Moreton Bay United has scored an amazing hat-trick in the nominations for this year's Football in Queensland Awards.
We are the only club to be a finalist in all three major inaugural Advanced Club categories in the state-wide awards.
Matt Poole is a finalist in the State Technical Director of the Year Award - alongside Tass Kalogirou (Easts) and Nacho Ferrer (Strikers) - for attaining a level of excellence as voted by their peers.
Moreton Bay United is a finalist in the Advanced Club Academy of the Year - with Gold Coast United and Lions - for nurturing talented players competing in State or National Team programs this season.
Moreton Bay United is a finalist in the Club of the Year - alongside Lions and Brisbane Strikers - for Advanced Clubs which have achieved the highest rankings across improvement in assessment, overall assessment ranking and fair play in their Under 13 – Under 18 teams.
Chairman Ben Parkin led the tributes: "To be nominated for Academy of the Year, have our TD Matt Poole nominated for Technical Director of the Year and be nominated for Advanced Club of the Year is an amazing achievement for our board, technical team, volunteers, members and players," he said.
"There is a lot of work done behind the scenes and on the grass at Moreton Bay United and I’m proud of everyone involved on achieving these nominations."
TD Matt Poole was delighted the efforts in player development at all clubs are being recognised.
“It’s a fantastic initiative from Football Queensland," he said. "The work done in club academies goes somewhat unnoticed at times, and it is great opportunity for high performing clubs to be recognised for the work that they do.”
“For Moreton Bay United to receive nominations for the three main Advanced Academy award categories is great recognition of the work we do in the Academy year round.
"The nominations show there is reward for sticking to our player development philosophy, which prioritises individual development over team outcomes.”
“These nominations would not be possible without the significant work that our loyal Academy staff do every week to implement our player development methodology across the program.
"A program is only as good as those who deliver it, and I’m very lucky to have the quality of staff I do. Particular mention needs to go to our Head of Junior Development Mac Smith, who has had a massive impact over the past two years since joining the club.”
Matt said he was "honoured" to be nominated for the Technical Director award.
"There are a lot of high quality technical directors in this state and to be recognised in this fashion is extremely rewarding,” he said.
“Even if we don’t win the awards in these categories, just being nominated is a great reflection on the player development program we run at Moreton Bay United."
The winners will be announced at the Football in Queensland Awards Night, in Brisbane City Hall on Friday October 28.
Many thanks to Rob Tappouras and PRD Commercial for sponsoring the Moreton Bay United table and our Academy sponsors Ambrose and Trueline
