National Game Awards: An ultimate honour among true legends

The NLP Lifetime Achievement

PRESENTATION: Last year’s NGA Lifetime winner Dave Diaper, left, with The NLP’s Neil Wooding

PICTURE: Matt Bristow

While all National Game Awards are special to us in their own right, there is one that we consider to be the ultimate honour.

The word ‘legend’ is often overused in football, but not so when it comes to winning The NLP Lifetime Achievement Award – only true legends can win that!

Take last year’s winner, Dave Diaper, for example.

Very few people in football have made the kind of impact on one single club than the Sholing icon after signing off from a 25-year association with the Hampshire club last season.

Honoured

Before stepping down as manager to become director of football, Diaper had overseen over 1,200 games with the Boatmen, taking the club from Step 5 to Step 3 and leading them to FA Vase glory in 2014 at Wembley.

“I feel quite lucky and honoured,” Diaper, now a lifetime president of the club, told The NLP.

“When I took on the job, it was 1999, I had a plan to stay on for two or three years and every year I got asked the same question: ‘We want you to stay, are you going to stay?’

“I just said yes so many times and it became a natural thing.

“I progressed to running the club for quite a few numbers of those years, which was hard work, a lot of dedication, but it was totally enjoyable.’’

For sure, Diaper is a tough act to follow, but we know there are many other top football people of the like who are equally deserved of this accolade.

Who will be the latest legend of the game to join them on the honours’ list? Send us your pick.