Romeril praises ‘team behind the team’ after picking up award
Mark Romeril has described the feeling of winning the Dave Dorey Memorial Trophy as ‘unbelievable’.
After leading Vale Rec to complete an unprecedented quadruple last season, he won the prestigious prize for outstanding contribution in coaching or development at the Sporting Achievement Awards 2024.
Despite winning the Priaulx League, Stranger Cup, Upton Park Trophy and the FA Cup with his side, he seemed somewhat taken aback to receive this particular trophy.
The trophy’s naming after a respected sporting administrator and former Vale Rec secretary added another touch of emotion.
Hear more from Mark Romeril on the latest Guernsey Press Football Podcast
‘It’s unbelievable,’ said a man who was named the Guernsey Press Football Podcast coach of the year in May following his Rec quadruple.
‘It’s poignant for any Vale Rec coach to win the Dave Dorey Trophy, of course, for obvious reasons.
‘So yeah, delighted, but it’s a team effort and as you know, there’s a team behind the team and Rob Thomson, Malcolm Symons and Chris Chamberlain are all part of that, absolutely.
‘And of course, there’s a very good group of players that won four trophies and are the main reason for this.’
The award was not just for a single season, though, and before taking charge of Rec, Romeril had been instrumental in Manzur’s transformation from a social league team to part of the Priaulx League.
‘It’s been a bit of a journey,’ he added.
‘It’s nice to win. I said to Steve Sharman on the way in, it’s nice to actually win a few things, because we went through quite a few years of struggling to get teams out.
‘While we did some really good things with Manzur, it was tough at the end, and then to come to Rec and after 10 years of coaching to get a season like we did last year was incredible for me and the rest of my team.’
