Hitting back: Celebrating delayed season of success for Bradford Bulldogs - Awards Night
THREE years in the making, Bradford Bulldogs were finally able to come together as one club again for their annual Awards Night.
Around 180 people attended the event at the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford, making it the biggest such night in the club's history.
In all, 46 individual awards were handed out to players ranging from Under-12s through to the Bulldogs' NIHL North Two Seniors team, with the Under-10s in attendance also receiving trophies for the 2021-22 season.
The last time the club were able to hold such an event was back in 2019, the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic bringing about an early end to the 2019-20 campaign, meaning the club had to hold a 'virtual' awards night online two years ago.
With the 2020-21 season effectively wiped out by the pandemic, there was no awards night at all last summer.
But it wasn't just a night to celebrate the club's 2021-22 achievements - top of which was the Under-12s winning their North Division regular season title - the evening also saw the club pay tribute to influential characters from its past, including Charles Dacres, Karel Stanek, Granville Raper, Stephen French and others, some of who helped form the club way back in 1976.
Current head coach Andy Brown presented each former Bulldog with a special commemorative silver tankard, with a number of them - along with more recent Bulldogs' alumni Kieran Brown - being asked to present awards to the current crop of youngsters coming through the club.
The list of award winners for each team was as follows:
Seniors
Players Player of the Year: Josh Richardson
MVP (Most Valued Player): Chris Butler
Top Points Scorer: Josh Stockton
Best Forward: Matt Viney
Best Defence: Josh Richardson
Best Netminder: Phil Pearson
Most Improved Player: Alex Mitchell
Clubman of the Year: Dean Boothroyd
Under-18s
Players’ player of the Year - Matthew Cross
Player of the Year/MVP – Damarni James
Coach’s Player of the Year – Jack Wooding
Top Points Scorer – Damarni James
Sportsmanship – Jacob Brownlie
Best Forward – Damarni James
Best Defence – Matthew Cross
Best Netminder – Gabriel Lingard
Most Improved Player – James Gledhill
Best Rookie – Mackenzie Barker
Under-16s
Players’ player of the Year - Oliver Massey
Player of the Year/MVP – Grace Cooper
Coach’s Player of the Year – Grace Cooper
Top Points Scorer – Rhys Edwards
Sportsmanship – Lydia Lutwyche
Best Forward – Mackenzie Barker
Best Defence – Jessica Wooding
Best Netminder – Callum Preston
Most Improved Player – Tyler Hall
Best Rookie – Oliver Massey
Under-14s
Players' Player of the year: Frankie O’Sullivan
MVP: Daragh Spawforth
Coach's Player of the year: Danny Harrison
Top Points Scorer: Daragh Spawforth
Most Sportsmanlike: Frankie O’Sullivan
Best Forward: Danny Harrison
Best Defence: Daniel Johns
Best Netminder: Jacob Midgley
Most Improved Player: Charley Farr
Best Rookie: Josh Guy
Under-12s
Players' Player of the Year: Jacob Mardell
MVP: Ellie Simpson
Coach's Player Award: Kieran Smith
Most Improved Player: Billy Simpson
Best Forward: Will Durgan
Best Defence: Thomas Lee
Best Netminder: Jacob Mardell
Best Rookie: Thomas Taylor