The NFA have been unsuccessful in their bid to win Mark Downes the prestigious sportscoachUK Coach of the Year award. This comes after his incredible achievements this year in winning a grand slam of medals; team golds at world championship level with both NFA England Team Drennan and the NFA Cadet and Intermediate teams, silver in the European championships and the Six Nations, plus winning the Division One National Championship with his club team Starlets A.S.

Yet again the NFA – the only recognised governing body of coarse angling – has been snubbed, despite the international squads getting every available gold medal at world championship level.

NFA International Events Director Dick Clegg OBE said “You could not ask for any higher achievement from Mark Downes this year, I can’t see what parallel there is in any other sport. There is nothing more demanding than running several teams at international and national level, taking them to various countries and venues around Europe and then competing and winning. And all this as an unpaid manager! If we can’t get the recognition we deserve after a summer like this then I don’t know how we do it.”

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