Six of the best heading to national finals!

The Ryman League's top groundsmen are on their way to being honoured nationally at the Football Association's 2015 Groundsmen of the Year Awards.

Hastings United’s Simon Rudkins, VCD Athletic’s Colin Powell, David Blaszkowski at Leatherhead, Enfield Town’s Jack Lucas and the Corinthian Casuals pair of Bryan Adamson and Rob Darby, will fly the flag for the Isthmian League at the 14th annual awards in August after their nominations were confirmed by the league on Friday.

The awards are taking place once again at the FA's state-of-the-art national football centre at St George's Park near Burton where the six will bid to beat their Evo-Stik Northern Premier League and Evo-Stik League Southern counterparts to the title of FA Step 3-4 Groundsman of the Year as well as competing against each other for the Ryman League’s title.

Dereham Town’s Alan Hall was named as the Ryman’s top groundsman at last year’s awards when Hastings United’s Rudkins shared third place with Adam Rowlands at Ryman Premier champions Wealdstone. Leatherhead’s Blaszowski was also highly commended by judges last time out for his efforts in the Ryman League category.

More than a hundred groundsmen and women from all levels of the game are expected to attend the 2015 awards where the winners will be honoured in front of their peers when they collect national and individual league awards and commendations from members of the FA’s Pitches & Facilities Committee.

Ryman League and Enfield Town director Roger Reed, the Isthmian League’s grounds administrator and club development officer, represented the league at last year’s awards. Along with other guests, he also enjoyed a tour of the facilities and a presentation from the FA’s Alan Ferguson, the governing body’s head of grounds and estates,

The next stage of the 2015 competition will now see on-site assessments at the nominated grounds over the coming months by the FA's expert panel of judges, made up of groundsmen from a number of Premier League and Football League clubs.

They'll not only look at the quality of the pitches but also take into consideration a finalist's skills and knowledge, their ambitions for the pitch, the resources available, how often the pitch is used and the amount of time they are able to work on the surface.

The FA’s Groundsman of the Year accolades are handed out to recognise the outstanding contribution made by the unsung heroes of the game and encourage the development of groundmanship.

Groundsmen, the vast majority of whom are volunteers, play a huge role in ensuring pitches are in the best possible condition, working week in, week out, in all weathers and all year round, to make sure that thousands of matches can take place on high standard playing surfaces.

Follow us: @rymanleaguenews on Twitter | Ryman League group on Facebook