The awards recognise the importance of the quality of pitches for professional football and acknowledge the clubs and their ground staff who consistently produce the best playing surfaces in the EFL.

And Andrew Tully and his team - who work under head groundsman Mick Curran - were praised for their work.

Aston Villa were the overall winners in the Sky Bet Championship but Newcastle and Derby County were both highly commended.

The awards are determined initially using marks from referees and away managers for each Sky Bet EFL game and are then followed by detailed pitch inspections and a review of management operations. These visits were carried out by Dr Stephen Baker, Head of Sports Surface Technology at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI).

Sheffield United and Carlisle United were the winners in League One and League Two respectively.