A football coach described as “a key cog to our club and players’ development” has been recognised with a Football Association of Wales (FAW) award.
Simon Grist received the FAW Community Coach of the Year award for the South Wales region for his work for Bedwas, Trethomas, Machen (BTM) United FC.
Mr Grist will be a guest at Wales’ next home match – a World Cup 2018 qualifier against Austria – with his fellow regional winners, where manager Chris Coleman and the rest of the Wales team will also choose the national winner.
Nicola Johns, club secretary at BTM United, hailed the work of the former Cardiff City and Newport County prospect.
She said: “Simon is an unassuming guy who still can’t understand why he’s won, and that’s testament to the person that he is.
“He’s passionate about grassroots football. He’s recently taken up a role as head of talent identification and academy recruitment at Newport County, but he still finds time to run goalkeeping sessions for us, which are proving more popular than ever.
“He even filled in as chairman for a while, and he does it all with 100% commitment and passion.
“He brings a professional level to our grassroots club, and we’re hugely proud of him.”