Wycombe Win Family Club Award

Wycombe Wanderers have won the Sports Alliance Family Club of The Year Award for Coca-Cola League 2 at the 2008 Football League Awards incorporating FourFourTwo`s Top 50 Football League Players.

The club received the award at a gala dinner at The London Hilton, Park Lane on Sunday 2nd March 2008 in front of over 800 attendees from clubs, sponsors and the football industry.

The award has been introduced by The Football League to recognise those clubs delivering an outstanding matchday experience in a way that will make families want to come back time and time again. All 72 clubs were visited by mystery shopper families as part of the assessment exercise.

For their winning entry, Wycombe Wanderers offer an unrivalled family experience on matchdays, to include value for money tickets, family match day Kids Club and matches for the kids on the pitch prior to games. In addition, half time penalty shoot outs and access to players makes for unique supporter experiences. The family enclosure in the lower tier stretches the length of the pitch, enabling children to have un-obstructed views of the games.

The judging panel commented that "Wycombe Wanderers have shown dedication to ensuring that they provide a fantastic experience for all the family. It makes you wish they were your own club."

Steve Hayes Managing Director of Wycombe Wanderers on receiving the Sports Alliance League 2 Family Club of the Year Award said:

'We are chuffed to bits. We have 18 full time staff and this award is for their hard work and dedication. We have been in the Football League for twenty years and we are still playing catch up with a lot of clubs. We see over 250,000 children a year through our community scheme and we only need a small percentage to come to games regularly to make this work.'

Commenting on the 2008 Football League Awards, The Football League Chairman, Lord Mawhinney, said: "For the third consecutive year, The Football League Awards has been an enormous success.

"Once again, it has given us the opportunity to recognise and reward the outstanding contributions made by fans, clubs and players to the continued growth and development of league football."

The number one spot in the FourFourTwo Top 50 Football League Players went to West Bromwich Albion striker, Kevin Phillips, followed by Andy Gray of Charlton and Michael Kightly of Wolverhampton Wanderers. The full list of The Top 50 Football League Players can be found either in the April issue of FourFourTwo which is on sale now, or on the FourFourTwo website www.fourfourtwo.com.

The Football League Awards show will be aired on Sky Sports 1 on Thursday 6th March at 8pm.

To find out more about The Football League Awards please visit www.footballleagueawards.com.

Sports Alliance sponsored The Football League Family Club of the Year Award. Generations of family support form the bedrock of a Club, and the Clubs nominated for Family Club of the Year create memorable experiences for family members of all ages. Sports Alliance provides the CRM and target marketing support that binds families tighter to their Clubs, enabling the clubs to convert fans` emotional attachment into stable revenue generation.