SAM Parish, secretary of Premier Division Goatacre CC FC, was rewarded by the league for his efforts off the field by claiming the Secretary of the Year award.

Parish, 40, who works as a project manager, not only looks after his team's affairs off the field of play but is manager of the team and will be proud of their efforts this season which saw them reach the final of the WG Parr Trophy where they suffered a 2-1 loss to Bremhill View.

His team also topped the Premier Division Fair Play table that saw the cricketers pick up a £100 for their efforts.

Prior to 2010 there had been numerous teams who had played in Goatacre, but with the newly-established cricket club changing facilities alongside the village football pitches, it seemed an ideal time for the cricket club to form their own football team so Goatacre CCFC was formed by Parish and Chris Chapman and they joined the league in 2010.

A pretty successful first season followed as they finished as runners up to Staverton in Division Four – playing 24 games, winning 17 and losing seven.

The following season saw them claim a fifth-place finish in Division Three and although they were pushed up to Division Two for the 2012/13 season they went on to lift their only piece of silverware to date – winning the Division Two  title ahead of White Horse and Staverton in a race that went down to the final few games.

Sixteen wins from 20 league games was a fantastic achievement in a very competitive division, and was built largely around 19 goals from Ed Wilkins and 14 from a 17 year old Harry Warner.

Promotion to Division One resulted in a fifth-placed finish and now in the top flight they have struggled with a shortage of players.

As well as receiving a memento from the award sponsor, the Gazette & Herald, he also received a cheque for £50 from the league.