Akers honoured at FA Women's Awards

http://www.arsenal.com/news/ladies-news/akers-honoured-at-fa-women-s-awards

Departing Arsenal Ladies manager Vic Akers was today honoured for his
dedication and contribution to the women’s game at The FA Women’s Football
Awards in London.

Akers, who was instrumental in the formation of Arsenal Ladies more
than two decades ago, was presented with The FA Special Achievement Award
by FA Vice-President, Ray Kidell OBE at the prestigious ceremony.

Akers has led the Ladies team to 32 trophies including 11 FA Women’s Premier
League Titles, ten FA Women’s Cups and the UEFA Women’s Cup,
becoming the first English team to do so in 2007.

Reflecting the close finish in this season’s FA Tesco Women’s Premier League,
the main honours of the day were shared between Arsenal and Everton Ladies.

Everton dominated the individual awards with Fara Williams winning both
Nationwide International Player of the Year, and Tesco Players’ Player of
the Year, while her team-mate Toni Duggan was presented
with The FA Young Player of the Year.

After another successful season in which they won a further domestic treble,
including the FA Tesco Women’s Premier League and the FA Women’s Cup,
Arsenal were crowned Tesco Club of the Year.

The 11th annual ceremony, staged at the Park Plaza Hotel in London,
featured awards in 16 different categories,
including Tesco Manager of the Year awarded to Sunderland’s Mick Mulhern who
lead his team to their first ever FA Women’s Cup Final,
and new for 2009, The FA Tesco Community Award,
which was won by Sport England National Sports Foundation.

     full list of all 16 award winners is as follows:

Umbro Top Goal Scorer (National Division) – Kelly Smith (Arsenal)

Umbro Top Goal Scorer (Southern Division) – Sam Pittuck (West Ham)

Umbro Top Goal Scorer (Northern Division) – Jodie Michalska (Lincoln)

The FA Young Player of the Year – Toni Duggan (Everton)

The FA Club Media Award – Leeds Carnegie LFC

The FA Club Marketing Award – Nottingham Forest LFC

Tesco Manager of the Year – Mick Mulhern (Sunderland)

Tesco Club of the Year – Arsenal LFC

The FA Best Programme Award – Keynsham Town LFC

The FA Fair Play Award – Rotherham LFC

The FA National Media Award – The Guardian

The FA Regional Media Award – BBC Radio Leeds

Nationwide International Player of the Year – Fara Williams (Everton)

Tesco Players’ Player of the Year – Fara Williams (Everton)

The FA Special Achievement Award – Vic Akers (Arsenal)

The FA Tesco Community Award – Sport England National Sports Foundation

The awards were hosted by ITV football pundit Robbie Earle,
and were attended by 300 of the biggest names in Women's football,
including representatives from the England Women’s senior squad ahead of
their busy summer of International Football.
Also present was FA Chairman Lord Triesman and Director of Football Development
Sir Trevor Brooking.

Morag Taylor, Marketing Manager for Women’s Football
at The Football Association, commented:
“This year has been full of good performances and amazing achievements
across the women’s game and it’s once again a great pleasure to be able to
bring everyone together to celebrate.

We’ve been thrilled to see the growing numbers of young girls and
women across the country who have been getting involved in all levels of
the game this season, and with Hope Powell’s team qualifying for
the European Championships in Finland later this summer,
we’re hopeful that we’ll have much more to celebrate this year.”

Women's Football is the biggest female team sport in the country,
with over 1.35 million females playing recreational football,
of which more than 150,000 are playing in affiliated school and club teams.

To ensure the game continues to grow, The Football Assocation and Tesco,
the official women’s and girls’ football partner,
are embarking on a joint drive to encourage girls to take up football
this summer. Girls’ Football Week will be held between Monday 22 to
Sunday 28 June, encouraging girls to attend regional taster sessions and
join their local clubs.

For more information please visit www.TheFA.com/womens.