Leeds United fan Phil Beeton is Capital One Supporter of the Year
leedsunited.com 17/3/14Club to acknowledge loyal fan... Long-standing Leeds United fan Phil Beeton has been named the Capital One Supporter of the Year at The Football League Awards 2014.
And the club is set to pay its own tribute to a man who is on the verge of watching his 2000th consecutive match.
Phil received the award at a gala ceremony at The Brewery, London, on Sunday evening in front of over 600 guests from clubs, sponsors and the football industry.
Phil beat competition from League 1 winner Brett Price (Sheffield United) and League 2 winner John Chapman (Dagenham & Redbridge) to claim the overall Capital One Supporter of the Year Award.
Now aged 61, Phil has supported Leeds United since he adopted us as his boyhood club back in the 1950s. He has become one of the most devoted football fans in the country and is approaching his 2000th consecutive Leeds United league game. This incredible run stretches back to the 1960s and includes home and away fixtures.
To mark his 2000th consecutive game at Bournemouth, Phil will attend as a guest of the club in the boardroom, and he will also be presented with a complimentary five-year Season Ticket to watch the club at Elland Road.
Leeds United managing director David Haigh said: "Phil has shown remarkable loyalty and we were keen to recognise his support and dedication. Phil has seen all the highs and lows at this club over the years and even after some difficult times his commitment remains as strong as ever.
"I've had the pleasure of meeting Phil on more than one occasion and the work he does with the Supporters Club is phenomenal. He's a more than a deserving winner of this award, and our club is lucky to have fans such as Phil."
Back in 1979 Phil formed a Leeds United Supporters Club branch, and has organised travel for Leeds fans to every corner of the UK, as well as trips to Europe for competitive and friendly matches. He is also an avid collector of matchday programmes and for the last 25 years has been organising a bulk supply of programmes to distribute on the buses.
Phil said: “I went to my first Leeds United game back in the 1950s, and I haven’t missed a league game since March 1967. I’m currently on 1998 consecutive league matches and I’ll celebrate number 2000 a week on Tuesday away at Bournemouth. I love supporting Leeds as much as I did on day one.”
Sunday also saw Ross McCormack nominated for the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Year Award, but he was pipped to the post by Burnley's Danny Ings.
To find out more about The Football League Awards, and for a full list of Award categories, please visit www.FLAwards.com .
