On Thursday 3 March the great and the good of London football turned out to grace the red carpet to support Willow at the 2016 London Football Awards. The glamorous awards ceremony, hosted by Sky Sports’ Max Rushden, saw legends of the game past and present recognised for their achievements over the past season, with Chelsea’s John Terry recognised for Outstanding Contribution to London Football and West Ham’s Dimitri Payet scooping Premier League Player of the Year.
Other awards included London Manager of the Year, awarded to Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino; London Goalkeeper of the Year, to Arsenal’s Petr Čech; London Young Player of the Year, won by Tottenham’s Dele Alli; Football League Player of the Year was given to Fulham’s Moussa Dembélé, whilst London Women’s Player of the Year was awarded to Chelsea’s Eniola Aluko, and the London Community Project of the Year was announced as West Ham for their Moore Family Foundation Project.
We were honoured to have Special Day Beneficiary, Luke, and his brother James join us for the evening. Luke, 23, had germ cell cancer and gave a speech about the impact of his Special Day at a Manchester United meet and greet, saying “without a doubt it has given me the best day of my life.”
Our guests dug deep for the auction which included items from Lee Dixon, Pelé, Sir Geoff Hurst and John Motson. Together with the raffle and silent auction a staggering £211,000 was raised on the night to help the charity 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 a London and national level.
Thanks are extended to our sponsors, Toscafund as well as award sponsors: GM Real Estate, Football Manager, PUMA, Quilter Cheviot Investment Management, Penta Capital Investment Specialists, Brookfield Multiplex Construction Europe Ltd and Morgan Stanley, for their generous support. Also a special thank you to all our amazing volunteers who worked tirelessly on the night to make it such a success.
For more information visit londonfootballawards.org
