Fair play Steels, now start winning

Stocksbridge Park Steels Chairman Allen Bethell has issued a double challenge to manager Darren Schofield and his players after they were crowned November's Jungledrum Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division Fair Play champions – start winning more games and keep up the good behaviour!

Proud Bethell saw Stocksbridge honoured at the Look Local Stadium on Saturday before their 2-1 defeat to Worksop Town, their seventh home reverse of the campaign. Evo-Stik Northern Premier League's Respect Manager Phil Bradley teamed up with Jungledrum's David Lunn to present Schofield, pictured, with an inscribed Jungledrum Fair Play Award certificate recording their achievement and a 1.5 litre bottle of Famous Grouse whiskey to toast the accolade with.

His second from bottom Steels travel to Chorley on Saturday in search of their third win away from home and Bethel said: "I'm very proud of our record so far this season but there is a long way to go still. We have improved our discipline on the pitch and in the dugout. What we need to do now is start winning games as well."

The Premier Division club were the second of November's divisional winners to be honoured after Warrington Town were presented with the Jungledrum Evo-Stik NPL First Division North Award before their 1-0 win over Radcliffe Borough last week. The Evo-Stik NPL First Division South's best behaved side Market Drayton Town are due to pick up their Jungledrum honour next Tuesday when they host Sutton Coldfield Town.

The three clubs topped their respective division's Jungledrum Fair Play tables, coming out on top after a totting up of red and yellow cards divided by the number of Evo-Stik NPL fixtures they'd played during November. Where clubs are tied on points judges decide on the basis of marks awarded by referees over the month for Technical Area behaviour.

The League's Respect Manager Phil Bradley revealed that Steels Chairman Bethell must take a lot of the credit for the club's achievement after being instrumental in changing attitudes towards discipline and the Football Association's ongoing Respect campaign.

Bradley said: "Stocksbridge, like Warrington Town who took the First Division North Fair Play award, have not always had the best record for cautions and dismissals in recent seasons and have usually been at the wrong end of the Fair Play tables.

"To give credit where it is due, however, Stocksbridge Chairman Allen Bethell in particular has tackled the club's historic disciplinary problems head on. He's really turn things round, culminating in them winning the award which is very satisfying for everybody involved."

Competition for the Jungledrum Fair Play Awards climaxes at the end of the season after May's final monthly accolades are handed out when the three overall divisional winners will receive a cheque for £1000 courtesy of sponsors Jungledrum with the runners-up receiving £500 and the third placed clubs £250.

In Evo-Stik NPL First Division North Harrogate Railway took over pole position on the overall leaderboard after picking only three cautions in six matches with Trafford moving into second and Clitheroe down to third. All three have the enviable record of averaging less than one caution per game.

Market Drayton's honour for November also sees them take over top spot on the running totals for card counts despite stiff competition in Evo-Stik NPL First Division South. No fewer than five clubs are all averaging 1.07 cautions per game or less.

Stocksbridge's three cautions in four games during the month not only won them November's award but also catapulted the club up to seventh in the overall Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division table from a lowly 15th.

FC United of Manchester still lead from AFC Fylde who didn't incur a single card in the two league games they played. The Coasters overtake last month's second placed Nantwich Town who drop to third. November's third and fourth placed teams Ilkeston FC and Blyth Spartans drop out of the top five.

Marketing and advertising specialists Jungledrum harness their online expertise to open new income streams for the league's clubs while securing fans money saving deals. The Jungledrum Fair Play Tables are available throughout the season via a hyperlinked logo on the league's official site.

Jungledrum's Lloyd Bantleman said: "Jungledrum is delighted to be associated with the Jungledrum Fair Play award as integrity and fair plays lies at the heart of our business ethos. We are working with clubs across the league to help them develop a measurable income stream that gives their business supporters a fair return on investment with the club."

For more information on Jungledrum and the work they are doing to open new and no risk income streams for Evo-Stik NPL clubs visit: www.jungledrumdeals.co.uk