Derby County Football Club are proud to achieve the Gold Award in the EFL Family Excellence status for the 2018/19 season.
The club have been recognised for their outstanding work with engaging with families on a matchday at Pride Park Stadium.
The Rams also won the 2018/19 Magic Moment award at the Family Excellence Fan Engagement Seminar held on Thursday 25th April at Birmingham City Football Club.
This was given to the club for delivering an outstanding matchday experience to a young supporter who made his first visit to Pride Park Stadium.
The family were extremely impressed at how well they were greeted by club staff and the Matchday Supporter Liaison Officer. They were given a certificate to commemorate their their first visit, and to top it all off in Rammie & Ewie's Play Pen, they were given the opportunity to meet a real Ram, which was actually Private Derby from the Mercian Regiment and the club’s official mascot from the British Army.
The ‘Magic Moment’ was voted for on the day of the seminar and achieved 43% vote from all the clubs in the room in attendance.
A total of 63 EFL Clubs have achieved Family Excellence status, nine of which have been crowned as ‘Gold Award’ winners for their remarkable work in engaging families on matchdays - including Derby County.
The record-breaking number, up from 56 clubs in 2017/18, recognises continuous improvement and best practice in family engagement across the leagues and supports clubs’ efforts to attract and retain young fans of the future.
Amongst the 63 clubs, the ‘Gold Award’ given to nine clubs highlights an elite number of Clubs that offer an exceptional family matchday experience.
EFL clubs received two ‘mystery family’ visits throughout the 2018/19 season, with their feedback and reports determining whether each respective club would achieve ‘Family Excellence’ status.
EFL Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey, said: “It has been fantastic to see the continued dedication and improvement made by EFL Clubs in offering engaging matchday experiences for families. More clubs than ever before are being recognised for offering true family value and a consistently high level of service and innovation, with the EFL’s long-running Family Excellence Scheme helping to produce positive and impactful change across the League, while driving a real focus on the overall matchday experience.
“I would like to congratulate the clubs that have achieved Family Excellence status and those that have been awarded Gold status this year. We look forward to continuing our work with clubs to help drive change, and support the continued effort to attract and retain future generations of supporters.”
