Scottish Handball Association
Press Release – Stephen Neilson MBE
For immediate release – 31.12.2024
The Scottish Handball Association are delighted to note the recognition given to the Chair of the British Handball Association, Stephen Neilson, on his award of the title MBE in the 2025 New Year’s Honours List for services to Handball.
Stephen, or Stevie as he is known to all of us, has worked tirelessly for many years in support of the development of Handball across Scotland and the UK. As the former Chief Operating Officer of the Scottish Handball Association, he did a lot of work that helped to lay the foundations for the current growth and many of the exciting developments currently taking place within our sport.
On behalf of the whole Scottish Handball family – from the Executive Team at the SHA, to the Board, all our clubs, and every single member of the whole Handball community across Scotland, as well as those within the wider UK and all our partner nations across Europe and the rest of the world – we send Stevie and his family all our very best wishes and huge congratulations for this well-deserved recognition.
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Notes for Editors: Originally founded in 1972, the Scottish Handball Association employs 4.5 people and was announced as Sport Governing Body of the Year 2022 at the Scottish Sports Awards ceremony in December 2022. Working closely with SportScotland, the European Handball Federation (EHF), the International Handball Federation (IHF), the SHA enables thousands of children and young people to play Handball across Scotland. We also deliver training to many young sports leaders across Scotland. There are many primary and secondary School Handball Festivals as a result; and we see many young athletes continue their Handball journey by joining their local clubs. A number have gone on to play professionally with European clubs, as well as representing Scotland and Team GB in international competition. We have vibrant domestic league and cup competitions. The current highlight of the domestic season is the season-ending British Handball Super Cup – where the top two teams from Scotland (Women and Men) play against the top two teams from England. The NorDan British Handball Super Cup was broadcast live on BBC Sport in May 2022 and May 2024, and was broadcast live on other streaming platforms in 2023.