The Oscars of the sports world, according to both The Observer and The Times, recognise and reward the best the sport business has to offer in marketing, PR, sponsorship, new media, publishing, advertising and design. They are Europe’s largest and most prestigious commercial sport awards.

Quins were shortlisted in the ‘Best Integrated Sport Marketing Campaign’ category after the success of The Big Game, their round 10 Guinness Premiership game against Leister Tigers, which the club took across the road to The Twickenham Stadium. With the capacity on the day set at 50,000 and 70% of tickets going for £10 or less, Quins offered what surely must have been the best money for a high quality, live sporting event offering in London over the Christmas period.

In front of a sell-out crowd, Quins made history by smashing the previous attendance record for a single Guinness Premiership match, set by London Irish at their St Patrick’s Day game in March 2008, and Harlequins’ Chief Executive, Mark Evans is already planning next Christmas’s game.

With the likes of E.A Sports, E.ON, Samsung Electronics, The FA and Tesco and Wrigley also being shortlisted, Quins had to battle it out with some major names, but Harlequins ruled supreme last night and took the prestigious award back to The Twickenham Stoop.