The honours list was published on 27th December, and Mrs. Crossland and Mr. Newton were both awarded the medals for their services to grassroots football, after being nominated by colleagues at their clubs.

The British Empire Medal (BEM) is awarded for a ‘hands-on’ service to the local community - this could be a long-term charitable or voluntary activity, or innovative work of a relatively short duration (three to four years) that has made a significant difference.

Jill Crossland, often called “Mrs Tintwistle Athletic” founded the club 13 years ago with just one U14 football team.

Robert Cousen, Chairman of Tintwistle Athletic FC, in his letter of recommendation, said: “Jill is the heartbeat of the club, arranging kit and equipment for every team, arranging training and game schedules, administering the registering of the 300+ players each season, working in the kitchen/café at the clubhouse, co-ordinating fundraising events, arranging committee meetings and the end of season presentation evenings and even white lining the football pitches on occasions.

“She spends thousands of hours of her own time and money to make her community better, to give something to the people of Tintwistle and the wider area.

“She is an inspiration to so many who see the time, effort and dedication she has put into her area.

“She has taken children off the streets, provided them with a real focus and undoubtedly helped many whom could have taken a different path in their lives.”

Further down in the county, Barry Newton was the other recipient of the BEM.

For his services to grassroots football and more specifically Sleetmoor United FC, his tireless work was recognised as well.

He was nominated for the award by Matt Wheatcroft, former Chairman of the club.

He said: “Over the last 40 years he has tirelessly helped the club and god knows how many kids, including my own daughter.

“He created a team out of kids that other teams and coaches didn’t want, and now they’re all flying.

“The time and effort that Barry’s put in shouldn’t go unnoticed for all those years of service, and I’m delighted that he’s been recognised in the honours list.”

The Derbyshire FA are delighted that there are people in these local communities that are being recognised for their service.

Liam Rooney, Football Development Manager at the Derbyshire FA, said: “So many thousands of people commit their lives to helping and providing youth football, so it’s fantastic that they’re receiving national recognition for their fantastic work.

“Jill and Barry are both wonderful people and we couldn’t have picked anyone better to receive these awards, they’re exactly the kind of people we want representing grassroots football in Derbyshire.

“Hopefully in future we’ll see more and more people getting this kind of recognition, because there are so many more amazing people doing similar work across the county.

“We’re very lucky to have people like Jill and Barry involved in the game.”