Aberdeen FC has been named ‘Best Professional Football Club’ at the 2019 UEFA Grassroots Awards thanks to the outstanding work of its Community Trust.

Working in collaboration with the Scottish Football Association, Aberdeen FC Community Trust (AFCCT) engaged with 20,402 people throughout the 2018-19 season, focusing on three main themes: football for life, education and healthy communities.

It was the Trust’s second continental success this year after its Dementia Friendly programme was recognised by European Clubs Assocation.

Community Operations Manager Steven Sweeney told the Aberdeen Press & Journal: ““It’s great the North-East of Scotland is getting recognition because there are lots of clubs out there with more resources than us.

“But the key message is that it’s all about people and working together. There’s a great sense of community spirit in the north-east and that’s contributed to us receiving this recognition.

“There’s plenty of clubs right across Europe doing fantastic work, but UEFA have recognised us and we’re happy to receive that pat on the back. But we also recognise that resets the bar and we want to go on and do more over the next five years as well.”

The Trust is set to benefit further soon when it moves into the club’s new training campus at Cormack Park in Kingsford.

Steven added: “This will give us an excellent opportunity to build community capacity and work even closer with grassroots clubs that we’ve worked hand in hand with to gain this recognition.

“We can use it as a community club to improve public health and engage with some of those hard to reach, or as we prefer to call them, easy to ignore groups. We can push forward Aberdeen FC being in the community and here for the city and region.”

To find out more, visit the Aberdeen FC Community Trust page on the ConnectSport directory. To add your page for FREE contact hello@connectsport.co.uk.