Football Writers' Association

The decision to form the FWA was made by four journalists onboard a ship in the middle of the English Channel on September 22 1947. They are Messrs Coles, Roy Peskett, Archie Quick and Charlie Buchan. Charlie was an England international before becoming a successful journalist They were returning home after watching England beat Belgium 5-2 in a friendly international.

Within a month they had formalised some of the rules and regulations for the fledgling association; membership would be by invitation only, to "working journalists who are accredited football correspondents for newspapers and agencies."

OBJECTIVES
to maintain the prestige of football writers
to obtain higher standards of facilities
to maintain a friendly liaison with all football associations, leagues and clubs, as well as FIFA
to welcome and entertain overseas football writers carrying out their duties in this country

AWARDS
It was also decided to hold an annual vote of members for their Footballer of the Year, still the oldest and most prestigious individual award in the domestic game. The award would be presented at the annual dinner, which was originally held on the eve of the FA Cup final - this has long since settled into the Thursday before each Cup Final.

The first winner, in 1948, was arguably the greatest footballer England has produced, Sir Stanley Matthews, and he won this coveted title again in 1963.

FUTURE
The FWA's main activities are now to do with press box facilities up and down the country. The association works closely with the game's governing bodies to try to ensure minimum standards of facilities for reporters. A standard was agreed with the Premier League some time ago which included a minimum number of seats (50) in the press box, power points for those using laptops, phone points, television monitors, a requirement for both managers to attend post-match press conferences and decent size working area with desks.

Edited from www.footballwriters.co.uk