YOU can always tell when the season’s coming to an end when the awards are being handed out.

This week I attended one of the more prestigious footballing events.

The PFA dinner, which is held by the footballers’ union, has grown in stature over the years.

I well remember attending one of the early ones when young players up in the balconies were throwing bread buns at people underneath.

Some players looking for a move would make sure they bumped into the managers with an apology and then say ‘oh, how are you? Do you need a centre forward?’ As it happens, it turned out well for me on one such occasion as I eventually finished up signing Ted MacDougall because of this.

However, Gordon Taylor, the chief executive, has made this event much more prestigious and well mannered and a proper black tie event in one of London’s biggest hotels in Park Lane.

Last week there were 1,100 in attendance.

After the normal sort of speeches, awards are given out to teams representing the four divisions which are voted on by all the players in those respective leagues.

The big three awards at the end of the night start with the young player of the year and then there is a special award for someone giving special service – last year, for instance, it was Jimmy Armfield, ex-captain of England and a one-club man at Blackpool and for years now a BBC radio broadcaster.

It was a very emotional night, with Jimmy having battled through cancer.

I enjoyed seeing him and his wife, Ann, at this year’s event where he told me he was winning the battle at present.

The award this year was to John McDermott who was rewarded because of over 20 years service at my old club Grimsby.

Afterwards I was pleased to meet the ten-strong group from there, with John’s proud father collecting autographs like a young schoolboy and his old manager, Alan Buckley, who he praised highly when he got his award as being the best of his 13 or 14 managers during his career.

The main award has brought some controversy because it was given to Ryan Giggs.

The reason being of course he has only started 12 games this season, but the explanation by Gordon is that the votes are collected halfway through.

I suppose it would have been better if it had been an award for his wonderful career.

Undoubtedly he would have had the backing of everyone for that accolade.

A nice touch was that the guest of honour on the night, boxer Joe Calzaghe, made the presentation to his fellow Welshman.

Then in walked a Welsh male voice choir with about 80 members who gave a rousing rendition of the Welsh national anthem.

For me it is great to meet old friends again – for instance on my table sat Tommy Docherty and Barry Fry. A young man was sat between them and I said at the beginning of the night ‘I think you might have a headache by the time you go home.’ Tommy, at 81, is still in fine form and in fact I was due to join up with him at Eastleigh yesterday because Dennis Bundy, the commercial manager, was asking us to help the club out and at the same time celebrate the anniversary of our Cup win over United which was, unbelievably, 33 years ago yesterday.

Barry Fry is always an exuberant character but more so this year because of the second successive promotion of Peterborough, where he is the general manager or director of football working with young Darren Ferguson.

Over the years Barry has actually had about three heart attacks and mortgaged his house at least twice all in the cause of Peterborough.

He is now able to sit back a bit and smell the roses, because not only has he got one of the brightest young managers in the game but also a young, generous and very wealthy chairman.

I said he would be lucky to hang on to Darren but, ever the businessman, Barry said ‘I agree, but it will cost somebody about £4m to get him.’ However, I realised that sat next to the top table was the main man I wanted to talk to before everyone went their different ways – Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney.

I got him in a quiet corner and said ‘Now that the club has been relegated, how about dropping the ten-point reduction?’ He put his hands on my shoulders, looked at me straight in the face and said ‘Lawrie, you may remember when I made the announcement I used the expression ‘inextricably linked’.

‘This was done purposely because, according to the independent accountants put into the club, this phrase was discovered in the club’s paperwork.’ They then had no alternative but to punish us and they did.

If that’s the case I wonder yet again what, if anything, that previous regime did right.

After an enjoyable evening seeing old friends and meeting new ones, particularly Joe Calzaghe who I must admit is the most charming man and hard to realise without the bow tie could have destroyed anybody in the room, I was left more than a bit dejected by Lord Mawhinney’s comment.

More so after hearing how Stockport have got away with a ruling I can’t understand.