A passionate Dunfermline volunteer has been celebrated for his commitment to women’s football, earning the title of Scottish coach of the year.

Bayside FC’s Paul Murray was presented with the accolade during the Scottish Women’s Football Awards ceremony at Hampden Park on Saturday.

He said: “It’s absolutely brilliant to be recognised, but it’s not why I do it.

“I just do what I do, and every now and then I get lucky with a great bunch of kids.”

A Scottish Women's Football spokesperson said: "The judges felt Paul’s commitment to developing girls and opportunities in Fife was exemplified by his decision to enter the team into the Youth Performance League, where they not only embraced the challenge of more travel and a higher level of opposition, they only went and won it."

His under 16s side was also nominated for an award and narrowly missed out on the youth team of the year title.

Praising the club’s management, he said: “The success comes from the executive committee supporting the side, which they have done for a lot of years. Without that support, we wouldn’t be where we are.

“At a lot of clubs, girls football still isn’t on an even playing field, whereas at Bayside they’re every bit as important as the boys. That makes a massive difference.”

The team’s recent success on the pitch has rivalled that of larger clubs, with the under 16s side winning the Youth Performance League (YPL) for the whole of Scotland.

Four players were even selected to represent Scotland at a Coerver five-a-side tournament in Sweden.

Mr Murray said: “The team spirit has been amazing. I’ve never known a team like it, it’s a joy to see.

“It kind of puts Fife on the radar and shows that smaller clubs can actually compete at this level with the right girls.

“What we’re finding is that girls want to play for a winning club, so right now we’re the favourable team to join.

“If you look at girl’s football, you tend to get a lot of big score lines. What we’ve found in the YPL is that we’ve had consistent competition all year round, and the girls have to be on their game or they’ll get beat. It’s been great for them because it harbours that intensity.”

In a recent triumph, the team reached the league cup final after defeating local rivals Dunfermline 5-1.

Mr Murray continued: “It’s always a hotly contested local derby to be honest. Everything kind of goes out of the window when you play your neighbours.

“A lot of the girls go to school together and they’re after bragging rights on the Monday.”

Looking forward to the final against Glasgow City, he added: “When we play them, it’s always a great game as a spectator. The coaches could almost just stay in the dressing room and let the girls get on with it.”