BOLTON Wanderers’ club chaplain and head of community trust, Phil Mason, has been recognised after devoting years of service to the Whites.

Phil has been presented with the 2020 Pitching In North West Football Awards (NWFA) Unsung Hero gong.

The accolade was handed to him by former Wanderers star Fabrice Muamba and honours the work he has done for Bolton over many years through the club and by being on several boards in the town.

Phil said: “I am very grateful to have won this award but I wish to dedicate it to all my colleagues in the community trust who always go beyond the call of duty.

"Most of them live in the town themselves and see their jobs as true vocations.

“Everybody is going through a tough time because to the pandemic, but if we all stick together as one club, one town and one community we will be much stronger as a consequence.”

During the pandemic, the community trust has supported vulnerable members of the community through their Loneliness Programme, which has engaged with residents through telephone calls, garden gate visits and support with online shopping and ordering prescriptions.

Bolton Wanderers chairwoman Sharon Brittan added: “I am delighted that Phil has been acknowledged in this way as he is devoted to improving the lives of others.

“He’s a great colleague and a tremendous asset, not just to Bolton Wanderers Football Club but to the town as a whole.

"Well done, Phil!”

This year, the NWFA says it was honoured to again be supporting the Darby Rimmer Foundation.

Former Liverpool, Rochdale and Bolton Wanderers footballer, Stephen Darby, together with his close friend and former British Forces veteran, Chris Rimmer, set up the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation after Stephen’s sudden retirement from football in September 2018.

Stephen was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), aged just 29.