JAMES Rule has spoken of his pride at Widnes Vikings being shortlisted for four of six awards at the Super League Club awards on Friday evening, and winning one of them.

The inaugural Super League Club awards took place at the ACC Arena in Liverpool, and the Vikings were included in a shortlist of three in no less than four of the six awards available on the night.

The club were the winners of the Best PR Campaign Award for their Sir Bobby Robson Foundation shirt for Magic Weekend, in which the club managed to raise over £40,000 for the Foundation in 2016 bringing the total raised to £60,000 since the launch of the campaign.

The ‘Tackling Cancer…#ImOnIt’ campaign also gained an immediate exposure to over 22 million people on social media.

The Vikings added to their North East legacy when they travelled to Kingston Park for a pre-season friendly with Newcastle Thunder, with 100% of the gate being gifted to the Thunder to assist them in growing the game in the local area.

The Club were also shortlisted for ‘Best Membership Campaign’ thanks to the Viking Stronghold platform and the ‘Best Commercial Programme for the ‘2016 Grand Lottery which generated £40,000 of investment for the Vikings Sports foundation whist allowing a number of local business’ a fantastic networking opportunity and an opportunity to have their brand on one of the Vikings first team or academy kits.

James Rule, Chief Executive of Widnes Vikings, says:

“The 2016 season was our most successful year as an organisation both on and off the field of play," he said.

"It is both humbling and inspiring that so much of that work has been independently recognised after five years of being back in the Super League competition. At the Steve Prescott Man of Steel Dinner we won the 'Foundation of the Year’.

“At the Rugby League Cares Awards Evening we were presented with their award for positively impacting people's Health. We were also shortlisted as one of the three most innovative pieces of work regarding dementia at the National Dementia Care Awards.

"On Friday, to have been shortlisted for so many of the awards and to have secured the Best PR Campaign award was an achievement that we all should be very proud of.

“Under our ‘One Club’ philosophy, we continually reiterate that all of our achievements are only possible as a result of our collective efforts. The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation campaign in particular highlighted so many wonderful facets of our Club. Our Members really bought into the concept and the profile of our entire organisation was taken to a whole new level via the medium of social media.

"This wasn’t just a PR campaign, it was a movement that epitomised the values behind our brand. Those values are created by our Members and associated stakeholders. I thank you all for your continued support and I am sure you will share my pride in the latest piece of recognition of our evolving club."

Vikings Marketing Director, Brian O’Connor, was also the runner up in the Most Valuable Player award.

O’Connor Commented: “It is a tremendous honour to be shortlisted for such a prestigious award and I was extremely humbled. It is however testimony to our entire off-field team for the hard hard that they put in and their efforts to help us continue to innovate. I would like to thank each and every one of them for their support and dedication to all of our initiatives.

“For our commercial achievements to be recognised and our Stronghold Membership platform to be shortlisted re-emphasises the steady growth in our off-field organisation.

“We are extremely passionate about the Clubs Membership product and to be shortlisted as one of the best initiatives in the competition is fantastic. Membership across all levels offers tremendous value and is the lifeblood of our business model. If we continue to see growth in this area, I am confident that this will benefit our organisation both on and off the field.”

The awards were as follows:

Best Match Day Campaign - Wakefield Trinity (Community Ambassadors Forces Day).

Best Season Ticket Campaign - Leeds Rhinos.

Best Commercial Programme - Wigan Warriors.

Best Use of Digital and Social Media - Hull FC.

Best PR Campaign Award - Widnes Vikings (Sir Bobby Robson Foundation for Magic Weekend).

Most Valuable Player Award - Sian Jones (Leeds Rhinos).