Monday 24th August 2020

Congratulations to Paul Burke and Mark Ellis who were honoured at Royal Wootton Bassett Town's Annual General Meeting. Paul was appointed as the club's thirteenth Life Member while Mark was the inaugural winner of the Andy Amos Youth Section Coach of the Year Prize.

Paul Burke – Life Member

Paul's dedication to Royal Wootton Bassett Town over the course of more than three decades makes him the worthy recipient of Life Membership.

He first joined the club as a player, featuring for Bassett's senior sides in the 1980s and 1990s. Paul then made the transition to coaching. He first served as manager of Bassett's Reserve team – with whom he was joint-manager when the team went unbeaten on their way to the Hellenic League Reserve Division Two West title in 2000-01 – before becoming First team manager in 2005. His first season in charge saw Bassett narrowly miss out on promotion back to the Hellenic League Premier Division, while he guided the team to their first ever appearance in the FA Cup First Qualifying round in 2007-08.

In addition, Paul managed within the club's youth section, while also offering his coaching expertise to the Community Football programme that was overseen in the 1990s and 2000s by Chris Kirkland.

Paul continues to be involved with the club today as Merchandise Manager.

A popular figure, Paul's recognition as Life Member is thoroughly deserved and the club is hugely thankful for his dedication and continued efforts.

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The full list of Royal Wootton Bassett Town Football Club Life Members is as follows:

Mick Woolford (1995)
Rod Carter (2008)
Roger Williamson (2008)
Paul Harrison (2012)
Pete Yeardley (2012)
Ron Stone (2013)
Mark Smedley (2016)
Dave Topping (2016)
Bryan Wood (2017)
Scott Smedley (2018)
Stuart Smedley (2018)
Gordon Reeves (2019)
Paul Burke (2020)

Mark Ellis – Andy Amos Youth Section Coach of the Year

In order to honour the memory of Andy Amos, who tragically passed away in April, it was decided to introduce a prize for the Youth Section Coach of the Year in his name.

The first winner of the award was Mark Ellis. Mark is responsible for the delivery of the club's free Saturday Morning Skills Sessions and under his guidance these have become increasingly popular. His efforts have seen the introduction of the SSE Wildcats Girls' Football Centre that takes place alongside these sessions too.

An invaluable volunteer who embodies the club's ethos, Mark also is more than willing to assist with coaching at all age groups within the club and his efforts enable lots of young players of all abilities to enjoy football.

Last modified on Monday 24th August 2020 at 19:18.