A FOOTBALL club is set to unveil a new trophy in honour of one of its biggest supporters.

A player at Great Bradfords FC, in Braintree, is set to receive the Prestigious Scott Gilhooly Award this weekend during a special ceremony.

The award has been set up by the club to honour Mr Gilhooly, who tragically died from stab wounds following an incident at his pub, the Swiss Bell, in May.

The landlord was a big supporter of the club’s youth teams for a number of years and had been sponsoring the men’s team since 2015.

The trophy set up in his name will be presented on a yearly basis to a player who has displayed exceptional performances throughout the season.

Club secretary Charlie Mills said: “Scott was always the first to admit he didn’t know a lot about football, but he was always cheering the team on from the sidelines.

“He came along to watch a final once and asked me ‘which way are we shooting?’

“But if didn’t matter that he wasn’t a football person, he was always there for us and offering the pub up for meetings or serving us food.

“He was very much part of the family at the club and his death hit us all really hard.

“It’s difficult to show how grateful we are to him but this is just a small token of our appreciation.”

Both the men’s and youth teams at Great Bradfords FC will be displaying a yellow heart on their sleeves this season as a further tribute to Mr Gilhooly.

Plans are also in place to host an annual festival in his memory once social distancing restrictions are eased.

Mr Gilhooly’s family will be at Saturday’s awards ceremony, at the Bell Inn in Panfield, and will be in charge of giving out the Prestigious Scott Gilhooly Trophy to the winning player.

Among those attending the ceremony will be Mr Gilhooly’s brother, Ryan.

He said: “Only now as Scott’s brother am I getting a sense of how much he did with the community and with charities in Braintree.

“It’s a wonderful lasting tribute by the club and gestures like this remain a great comfort to our family during the most devastating and difficult time in our lives.

“The football club was a big part of Scott’s life and it does some excellent work within the Braintree community.

“We were more than happy to give our blessing to the idea of a cup in Scott’s honour and know it will help to keep his legacy going and inspire generations to come.”

Tributes flooded in for Mr Gilhooly following his death.

Flowers were laid outside his pub and hundreds turned out to pay their respects to him during a procession ahead of his funeral.

Laurence Bourke, 23, is set to stand trial for the alleged murder of Mr Gilhooly later this year.