Very few can match the impact Elaine Junk has had on women’s football in Northern Ireland, and that is why she has handpicked for a major award.
Despite never playing the game herself, the 51-year-old has played a significant leadership role in developing the sport locally over the past two decades.
Simone Magill and Jacqueline Burns, Northern Ireland’s first professional women’s footballers, hailed from Mid-Ulster FC, the club where Junk is currently chair and helped found in 2000. She has encouraged females at the club to undergo volunteering and first aid training, while in March 2022 ever-growing numbers allowed Mid-Ulster to field a reserve team for the first time.
