Back Football Club were presented the Scottish FA Quality Mark Award by Peter Budge (Scottish FA North Region Development Officer) and Rod Houston (Scottish FA North Region Committee member) on Saturday 3rd September 2009 in their club facility in Lewis.
The Scottish FA Quality Mark Award is a youth football initiative which supports grassroots club development by getting clubs to demonstrate they can met the criteria on Management; Administration; Coach & Player Development; Planning; and Welfare.
Back Football Club were formed in 1933, offering children aged between 6 and 12 coaching sessions throughout the school calendar year. At this time, the club wore yellow strips and were nicknamed 'The Canaries' playing in the Lewis and Harris League. Since then the club has increased the club members to 105 which is fantastic given the size of the community, and now play in blue and white.
2004 was an incredible year for the club when they won the Highland Amateur Cup and showed the clubs efficient ‘player pathway’, as this winning team included six players who had come through the Development Club.
The clubs progress was also shown off the field as the facilities over the years developed enormously. These facilities now include an indoor sports hall for all sporting activities, an outdoor synthetic football park, and a grass pitch. None of this would ever have been achieved without the vision and desire to progress of a group of people who have given hours of their time to make these visions become a reality.
Furthermore, in 2008, Back FC celebrated their 75th anniversary and to commemorate this landmark occasion produced a book chronicling the club's development.
Back FC Chairman Donald Macleod on receiving the award said “We have been very fortunate that over the years a dedicated group of people from the community has shown the desire to keep this club at the forefront of football in Lewis. Their enthusiasm and commitment has contributed significantly to football development not just in the Back district but also throughout Lewis and Harris. The presentation of the Scottish FA Standard Quality Mark Award is recognition of the hard work done by all those volunteers who have served the club over the years.
Although the club is in good hands, with excellent coaches, players and volunteers we continue to strive to improve standards and the Scottish FA Quality Mark award can help us with this and our ambitions for the Club”.
In the photo are Willie Macdonald Back FC Coach, Donald A Stewart Back FC President, Rod Houston Scottish FA North Region Committee Member, Peter Budge Scottish FA North Region Football Development Officer, Donald Macleod Back FC Chairman, James Macarthur Back FC Team Manager, Dano Macdonald Back FC Coach and Peggy Macleod Back FC Secretary.
Website: www.backfc.com