesting season in getting transportation to away games including flights and boats to the Isle of Man and taxi's to various games due to rail strikes and engineering works!.
It was then the turn of under 23's manager Nick Simister to announce the young player of the year and followed by little me who nervously got on stage to announce the fans player of the fans player of the season and goal of the season.
The presentations were completed by first team managers Lee Obrien and James Hampson. Lee made a brilliant speech thanking the fans who go week in week out calling us 'serious drinkers' (I have no idea what he means!) on away days we go to in whatever weather and where ever while James made interesting comments about washing male genitalia! before completing the awards voted by players and management.
The awards were presented as below
Fans player of the season
Captain Aaron Chalmers
Runner up Jacob Ngoy
3rd place Matt Davies
Fans goal of the season
1st place Dylan Fitzgerald 1st goal IOM away
2nd place Saidkhon Khamidov v Avro away
3rd place Rio Clegg v Congleton home
Steward of the season
John Kerr
Managers player of the season
Matt Davies
Players player of the season
Jacob Ngoy
Top Goalscorer
Dylan Fitzgerald
Clubman of the season
Dan Wolstenholme
Under 23's player of the season (Players)
Rio Clegg
Under 23's player of the season (Manager)
Matty Buck
So with all the awards presented and speeches done it was time for a surprise in the form of Heys fan Mike Taylor. Mike has penned a few songs for the fans to sing in the last few years and after our away trip to Burscough he burst into song in the taxi on the way home having changed the words to 'leaning on a lamp post' by George Formby into a Heys song, and got on stage to give us a rendition of it. Such a shame current budgets did not allow us to get him a ukulele! but he did a terrific job and went down a storm as he does on away days.
It was then time to party 'all night long' with soul singer Baba (or was it Lionel Richie!) who sang brilliantly, doing various classics including
a large amount of Lionel Richie and some of us thought we were watching the Kings coronation again!. Interesting note as well our singer played in the Manchester League and knew some
of our players!.
It ended up a brilliant night for the club pulling everyone together to celebrate finishing in our highest ever position of seventh in the North West Counties Premier League and winning the Bolton Hospital Cup beating Atherton LR 2-0, and from the fans side I personally want to thank OB and James for putting us in such a strong position which makes the prospect of next season all the more exciting as to what we can achieve.
Finally we have to thank landlady Sue Hawley, husband Lee and her team for letting us use the Coach and Horses as a venue, Sue and her crew worked so hard last night to make the night the success it was and they continue to support the club with various other events we have done in the past and will do in the future, it means a lot to us, I just wish Holt's pubs would see sense and stick the Guinness back on!.
So, that was it a brilliant night was had by all and watch this space as I will be writing my end of season review in the coming weeks with the thrills and spills of the 2022-23 season.
