The wait is over! More than Football Award 2023 Shortlist Revealed!
Football has always been more than just a game. The purpose of the More than Football Award is to honour the best Community & Social Responsibility initiatives implemented by a European club, League or FA. On 19 June 2023 we announced the longlist for the More than Football Award 2023 powered by Musco Lighting. Ten organisations were still in the race for this prestigious award. Until today, when the jury votes were counted and the Shortlist is here! Only four clubs are now still in the race to win a club-branded Mini-Pitch System™ powered by Musco Lighting.
These are the four shortlisted clubs!
- FCM Samfund – Together on the field (Sammen går vi på bannen)
The Together on the Field (Sammen går vi på bannen) project focuses on developing, training and strengthening the candidate’s prerequisites and skills for and, to complete training as well as take on a job or education. Additionally, their social and personal qualities are also strengthened. FCM Samfund realises this project through targeted effort, with weekly joint teaching and individual support within the framework of the sports’ network, and based on the principles of talent development.
“In FCM Samfund, we want to help the people in our region who are having a hard time. We want to help find and release the talent that all people possess.”
Preben Rokkjaer, Marketing and support director at FC Midtjylland
- KRC Genk FRZA! – KRC Jongdementie Café
The KRC Genk FRZA! foundation initiated the KRC Jongdementie (young dementia) Café, with the hope of first and foremost, giving people facing this terrible disease a place where they can be themselves without inhibition. The chances of someone getting dementia are 1 in 5 and for the first time, the disease is also amongst the number one cause of death in Belgium.
“As a club, we have a great social obligation. So it’s important that everyone has a place here.”
Niel Janssen, Foundation Lead at KRC Genk FRZA! Foundation
- Legia Foundation – #ReadyToHelp Refugees from Ukraine
The project #ReadyToHelp Refugees from Ukraine” is a humanitarian initiative which was launched in response to the war in Ukraine and the influx of refugees into Poland, particularly Warsaw. The project’s main objectives include providing essential support to Ukrainian refugees, supplying basic necessities to those who remained in Ukraine, raising awareness about the war’s causes, and offering normalcy to displaced children and mothers.
The project also includes educational and integration activities for children and mothers, fostering a sense of belonging in the new country. The Legia Foundation has also facilitated the relocation of the Ukrainian youth rowing team and provided training for their staff.
- The St Johnstone Community Trust – Saints Academy INclusion Through Sport (SAINTS)
SAINTS (Saints Academy INclusion Through Sport), originally part of St Johnstone’s community department, and now an integral part of the Community Trust, Mental Health & Wellbeing Football is a project which has grown over a 13-year period, kicking off in 2010.
The project has developed to include support for adults with learning disabilities, students with additional support needs, children & young people with Autism, and children & young people with ADHD. Sport is for everyone. Described as “trailblazers” by the Scottish FA’s Disability Manager, the programme has gone from strength to strength, engaging with numerous adults and children, ranging from the ages of 5 to 64 years old across the different groups.
The applicants selected for the shortlist are invited to make a 15-minute presentation of their project at the 20th EFDN ‘Making Football Matter’ Conference which will be organised in Athens, Greece, from 13-15 November 2023. The attending EFDN members will choose the winning organisation. The winner will be announced during the More Than Football Award 2023 Gala on Tuesday, November 14th and receives a fully branded Musco Lighting Mini-Pitch for its community activities.
Previous More than Football Award winners:
2019: Shakhtar Social: “Come On, Let’s Play” project.
2020: Club Brugge Foundation: ‘The Bear and his Scarf’.
2021: Big Hearts Community Trust: ‘The Big Hearts Supporters’ Movement’.
2022: Northampton Town FC Community Trust: ‘Tackling Loneliness’
