Wembley crowd hail the league's champions

From the moment they heard the roar when they were presented with their silverware, Wealdstone will have known they were among the most popular champions in years as the Ryman League celebrated another successful season at the London Wembley Hilton Hotel.

Stones officials, including chairman Howard Krais and veteran boss Gordon Bartlett, were the toast of more than 500 guests attending the Ryman League’s annual banquet and ball last Saturday night at the plush venue in the shadow of the national stadium.

Special guests included Football Conference chairman Brian Lee and Barry Bright, Leader of the Football Association Council and UEFA representative, as the Ryman League’s managers, players, officials danced late into the night after dinner and entertainment from star tenor Martin Toal, soprano Jennifer Coleman and violinist Wainwright.

It wasn’t made public until his announcement the following morning at the Isthmian League’s AGM but when they return for the third successive season next June, guests will also be marking the retirement of Ryman League chairman Alan Turvey and paying tribute to the longest serving chairman in the league’s history.

The Ryman League’s President isn’t seeking re-election after 32 years at the helm and took centre stage for the penultimate time to hand out the accolades to the league’s star players, top managers and the officials who back them up.

As always, he was aided by Theo Paphitis, chairman of The Ryman Group, who last year announced a two year extension to one the longest running sponsorship deals in football and its expansion in its seventeenth season to cover the Ryman League’s cup competitions including the League Cup, Veterans’ Cup, Disability Cup and Women’s Cup through the group’s high street retailers, Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue.

Turvey, who counts the title sponsorship deal he originally signed with the Dragon’s Den star as one of his proudest achievements, was also aided by representatives from two of the Ryman League’s other major sponsors - bench kit and match football sponsors Macron SPA, the leading Italian sportswear company, and Bluefin Sports Insurance, sponsors of the league’s fair play awards.

Macron also sponsor the monthly manager, performance and golden boot awards and the company’s Andrea Palilla, who flew in from Bologna to help honour the overall winners, heard Wealdstone’s Bartlett greeted by the second loudest cheer of the night when he was named as the Ryman Premier Manager of the Year soon after the champions scooped the top flight’s fair play crown.

Ryman League Roll of Honour 2014
Premier Division Champions - Wealdstone
Premier Division Play-off winners - Lowestoft Town
Division One North champions - VCD Athletic
Division One North Play-off winners - Witham Town
Division One South champions - Peacehaven & Telscombe
Division One South play-off winners - Leatherhead
Isthmian League Cup winners - Maidstone United
Isthmian League Cup finalists - AFC Sudbury
Premier Division Team of the Season - East Thurrock United
Division One North Team of the Season - Needham Market
Division One South Team of the Season - Guernsey
Premier Division Manager of the Year - Gordon Bartlett (Wealdstone)
Division One North Manager of the Year - Tony Russell (VCD Athletic)
Division one South Manager of the Year - Shaun Saunders (Peacehaven & Telscombe)
Premier Division Golden Boot winner - Charles Moone, 34 (Hampton & Richmond Borough)
Division One North - Golden Boot winner - Alexandra Read, 41 (Harlow Town)
Division One South - Golden Boot winner - Ross Allen, 46 (Guernsey)
Lucas Fettes Youth Cup winners - Sutton United
Lucas Fettes Youth Cup finalists - Potters Bar Town
Ryman Women’s Cup winners - Gillingham LFC,
Ryman Women’s Cup finalists - Haverhill Rovers LFC
Veterans Cup Winners - Middlesex Wanderers
Veterans Cup Finalists - Kingstonian
Disability Cup Winners – Colchester United
Disability Cup Finalist – Charlton Athletic
Youth League Central Division champions - Sutton United
Youth League Central Division runners-up - Whyteleafe
Youth League East Division champions - Corinthian
Youth League East Division runners-up - Thamesmead Town
Youth League South Division champions - Burgess Hill Town
Youth League South Division runners-up Worthing
Youth League West Division champions - Hayes & Yeading United
Youth League West Division runners-up - Camberley Town
Youth League champions - Burgess Hill Town
Youth League champion finalists - Hayes & Yeading United
Youth League Golden Boot winner - Oliver Thornton, 23 (Whyteleafe)
London Senior Cup finalists - Metropolitan Police
Norfolk Senior Cup finalists - Wroxham
Suffolk Premier Cup winners - Bury Town
Surrey Senior Cup finalists - Metropolitan Police
Sussex Senior Cup winners - Peacehaven & Telscombe
Sussex Senior Cup finalists - Bognor Regis Town
Cambridgeshire Cup winners - Soham Town Rangers
Middlesex Senior Cup winners - Hampton & Richmond Borough
Middlesex Senior Cup finalists – Wealdstone

Image courtesy of Andy Nunn