The National Game Awards are back with a bang but not as you’ve ever known them with The Non-League Paper’s annual accolades going virtual!
From Barrow to Jersey – and 470 miles in between – the extraordinary 2019-20 campaign will long live in the memory for a whole host of reasons.
Ian Evatt’s Bluebirds have led the way at the top of Non-League, while new boys Jersey Bulls won every game in their first season at Step 6.
In the FA Cup, Maldon & Tiptree shocked Leyton Orient, while Step 4 Halesowen Town reached the semi-final of the Buildbase FA Trophy where they were set to take on Step 2 side Concord Rangers for a place at Wembley.
But, of course, the season will be remembered for the global coronavirus pandemic that stopped football, along with the rest of the world, in its tracks. It also meant our annual National Game Awards in May had to be cancelled.
But we didn’t want that to stop us recognising the efforts made in 2019-20, the fantastic stories Non-League’s managers, players and their clubs wrote before everything was curtailed.
So today we are proud to launch our ‘Virtual’ National Game Awards for 2020! They will take on a slightly different format to usual but, as always, we need our loyal readers to decide where the gongs deserve to go.
This year, we are also dishing out awards at each level, with usual favourites of Cup Run of the Year and Manager of the Year.
Sadly, with The NLP team working from home, we are unable to accept postal votes so voting will be online only.
Voting is now open and will run until Thursday, June 11. You don’t need to vote in every category using of our easy to use online voting system. The winners will then be contacted and revealed in The NLP on Sunday, June 21!
So should Evatt scoop the Manager prize? Or does Simon Weaver deserve to be recognised for his efforts at Harrogate Town – not to mention Jim Gannon at Stockport County and Woking’s Alan Dowson in their clubs’ first seasons back at Step 1.
Is goalscoring supreme Adam Marriott your National League North Player of the Year? Or how about Tunde Owolabi at FC United for the Northern Premier League star?
More than 10,000 votes have been registered by The NLP’s readers in past seasons and we’ve made it easier than ever to take part in 2020 with a simple and easy online voting system. Just click here before the deadline to help hand out our accolades as football prepares to return!
For much more of the latest news like this make sure you get your copy of The Non-League Paper this weekend!
? This week’s NLP
EBB AND GO! New Ebbsfleet United boss Dennis Kutrieb
?? Steve Chettle Big Interview
? Remembering Justin Edinburgh
Plus: Nicky Gray, Steve King, Barry Hayles, Gloucester City, JJ O’Donnell column & when Sir Stanley Matthews turned out for Eynesbury Rovers pic.twitter.com/H5miqnYlKX
— The Non-League Paper (@NonLeaguePaper) June 7, 2020
In shops on Sundays and Mondays, The NLP is also available as a page-rustling digital edition and full replica of the printed paper from midnight on Saturdays.
Try the digital paper for free today with our first paper in May only a few clicks away right now as a FREE SAMPLE EDITION! Digital readers also save cash on single issues, even more on longer deals and enjoy full access to The NLP’s entire archive.
Images courtesy of The Non-League Paper
