STRATTON Youth FC’s long-standing secretary Gordon Varley was recognised at the annual Gloucestershire FA Awards ceremony held at Almondsbury last week.

Gordon won the GFA Outstanding Contribution to Community Football Award which was presented to him by GFA chairman and FA vice-chairman Roger Burden.

The word stalwart hardly does justice to Varley who has been associated with Stratton Youth for the last 33 years and was also secretary during much of that time to the now-defunct Cirencester United side.

In addition to his work for Stratton he continues to referee at local league level and acts as a linesman at up to Hellenic Premier standard and a Hellenic divisional representative.

He is a three-time winner of the Hellenic Linesman of the Year award and will again be officiating in the 2015/16 season.

“I passed the fitness tests this summer easier than in the previous two seasons,” revealed Varley when the Standard tracked him down on holiday in Hayling Island.

“I was chuffed to bits when my chairman nominated me for the GFA award and of course to win it,” he said.

“But the stuff I do for Stratton Youth is a ‘given’. I do it because I enjoy it.

“I’m retired and life would be dull without having something like that to get up for.

“I still see the same faces doing admin at football clubs from the time I started. There is so little new blood coming through which is a great shame. People just can’t be bothered.

“I actually felt greater satisfaction from winning my three Linesman of the Year awards.

“That is marked by referees over the course of the season so was a bit special.

“And perhaps my biggest achievement was to instigate the town council’s purchase of our Baunton Lane ground from Hills. The ground is now used by the whole community.”

Stratton Youth FC chairman Cliff Thrussell said: “We are all immensely proud of Gordon for winning this award.

“He has been part of the club for more than 30 years and is the glue that keeps things together.

“Clubs and teams come and go in youth football but Stratton has not only survived but flourished and a large part of that is down to the commitment and hard work that Gordon puts in, from marking the pitch and painting the changing rooms to ensuring the club is compliant to the ever increasing administrative requirements of the Football Association.”

During his tenure, Stratton Youth has seen approximately 2,000 players pass through and they should all be appreciative of the part he has played in their development as players.

Varley insisted: “I’ll carry on doing it until they tell me to bugger off.”