Joint-winners at Bradford Sports Awards as former City ace "on road to recovery"
THE Active Bradford Sports Awards took place on Thursday night at Valley Parade, and it was understandably impossible to pick between two remarkable female talents.
Glusburn cyclist Cat Ferguson, a four-time world junior champion in 2024, and Keighley rugby union ace Ellie Kildunne, the reigning World Player of the Year, were deserving joint-winners of the Sportswoman of the Year award.
Saltaire athlete Emile Cairess picked up two awards, both Sportsman of the Year and Sporting Highlight of the Year, for his remarkable fourth-placed finish at the Paris Olympics Marathon.
Teenage swimmer Gina Warrior won Amateur Sportswoman of the Year, while wheelchair table tennis whizz Abisoye Jamiyo was named Amateur Sportsman of the Year.
Campion were named Team of the Year for their FA Cup run, which included taking Blyth Spartans to a replay, as the Bradford Schools Football Association were named as the Grassroots Club of the Year and the Team Diamond ice skaters were the New Club of the Year.
Motorcycling prospect Alfie Barraclough was the Young Disability Sportsman of the Year, trampolining talent Emily Hebden scooping the equivalent female prize.
Ice hockey international Darragh Spawforth was the Young Sportsman of the Year, with taekwondo ace Yvie Ling-Hegarty getting the women's award.
Coach of the Year went the way of mixed-ability rugby pioneer Mohammed Ahsan Sakandar, with Sue Cater of the Bradford Bulls Foundation named Volunteer of the Year for her tireless work with the club's wheelchair team.
Mohammed Ahsan Sakandar proudly poses with his Coach of the Year award on Thursday night. (Image: Thomas Gadd) Bulls also claimed the Diversity and Inclusivity award, for things such as hosting a yearly Iftar event at Odsal.
The Community Engagement award poignantly went to Michael 'Muppett' Pascal, a dedicated walker who raised thousands for charity before his death in Shipley last August.
Les Cousin won the Environmental Sustainability award, Carlton Bolling were Active School of the Year, Bradford Hindu Council claimed the Active Faith Setting prize, while Active Workplace of the Year went to the University of Bradford Union of Students.
Triathlete Alistair Brownlee won the Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Special Recognition prize went to Bradford cricketing stalwart Shiv Krishan.
Before presenting that award, the host for the night Tanya Arnold revealed the sad news that the winner of last year's Special Recognition Prize, chief medic at Beanland Taekwondo Ian Rose, has since died of cancer.
In the Special Recognition category this year was former Bantams ace Wayne Jacobs, who has done tireless charity work with One in a Million since retiring.
He has been ill for a lengthy period, but Active Bradford co-chair James Mason shared the welcome news on stage that the popular full back is 'on the road to recovery'.
And with the event being held at Valley Parade just three days before the 40th anniversary of the Fire Disaster, it was fitting that money was raised on the night for the Bradford Burns Unit, with its director, Professor Ajay Mahajan, giving a speech during the ceremony.
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