The Official Nominations – The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2026

Stadium Experience is pleased to announce that 76 football, rugby, athletics and cricket clubs across the UK have been nominated for awards in The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2026. The awards, sponsored by Global Payments, will be hosted at Hill Dickinson Stadium, the new home of Everton FC, on Thursday 2^nd July 2026. Over 500 guests from 70+ clubs will experience fine dining, awards ceremony, followed by an exclusive onsite after party until 3am. 2026 will be the 19^th annual awards event organised by Stadium Experience.

The prestigious event aims to recognise the efforts and dedication shown by the catering, conference and events teams at football, rugby and cricket stadium across the UK. There will be a total of 15 different award categories (and at least 45 awards) presented on the evening, including:

Event Agents Choice Award – Sponsored by iVvy Venues

Voted for by event agents who have placed a non-matchday enquiry at UK stadium venues since April 2025. Event agents are asked to vote just once, for their top stadium venue where they have had the best event enquiry experience.

Above & Beyond Recognition Award – Sponsored by Taste Beverages

This award recognises those individuals or teams who are simply outstanding at what they do, and continuously shine. This can be something as part of their regular duties, or perhaps focusing on supporting the local community or business recovery from challenging times.

Stadium Event of the Year Award – Sponsored by Rational

This award recognises the very best stadium event held in the last year. Judges are specifically looking for a stadium venue which has displayed exceptional venue facilities and outstanding guest experiences.

Best Retail Catering Award – Sponsored by Rollover

This award recognises the best retail catering teams at stadia across the UK. This team will demonstrate commercial growth, high quality food offerings or proactive sustainability improvements.

Matchday Sales & Marketing Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Hobart UK

This award recognises the very best matchday sales and marketing team in UK stadium venues. Entries will demonstrate strategies for growth, brave new ideas, and overcoming challenges.

Non-Matchday Sales & Marketing Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Special Occasion Linen

This award recognises the very best non-matchday sales and marketing team in UK stadium venues. Entries will demonstrate strategies for growth, new ideas for unique and different events, creative use of their spaces, and overcoming challenges.

Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award – Sponsored by Aviko

This award is based on a mystery shopper corporate/business event sales enquiry call and follow up, which will be made during Spring 2026 by judges from Sandown Effective Sales Solutions.

Operations Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Braehead Foods

This award recognises the often unseen behind-the-scenes teams that make stadium events run so smoothly, going above and beyond the call of duty to provide the very best service to customers.

Chef Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Chef Works UK & Bragard

A live theatre chef competition held at Xcelerate with Edgbaston. Chef teams had 90 mins to prepare, cook and present a three-course menu suitable for their Club Chairman to entertain the Head of the FA or RFU to dinner.

Visiting Directors Awards – Football & Rugby – Sponsored by Dr Oetker & Get Pica

The Visiting Directors Award categories are voted for by Directors at each club. They are asked to nominate the club where they had the best away experience when travelling with their team. They are specifically asked to consider the welcome, service and catering when casting their votes. There will be an award for both rugby and football venues.

Matchday Hospitality Awards – Sponsored by Lockhart Catering Equipment, Mint People and ACME

Experienced chef and hospitality experts attend each venue to try out their matchday offering. Each element is carefully considered and scored against strict criteria. This award is split into 3 categories (small, medium and large) based on the number of hospitality seats on a matchday to compare similar sized operations:

Matchday Hospitality Award – Small Stadium (up to 1000 hospitality seats)

Matchday Hospitality Award – Medium Stadium (1001 – 2000 hospitality seats)

Matchday Hospitality Award – Large Stadium (2001+ hospitality seats)

Overall Matchday Hospitality Award – Presented by Global Payments Inc.

This award pitches all sized clubs against all, to announce the overall winning UK stadium that provides the very best matchday hospitality experience.

Independent Awards Judging

Each award category is independently judged (Stadium Experience does not judge any of the awards). To summarise;

• The Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award is judged by Sandown Effective Sales Solutions Ltd.
• The Event Agents Choice Award is voted for by event agents.
• The Visiting Directors Awards (Rugby & Football) are voted for by stadium directors.
• The Chef Team of the Year Award is organised and judged by The British Culinary Federation.
• The Matchday Hospitality Awards are judged by judges with 20+ experience and part of chef industry associations such as The British Culinary Federation, Craft Guild of Chefs and more.
• The majority of awards categories (6) are decided by a Judging Panel, made up of a team of experts with many years of experience in their fields, who vote for their top 3 entries.

The judging panel for 2026 includes:

• Louisa Watson, Past Chair at Beam
• Amy Manton, Commercial Manager at The Delegate Wranglers
• Andrew Perolls, Chief Executive Officer at Greengage Solutions
• Sam McGrath, Director at Heard About Sam
• Shonali Devereux CEO at MIA (NEW)
• Simon Ramsbottom, Projects Manager at tobook
• Shirley Wynne-Jones, Event Director at SWJ Events
• Sam Cowdrill, Stadium Account Manager at venuedirectory.com
• Kerrin MacPhie, Board Advisor ICC Wales

Read more about the biographies of our 2026 judging panel.

Stadium Experience Chair Person, Collette Salmon, commented: “Stadium teams go above and beyond to create outstanding experiences, whether on matchdays or for non-matchday events. These awards celebrate that passion, dedication, and commitment to excellence. Congratulations and best of luck to all of this year’s nominees—we look forward to revealing the winners in Liverpool on 2^nd July!”

The 2026 Nominees: