THE divisional winners of the EFL Community Awards 2025 were revealed when players and club officials gathered for a prestigious ceremony at Parliament on Wednesday night.
The awards, which celebrate the outstanding work EFL football club charities are delivering in their local communities, honoured winners across all three divisions in the categories of Community Player of the Season, Community Club of the Season and Community Project of the Season.
The judging panel included former England Lioness Rachel Brown-Finnis, former EFL footballer turned Sky Sports pundit Jobi McAnuff, sports journalist Henry Winter and the PFA’s Dave Palmer.
Norwich City were awarded the Championship Community Club of the Season honour after the charity engaged with record-breaking 45,828 participants during 2023-24.
The Canaries’ offering includes an innovative volunteering project called ‘My Club’, a ‘Play and Eat’ programme to assist those affected by the cost-of-living crisis, and the ‘Realising Potential’ initiative, helping those with disabilities and additional needs to improve their employability.
Rotherham United were named the League One Community Club of the Season, while Fleetwood Town picked up the award for League Two.
Bristol Rovers defender Taylor Moore was chosen as League One’s Community Player of the Year for the work he’s done to support mental health in the
local community. Taylor’s passion for mental health is rooted in lived experience, after his mother attempted suicide last year.
This inspired Taylor to create and launch his own project called, ‘5K Your Way’, an exercise initiative which encourages open conversations about mental health through light physical activity.
Over 40 participants attended the first walk, and it has now become a regular event, with numbers increasing every time.
Norwich defender Ja ck Stacey was named Championship Community Player of the Season for his exceptional commitment to volunteering, and Doncaster Rovers’ Joseph Olowu picked up the League Two award for going above and beyond with his support of a refugee and asylum seekers project.
Project
Community Project of the Season for League Two was awarded to Port Vale for their cost-of-living programme, Baby Bank.
It ensures no child goes without the basic essential items and helps to reduce the financial strain and stress on families living in one of the country’s most deprived wards.
Over the last 12 months, 1,562 families have received support, with the scheme providing items to allow new babies a safe space to sleep, appropriate clothing while offering support to families facing crisis.
Plymouth Argyle’s ACTing with Children programme – which supports children who have a parent in prison – picked up the Championship accolade.
League One’s winner was Charlton Athletic for their Youth Engagement Vehicles – a youth engagement scheme to reduce serious youth violence in the London boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley.
EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: “The awards are a celebration of the role and collective impact football has in communities across England and Wales.
“Hearing such powerful stories from our winners reinforces the capabilities EFL clubs have in not only changing the landscape of our communities, but in changing lives too.
“EFL club charities collectively support over one million people across England and Wales every season, and these awards highlight only a fraction of the programmes and initiatives that operate every single day.”
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