Last night (Friday 5 March) the great and the good of London Football turned out to grace the red carpet to support Willow at the 2015 London Football Awards. A glittering awards ceremony, hosted by Soccer AM’s Max Rushden, saw some legends of the game, past and present, recognised for their achievements over the past season, with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard scooping “London Player of the Year”, and Arsène Wenger recognised for “Outstanding Contribution to a London Club.” Other awards included “London Manager of the Year”, awarded to Brentford FC’s Mark Warburton, “London Goalkeeper of the Year”, Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois, “London Young Player of the Year”, given to Tottenham’s Harry Kane, whilst “London Women’s Player of the Year” was awarded to Chelsea’s Ji So-Yun, and the supporter-nominated “London Community Project of the Year” was announced as Leyton Orient for their project “Coping with Football”.
Ex-Arsenal player and Willow Co-founder, Bob Wilson hosted a lively question-time with TV pundits, Glenn Hoddle, Lee Dixon and Tony Cottee. We were honoured to have Special Day Beneficiary, Andrew and his mum Maureen, join us for the evening. Andrew, 29 has brain cancer and gave a speech about the impact of his Special Day at Arsenal’s training ground and how his love of football has helped him through the toughest times.
Our guests dug deep in the live auction, which included items from Trevor Brooking, Harry Redknapp and John Motson, and together with the raffle and silent auction, raising a significant amount to help us provide many more Special Days.
Willow has a strong football heritage and we are proud that our association with the sport through both our provision of Special Days and fundraising activities is now recognised at both a London and national level.
Bob commented, “Megs and I could never have imagined Willow being mentioned in the same breath as tonight’s award nominees. It is only thanks to the wonderful support of the football community and so many of my peers, the Clubs and players that we can continue to reach out to those most in need. Megs and I are extremely humbled by the continued support and enthusiasm.”
Thanks are extended to our sponsors, Toscafund and award sponsors, GM Real Estate and Football Manager for their generous support and a special thank you to all our amazing volunteers who worked tirelessly on the night to make it such a success.