PETERSFIELD Town’s long-serving club secretary Mark Nicoll has been awarded one of the Football Association’s top honours to mark his devotion to the club.

‘Mr Petersfield,’ as he is known to many in non-league circles, has been on the committee at Love Lane for 30 years and has held the position of secretary for 23 consecutive seasons.

Hampshire FA recognised his long service for the club with one of their prestigious ‘Service to Football’ awards during their Grassroots Football Awards ceremony held at Southampton Football Club’s St Mary’s Stadium.

Nicoll still considers himself primarily a supporter of the club despite the many and varied roles he has had down the years.

He said: “Over the years I have been involved with most aspects of running the club. I began following my home town club in 1977, initially as a supporter, but as my interest grew I began helping at events in the clubhouse and assisting the groundsman.”

Nicoll joined the club’s management committee in 1986, and he became club secretary in 1993. This award follows a similar token for long service he received from Portsmouth FA last year.

Rams chairman Graeme Moir said: “Mark’s award is richly deserved – he has devoted a huge part of his life to his town’s football team and he isn’t called ‘Mr Petersfield’ for nothing.

“The amount of work and time he has put in is nothing short of phenomenal.”