The achievements of three football development coaches, young and old, were recognised by the Premier League this week.
The Eamonn Dolan Award was established in honour of the former Reading Academy manager, who passed away in the summer of 2016 after his battle with cancer.
Dolan was a creative, innovative coach and a mentor to so many young players and staff he worked with at Reading.
See: 'Dolan's great legacy is environment he has built'
The award looks to recognise an individual or a group of individuals making an exceptional contribution to football coaching and/or coach development in football within the Academy environment.
For the inaugural award, three people from different points in the coaching spectrum were honoured.
Dave Parnaby, the former Middlesbrough Academy manager, retired this season after being at the club since the academy was set up in 1998 during which time he has produced a series of players who went on to play for Boro and for England.
See: Parnaby's pride in Middlesbrough Academy
Natalie Henderson received an award after becoming the first female coach to graduate from the Premier League’s Elite Coaching Apprenticeship Scheme (ECAS) and is now the first female coach on the Newcastle United Academy staff, where she is coach for the under-12s.
After 15 years at Reading, the final award winner, Lee Herron, was appointed the Academy manager in September last year to carry on the legacy of Dolan.
They all received their awards at the Premier League Coaches Conference at Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham.
See: Natalie Henderson's ECAS story
“Eamonn was a leading advocate of the idea that we should develop a community of coaches who over time would become world leading,” Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore told the winners in a letter.
“We believe that we already have many fantastic coaches working in our Clubs and there were some very strong nominations for this award.
“The selection group felt your nomination was outstanding and you are fully deserved of this award and will represent Eammon’s legacy as you continue working within the Academy environment.”
