Northend first club to receive new IFA excellence award

The Irish FA launched its Football for All Club Excellence Mark in October and since then over 80 clubs registered their interest, with Northend United setting the standard for all the rest.

Indeed such was the standard of Northend’s submission, it is now being used as the benchmark for the other interested clubs.

The award is a football specific accreditation scheme which clubs can embark on to try to improve the way they are run.

Northend United Youth FC is a local community oriented club that have demonstrated a commitment to best practice in the running of their football club.

The Club mark scheme is a tool that can help clubs like Northend to develop and ensure their club is run in the right way. The focus is on club governance, duty of care, games & coaching development and community outreach and in achieving this level of Irish Football Association’s Club Mark, Northend United Youth have shown a dedication to best practice in all of these areas.

Northend United Youth chairman Johnny Sayers, said: “We are delighted and proud to be the first club in Northern Ireland to achieve the IFA Club Mark. This is recognition of the great work of all volunteers at the club since it was set up over 10 years ago. We hope this award will spur us on to bigger and better things in the coming years”.

The Club now looking forward to the official presentation of the award by Jim Magilton, the IFA Elite Performance Director in a special ceremony for the Club held at IFA’s headquarters in Belfast.