Pontefract Collieries’ “Superfan” Joey McConnell has been awarded with the “Fan of the Year” award for 2010, on the same night that he recieved his prize for the design of the new Colls badge.

Joey is a familiar face to all Colls’ fans and players, and a loyal supporter of the club. His award recognises his unswerving loyalty to the team – through good times and bad – and is a reflection of the warmth with which he is thought of by all concerned at the club. Well done, Joey!

The design for the new badge was chosen by the Management Committee from hundreds of entries. In the main, entries were submitted from local schools, with all schools and colleges in a ten-mile radius invited to submit entries. There were hundreds of designs submitted from school children, with a vast array of different designs reflecting the club’s history, visions and place within the community. In particular, the club pass on their congratulations to Orchard Head School and their pupils, who submitted an array of fabulous designs.

However, the club chose the design submitted by Joey McConnell, as they felt that this most closely represented the town (with the castle taking a prominent central role) and the club colours, while aesthetically reflecting the club moving forward in the 21st Century. Following some revisions by a professional designer, the new badge/logo is being rolled out on all club communications, shirts and signage.

Following the publication of the new badge, the club have recieved many comments. Although the vast majority of these have been extremely positive – people feeling that the new badge represents a vast improvement on the previous incarnation – a few supporters decried the loss of mining images from the badge. Club Chairman Guy Nottingham responded thus: “Everybody recognises the fact that this club was built by miners – quite literally, in fact – and our name reflects the link between the club and the mines. However, we needed a badge that was less “fussy”, with fewer images, and the castle is the most prominent symbol of the town. The committee felt that the new design ties together our rich history and our future – as we seek to write “Tomorrow’s History” and take the club to new heights and a central role in our community.”

All at Pontefract Collieries FC would like to thank Joey for his contributions – both through his design and his support for the team – and congratulate him on his success.