Last season saw the Gunners beat Southampton 1-0 in the first ever indoor final and among the capacity Cardiff crowd were Essex FA volunteer winners Hazel Lawrence, Dennis Wyman and Jim Machin.

Looking back on the once in a lifetime experience, Dennis, of Upminster Park Rovers, said: “It was a brilliant day, really colourful and so different from watching the game at home on TV."

“It was such a marvellous day, the atmosphere was terrific and the stadium is just unbelievable. The new Wembley will do well to match that,” was Jim Machin of the Chelmsford Youth League’s assessment of the superb Cardiff facilities.

Essex County FA Football Development Officer, Pat Kielty, explained more about the Volunteer Awards: “We’ve had some great nominations over the last few years and, traditionally, the winners have been involved with grassroots football over a long period of time.

“But we’re well aware that there are plenty of young volunteers out there in the local football community and hopefully this will be reflected in the nomination process as well,” said Pat.

Nominating someone for a Volunteer Award couldn’t be easier. You can e-mail the ECFA via info@essexfa.com or post it to: Volunteer Awards, Essex County FA, 31 Mildmay Road, Chelmsford, CM2 0DN.

Make sure you include details of why your nominee should be heading for Cardiff on May 22, their name and contact details.

Pictured from left to right are Hazel Lawrence, Dennis Wyman, Jim Machin and Essex FA Representative Len Cordell.

Hit the net with the Essex County FA by logging onto http://www.essexfa.com