A match official from Rotherham was awarded Match Official of the Year at the England Football Grassroots Football Awards 2024.

Steve Bradford was one of twelve grassroots football volunteers from around the country who were recognised at a glittering awards ceremony at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 10th August.

The Grassroots Football Awards is an initiative set up by The FA to celebrate those volunteers who put their heart and soul into the grassroots game. 

Steve goes above and beyond as a match official. In 25 years as a referee, officiating well over 6,000 games, he hasn’t once taken a fee for his matchday role. Instead, he’s donated every penny back for team events and local charities, raising enormous sums for good causes.

His selfless act has also seen him start a scheme at Greasbrough Youth FC to help young match officials pay for their courses, especially those from less affluent backgrounds. Over the last 18 months, it’s resulted in several players at the club following in Steve’s footsteps and qualifying as a referee. 

Reflecting on his national recognition, Steve said: “I was originally blagged into refereeing a game because there was no referee. At the time I just loved playing and watching grassroots football. I could never have seen me refereeing in a million years but here we are.

“It just fills me with pride that for all these years I thought I was just refereeing. But it’s beginning to dawn on me that I’ve touched people’s lives in a way I didn’t even realise. I’m absolutely bursting with pride.”

For a quarter of a century, he’s been a positive influence on and off the pitch, encouraging both players and fellow referees. Earlier this year, he was nominated for a county FA grassroots football award by another referee, Lewis Pursglove, who credited Steve for offering him valuable advice and support at the start of his refereeing career.

An external judging panel chose Steve as the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association’s Match Official of the Year, which made him eligible for a national award.

The national awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the Community Shield Final between Manchester City and Manchester United.

The winning volunteers were treated to a range of unique experiences, with Steve getting to meet the team of match officials down pitch side ahead of kick off as well as taking to the hallowed turf at half time to be introduced as the match official of the year in front of over 78,000 fans.

His latest award makes it a hat-trick for Steve in 2024. Earlier in the year he also picked up Outstanding Contribution to Refereeing at the FA’s Referee Recognition Awards at Wembley for his services to the Sheffield & Hallamshire region as a referee.