Five fans were nominated for the second Ken Malley Fan of the Year Award. A selection panel lead by PST Vice-Chair Pam Wilkins deliberated over the nominations and it decided that three fans deserved to be put forward to the vote by PST members.
Pam said "Thank you to everyone who sent in a nomination for the Ken Malley Fan of the Year Trophy, they are all worthy of the award. Thanks are also due to Eric Coleborne for sponsoring the award. After much deliberation the panel of myself, Del Pulley from Chichester Supporters' Club, Barry Thompson from Northern Blues and Rob Prynn from Devon Blues have chosen three candidates for members to vote on."
The three are:
Howard "Basher" Benfield
Chris Gibbs
Jake Payne
PST members will receive an Email in the next couple of days which will allow them to pick their choice to win the Award and a presentation will be made at one of the remaining Home games. The winner will be treated to a special day at Fratton Park and receive a commemorative trophy. Members have until the Friday 7th April to reply to the SurveyMonkey email and pick their winner.
Please note, if you do not receive an email contact [email protected] to check your membership details. ONLY CURRENT PST MEMBERS CAN VOTE!
Two others were nominated and on this occasion miss out but receive honourable mentions.
Tom and his colleagues (fournilwrittenalloverit) Internet Blogger on Youtube
Steve Mclenaghen
We would like to thank all those who took time to nominate their favourite fans.
Please see below the nomination descriptions and best of luck to Basher Benfield, Chris Gibbs and Jake Payne!
Name of Fan/group being Nominated: Howard "Basher" Benfield
Name of Nominator/s: Steve Tovey
Reason for nomination:
A lifelong Pompey fan home and away. Basher only misses a game if he is hospitalised whether it be a friendly anywhere in world i.e. Hong Kong , Nigeria , Usa , Ireland or league match and even then it does not always stop him; the Banksy bus has been known to have an extra stop at QA hospital!
His illness and disability has not stopped him dedicating his life to the support of the club he is a true character of The Pompey Family known by and loved by all Pompey Fans young and old. His mobility has deteriorated in recent years and he now attends games in his wheelchair both home and away putting himself through the pain barrier to cheer the lads. Having experienced the problems our disabled fans face across the country he has stepped into the fold and is now doing something about it by chairing the DSA.
Name of Fan/group being Nominated: Chris Gibbs
Name of Nominator/s: Roger Higgins
Reason for Nomination:
A 24/7 dedicated Pompey man Chris attends every Home and Away game no matter the distance. He gives an enormous amouth of personal time to Pompey, working on the History Society and also running programme fairs.
Chris is a familiar face around PFC on a matchday, as he also works at the club and is always smartly turned out.
Name of Fan/group being Nominated: Jake Payne
Name of Nominator/s: Scott Mclachlan
Reason for Nomination:
Jake has a long association with Portsmouth Football Club and has been a positive driver of the involvement of ex-Pompey players, he is the Chief organiser of the Hall of Fame which has become a roaring success over the last few years. He also used to conduct tours of the ground, showcasing his encyclopedic knowledge of Fratton Park and its history.
In the very early days of the PST Jake was present when the document was signed at the Globe Hotel in Chichester in 2009 which paved the way for the eventual start of the Trust and Pompey’s position as a Fan owned club.