Aberdeen, Celtic and Rangers have all achieved this feat before, and, in 2026, Pollok United become the latest club to earn European recognition.

The Glasgow-based community club have been announced as the winners of the prestigious Best Grassroots Club award at the 2025/2026 UEFA Grassroots Awards.

Pollok were recognised, in particular, for their work providing local communities with opportunities in football and well-being.

The European governing body also recognised United for their efforts to transform three disused sporting facilities in Glasgow, including Nethercraigs - a 21-acre venue that Pollok helped re-open, working in partnership with Glasgow City Council. Nethercraigs now gives 550 regular players access to football and other health and well-being activities, with 10,000 users – including spectators - accessing the facility every month.

Pollok United is one of the Scottish FA's Quality Mark Legacy Clubs. with 18 boys’ and girls’ teams, and it was the location that the Scottish FA launched its Pitching In facilities campaign in 2024.

The UEFA Grassroots Awards are presented each year to recognise community football clubs and projects across Europe that have made outstanding contributions to the game.

Candidates are nominated by UEFA's member national associations, with winners selected by UEFA's Development and Technical Assistance Committee following recommendations from the UEFA Grassroots Panel.

Andy Elliot, club manager, Pollok United: "I initially got involved with my son. I took him along one Saturday morning for a training session and then got involved within a week.

"About 15 years ago, the club was re-established. In 2013, we raised somewhere in the region of £300,000.

We managed to develop what is then Donnelly Park. It was an old, disused, overgrown pitch.

"And then, with Nethercraigs, it saved a critical facility in the south-west of Glasgow. The facility is absolutely in the heart of the community and we needed to open it up.

"Every team that comes here are seen as a partner and will get the same welcome and opportunity.

"It’s great that folk are just getting out of the house and we can provide access to the facilities."

Paul McNeill, Head of Community Development, Scottish FA: "We want our community clubs to anchor themselves within the community and provide other services, not just football.

"Football is the key, but we also talk about the ‘power of football’ to involve all members of the community in different ways.

"Pollok are quintessentially important to how we develop, not just grassroots football but football in general in Scotland. They're embedded in the community.

"I'm somebody that's neurodiverse, I'm dyslexic. I was written off at school. And it was that community-based football that really helped me through my life."