TWO long-standing servants of grassroots sport in the North-East have been recognised for their dedication to non-league football.

Harry Hodgson and Kenny Carr were hailed true local heroes at the annual dinner of The Albany Northern League on Friday night.

Mr Hodgson received the Arthur Clark Memorial Award, the league's leading off-field honour, for his determination to save Tow Law Football Club, in County Durham, after its pitch sunk, leaving a hole in the penalty area earlier this season.

Mr Carr was presented with the Unsung Hero Award after he recovered from a heart bypass operation three years ago to carry on his many duties at Brandon FC.

League chairman Mike Amos said both men had been with their respective clubs for about 40 years and had helped ensure the survival of both teams.

He said: "People like Harry and Kenny really are the salt of the earth. They are fantastic.

"They do not do what they do for the Northern League or even the football -they do it for the community. It gives me great pleasure to speak about them and give them these awards. They really are true Northern League folks."

Mr Hodgson, who is in his seventies, was Tow Law's chairman for 35 years before he stood down a few years ago.

He never lost interest and, last summer, was persuaded to return "for one season", expecting a relatively easy time. It turned out to be one of his most challenging seasons ever.

Early on, a ten-metre depression, caused by mining subsidence, appeared in Tow Law's penalty area, threatening the club's existence.

After, surveys, contractors pumped an estimated 850 tons of cement into the hole.

The Coal Authority, which accepted responsibility for the subsidence, estimated that the work would have cost £250,000 if the club had to pay the bill.

Mr Hodgson said at the time: "We simply couldn't have done it, it would have been the end of the club. They found coal just 28ft down, so they might as well have opencasted it."

He said that League officials and the Coal Authority had bent over backwards to help them: "Our relationship with both has been excellent; the league could not have been more helpful."

Mr Amos said: "The knock-on financial problems were enormous. It was Harry's determination, persuasion, tenacity and refusal to admit defeat, and his team of helpers, that have ensured that the club will survive."

Mr Carr, 69, has been with Brandon since they were formed in 1968 and carries out several jobs, including being gateman, kitman, dressing room attendant and shopping for the canteen.

He is at the ground nearly every day and even washes the football strips, despite undergoing a heart bypass operation three years ago.

He said he was stunned to receive the award, and said: "I think it is brilliant; unbelievable. I had no idea this was going to happen.

"My wife has been wanting me to take things easy, and I told the lads that this would probably be my last season, but how can I give up now after this?