THE search is under way once more to find the best picture taken by an amateur photographer of grassroots football in Suffolk this season.

Lockdales coin dealers and auctioneers have agreed to sponsor the competition, now in its fourth year, for a second time.

The company based at Martlesham, near Ipswich are renowned for their football memorabilia, and programmes in particular, and several of their staff are actively involved in grassroots football.

Entries can be of any scenario in football – on a match-day, a team shot or even a staged picture – providing they are photographs depicting grassroots football in Suffolk and not the professional game.

The judging panel, featuring representatives from Suffolk FA, Lockdales and Archant Ltd, will meet after the end of the season before announcing the winners.

The winner will receive a 600mm x 400mm canvas photograph of their winning entry, with the runner-up and third-placed entry receiving 400mm x 300mm canvas photograph of their entries.

All three winners will also receive a certificate.

Lockdales Managing Director Dan Daley said: “We are delighted to have been asked to sponsor this competition once again.

“As a company that has always enjoyed being involved with our local football team, we are only too happy to be a part of the Grassroots Photograph of the Season for the second time.

“It was great being part of the judging panel last year and we’re excited to see lots more entries for 2019.”

Suffolk FA Marketing & Communications Officer Nick Garnham said: “The variety and standard of entries has improved year on year and we look forward to seeing more of the same this season.”

Pictured above launching this season’s competition are (left to right) Lockdales Managing Director Dan Daley, Woodbridge Town players Callum Sinclair and Carlos Edwards, who both work for Lockdales, either side of Woodbridge Under-13 player Bo Machan and Liza Machan, head of Photography & Design at Lockdales

Competition rules

The competition is open to all amateur photographers – ie those who do not either have a licence to cover Football League matches or whose main source of income is via payment for photographs printed in newspapers or via any other media outlet.

Only photographs taken between August 1st 2018 and May 19th 2019 will be eligible for entry. The closing date is 5pm on Tuesday, May 21st 2019.

Entrants are limited to a maximum of five entries each.

Entries submitted as .jpg files should be emailed to nick.garnham@suffolkfa.com, while entries submitted as prints should be sent to Nick Garnham, Marketing & Communications Officer, Suffolk FA, Bill Steward House, The Buntings, Stowmarket IP14 5GZ.

All entries should be accompanied by the entrant’s full name, age, home address and daytime phone number plus details of when and where the photograph was taken and what it is about.

Please note entries may be used for marketing and promotional purposes by Suffolk FA, Archant Ltd and Lockdales, and by entering you consent to images to be used for this purpose.

Photographs containing children under the age of 18 should be submitted with the media consent form on the Suffolk FA website on the competition launch story.

Normal Archant Ltd competition rules apply and the editor’s decision is final.