Swindon boss Alun Rossiter has paid tribute to his Robins team after being honoured at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday.
Rossiter won the SGB Premiership award at the annual All Party Parliamentary Group end-of-season reception after guiding the Blunsdon men to their first top-flight title since 2012 with their dramatic Grand Final win over Wolverhampton.
With Rossiter absent due to work commitments, Swindon co-promoter Colin Pratt collected the award on his behalf.
Rossiter said: “It’s an honour to be recognised with this award but I must give great credit to our team for their achievements this year.
“Winning 17 matches on the trot was an absolutely magnificent run, and then to win away at Wolverhampton is no mean feat at any time let alone in a Final with the pressure on.
“All along the boys have displayed an outstanding attitude and they’ve been a pleasure to work with, so an award such as this is very much one for the club as a whole.
“It was nice that my work with Great Britain has also been acknowledged, after we had another great night in the first round of the World Cup at King’s Lynn.
“We did fall a little short in the Final but there are a lot of things to build on and there are many positive things happening with all of the fitness and training work – and we have to remember it’s largely a young and inexperienced team.
“From a Swindon point of view, it’s onwards to the AGM later this month, we’ll see what that brings but we’ll naturally be building a side for next season which we believe will be capable of defending the title.”
