There Are WFC Xmas Dinners And There's CTWFC Christmas Dinners

Our latest club Christmas dinner was held at the Dumb Post Inn on the 21st with just under 40 footballers and their wives/partners joining for the evening.

As well as enjoying fine food and plenty of banter, the highlight of the evening was the presentation of the club awards for 2024.

Phil C started by thanking Nicola at Omnium for the welcome sponsorship provided in 2024, and expressed the hope that the partnership would develop to the benefit of both club and Omnium going forward.

Then on to the awards, preceded with 'thanks' to Paul W, in his enforced absence, for designing not just the club kit but also the award certificates (in club colours, of course!) which were presented on the night. Hopes were expressed that Paul will make a full recovery and be able to return to the field of play in the not too distant future.

The Awards

First out of the blocks was the 2024 Clogger Award, given to the the player who occasionally forgot that walking football is supposed to be non-contact. The winner, by a large majority, was Jeff D. A telegram of congratulation was received from Mick R of Highworth, who congratulated Jeff on his richly deserved award.

Next to be presented was the Everest Award, to the player with the uncanny ability to hoof the ball where the air is rare, forgetting that the ball is not supposed to go above bar height. The winner, by a majority, was Sion H.

Whinger (not winger!) of the year was then discussed, but Phil was able to put many of those present at ease by announcing that, since there was no clear winner, the award would be kept in abeyance, but everyone was warned it could well result in a winner in 2025.

We moved on to the Zimmer Award, presented to the player who had to send in the most sick notes in 2024 due to injury. Phil mentioned that Alan B and Richard G both suffered long-term injuries in 2024, and that we all hoped to see them return in early 2025. However, the award was given to someone who didn't just have one long-term injury, but kept having injuries to different limbs which kept him away from walking football very frequently during the year. The winner - and someone who was so confident that he would win this award that he actually nominated himself - was Perry K.

Next was the Supporter of the Year, for which there was only one nomination. Someone who supports Calne Town Walking Football through thick and thin, through sunshine and rain, in the UK and overseas, the lady in question being Lorna N. Phil also pointed out that Lorna would have been the sole nominee for Opposition Supporter of the Year also (had there been such an award), since her sheer force of personality meant that she didn't just charm the ultras supporting other teams, but could often be heard shouting in support of them also (as long as they were not playing versus Calne Town at the time, or if Charlie N was playing FOR them!!).

The final award on the night was for the club Player of the Year - the Ballon D'Or Calne. Whilst there were 12 nominations in total, the player with the most votes is someone who represents the club at Over 60s and Over 70s level (but not at Over 65s level!), someone who occasionally at recreational sessions plays out on the pitch where he can be a bit of a liability (and a candidate for Clogger, Gazelle and Everest awards as a result), but more often plays in goal, where he is rightly highly rated. The winner was Charlie N.

There were four awards that couldn't be presented on the night due to absentees, these winners are now listed below.

Phil wrapped up the proceedings by noting how touching it was that both Mr & Mrs N had won awards, which he was sure they would be delighted to hang on their bedroom wall to remind themselves of their accomplishments in 2024.

A enjoyable evening was had by all which hopefully kicked off a very Merry Christmas.

Many thanks to Perry for organising the event, and to the team at the Dumb Post for their friendly service to us all on the night.

And the Winners Are - Round 2 ...

There were four awards which were not presented on the night, these have now been presented to the deserved winners who, Mike G aside, were all present at at the first recreational session of the new year.

Did you guess the winners correctly?