The good name of football has survived because the vast majority of people who love the game are honest and fair. Those who defend football’s good reputation deserve the recognition of the FAW.

As a result the FAW will honour and publicise these fine examples through the Fair Play Award.

The FAW will reward clubs who are making a significant contribution to improving the behavioural standards in football. Through such collective responsibility the FAW aims to promote team play through Fair Play.

Measurement
The FAW produces monthly Discipline Tables for the Directly Affiliated Leagues, which details and compares a club’s on-field disciplinary record within their league.

The FAW Discipline Tables will form the basis measurement of the FAW Fair Play Award. Clubs who demonstrate fair play on the pitch will have the best chance of winning the award.

As the FAW wants to encourage player, club and fan involvement in order to deliver the FAW Fair Play message, other factors will also be considered before selecting the award winners.

Those clubs who actively take part in delivering the message of Fair Play will also see their efforts count towards being a potential award winner. It will be the duty of the club to evidence such efforts to the FAW.

Examples of player, club and supporter involvement can include displaying the FAW Fair Play message and logo on your website, in your match programmes and drawing attention to it on the day of a game.

Clubs may also wish to take part in schemes such as ‘Show Racism the Red Card’, who have given their backing to the FAW Fair Play Code. Contact details for Show Racism the Red Card are detailed in this document.

Essentially, Fair Play is something that the players, clubs and fans should “own”. It is the responsibility of each to ensure that they spread the message of Fair Play and exemplify their good work to the FAW.

There will be a dedicated page on the FAW website for Fair Play, where we will highlight the work that the clubs are doing throughout the season. ‘The Voice’, the new FAW magazine, will also be utilised to promote the FAW Fair Play Award and those clubs who are being proactive. The FAW’s social networking sites will also be used to exemplify a club’s good work.

This will provide positive exposure for those clubs and encourage others to embrace Fair Play and provide the FAW with examples of their work helping us to select the winners of the FAW Fair Play Award.

Prizes
There will be a FAW Fair Play Award winner in each division of the Directly Affiliated Leagues. Each winner, regardless of level in the pyramid, shall receive a monetary incentive worth £1,000. This prize money is to go towards equipment or ground improvements, for example. The winning clubs must provide the FAW with an invoice or quotation for the equipment or work etc. to be carried out.

Each winning club shall also be presented with a FAW Fair Play Award trophy, which shall detail the FAW Fair Play logo along with the name of the club and season. We shall also provide the clubs with a FAW Fair Play winner’s logo that can be displayed, for example, on their match programme and website. The winning clubs will also have an option to display a FAW Fair Play winners badge on their kit for the following season.

As we believe in Fair Play, and taking a proactive role in reducing on-field misconduct, the FAW is encouraging, incentivising and rewarding good behaviour.