29. mars 2024

Norgesvenn ble årets supporter

Stephen James, eller Steve som vi kjenner han best som, ble kåret til årets supporter. Foto: bwfc.co.uk

What a great evening at the University of Bolton Stadium. Last night saw the first Supporter of the Season Award, which was sponsored by the Supporters’ Trust.

«Alle» vet hvem Steve er. Eller Stephen James som er hans navn. Det er han som ordner alt for oss i Bolton. Han fikser plass og mat til banketten vi har. Han fikser transport dit vi trenger transport. Han fikser alt. Det er ikke noe han ikke kan fikse. Steve melder seg gjerne inn i en forballklubb bare for å fikse billetter slik at vi kan dra å se en kamp som ikke er Boltonkamp.

Derfor ble Steve nominert til årets supporter av blant andre BWSCNs leder Eirik Hiim Titland.

Teksten under er hentet fra Supporters’ Trust:

Skjermdump fra Twitter

The club and the trust have worked together to find a special kind of BWFC fan who not only represents our great club with passion and commitment, which is common to all committed Wanderers, but who goes the extra mile to make following the Wanderers as joyful and pleasurable an experience as possible.

 
The start of the process was to invite nominations from all Wanderers fans for possible candidates for the award. Nearly 200 nominations were received with some names featuring several times.
 
A panel comprising senior club and trust members faced the difficult task of selecting that one special supporter. And boy, the job was such a difficult one.
 
Some amazing stories have been uncovered and all panel members were blown away by the levels of passion and commitment shown.
 
However, one candidate stood out, and his name is Stephen James!
 
This guy has for many years, selflessly helped Wanderers fans across the globe to engage in their passion for our club.
 
A lifelong Wanderer, Stephen has been the link for our fan base in Norway for years now. He organises many aspects of their regular trips to England to follow the Wanderers. He put himself at the disposal of one of the Norwegian supporters, Glenn, who this season made his very last visit to the Unibol whilst struggling with his Motor Neurone Disease and arranged for Glenn to meet Gethin who, as we know, recently lost his own mother to the same terrible disease.
 
Stephen (Ste to those who know him) was also massively involved in helping the Latams with all aspects of their recent amazingly successful Wanderers pilgrimage.
 
He designs, produces and sends Wanderers themed flags, shirts and scarves to the various Wanderers groups around the world – all at his own expense and without any desire for recognition.
 
He continues to engage with Wanderers fan groups across the world, from the USA to Japan, from Norway to Argentina, and all this for no other reason than he is a Wanderer to the core and just wants to spread the word!
 
So well done Ste – you deserve this award!
 
Thank you to all who nominated their favourites and we look forward to running the same again next season – a season where our fans have picked the kit! How’s that for fan engagement!
 
But Ste’s award doesn’t tell the whole story.
 
The panel felt it only right to make specific mention of some of our super fans whose stories meant they were very close to winning the award themselves.
 
Stories like that of Paul Rushton, a well known Wanderer who houses an extensive collection of BWFC memorabilia in his own home and has lent items to Bolton Museum. Paul also runs a weekly score prediction competition on his Facebook page which generates great engagement with so many fans.
 
Stories like that of Mark Torkington, who lives in Nottingham and despite not driving has attended every home and away game this season using public transport, a feat which perhaps deserves a separate award!
 
Stories like Lewis, Alfie, Freddie, Louie, Olly and Parker, a group of young lads who follow the Wanderers home and away and who feature regularly on social media posts on their travels watching the Whites.
 
Stories like Taylor Jones, who despite losing his father to cancer last year and also recently being diagnosed with cancer himself, managed to overcome his immense problems to make it to Wembley for the Papa Johns Final win.
 
And who can forget the amazing story of the Latams whose first overseas trip from their home in Argentina included a Wembley trophy, a Bank Holiday visit to Exeter and a first «home» game at the Unibol.

There were so many other great candidates – unfortunately too many to mention individually.