Leicester City were singled out as ‘Highly Commended’ in the Family Club of the Year category at the Football League Awards on Sunday, as the Foxes’ excellence in delivering an outstanding matchday experience for all age groups was acknowledged.

Having already received the Football League Family Excellence Award 2010, the club was again recognised at Sunday night’s awards ceremony, which was held at Grosvenor House in London. City were the only Championship club recognised as ‘Highly Commended’ in the category.

Leicester City’s Chief Executive Lee Hoos, who attended the ceremony, said: “We’re really proud of this achievement. Families are of high importance to us and we have put a lot of work into developing that area of the Leicester City matchday experience.

“We’re especially glad that our staff earned praise from the Football League’s mystery shoppers and their report acknowledged our service standards as one of the highest in the country. Earning this acknowledgement from the league is a team achievement, and our supporters have also made a significant contribution to help us move forward off the pitch.”

The Football League praised Leicester City for their efforts in their official report, which said: “Leicester City has managed to transform the family experience at the Walkers Stadium with fresh initiatives to make the matchday an enjoyable experience for families.

“Such initiatives include the ‘Guard of Honour’ which allows children the opportunity to welcome players onto the pitch and to have a look behind the scenes. Leicester also provide a range of special activities such as face painting to keep children entertained in the Marks Electrical Family Stand.

“The dedication of the staff was acknowledged by the mystery visit, which highlighted that club personnel took time to engage with families to take on board how their experience could be improved.

“The judges particularly noted the improvement of the stewarding shown by the club to the extent they are leading the way in this area and this is shown throughout the comments from the mystery visit.

“The extra mile Leicester City has gone makes them extremely worthy of this nomination and rightly able to claim they are a true family club.”

Leicester City also gives supporters under the age of 8 free tickets to all league games in the Marks Electrical Family Stand. City focuses on family orientated matchday entertainment and hosted the country’s first ever Respect fixture against Newcastle United on January 30.