There was a posthumous winner at Wembley on Sunday, as Andrew Martin received the 2016 People’s Award at The FA Community Awards presented by McDonald’s.
Andrew’s father, of the same name, was present to collect the award from England World Cup winner and McDonald’s director of football, Sir Geoff Hurst.
The grassroots coach was chosen as the winner for this year’s award after the voting was opened earlier this year in the build-up to the Awards ceremony, which took place prior to The FA Community Shield game between Manchester United and Leicester City.
Sir Geoff Hurst prepares to present the People's Award at Wembley Stadium
And Andrew was a deserved winner, as grassroots football in Hull felt the benefit of his dedication for ten years due to his belief that football should be a fully inclusive sport.
Whilst he was a coach, he took boys and girls from different backgrounds under his wing, passing on his expertise with a view of broadening their football education and he also took his team to Holland on two occasions to experience Dutch football.
One of Andrew’s biggest achievements was having one of his former players, Josh Tymon, make their debut for Hull City in The Emirates FA Cup, aged just 16.
Andrew also coached in local schools and as a result has seen many boys and girls that he’s coached go on to play at various different levels of football throughout the UK and in the USA.
Andrew truly made an impact on the people he encountered and upon his passing, over 700 people attended his funeral, including representatives of the local football community and the Central Midlands League where he was a player coach with Hull City.
For the majority of his life, Andrew dedicated his time to seeing the young progress and develop and has left a huge legacy, as the children who had the pleasure of meeting him are more positive, healthier and confident because of it.
