West Kirby Victoria Bowling Club

Happy New Year to all our members and visitors especially those of you from the U.S.A. and Australia.

After the most successful season in the history of West Kirby Victoria Bowling Club we now have to try and emulate even that trophy leaden year. There have unfortunately been some players, who for various reasons have decided to move on and play their bowls elsewhere and we wish them every success in their new surroundings, if not against the The Vics. Players who will not be playing for us next season include, Mally Andrews, Ken Bidwell, Tony Craven, Robby Hall, Alan Hughes, Brian Leonard and Paul Lomax. We have made a few new signings in Jack Beecham, Phil Lee, Bob Jones and Curtis Tornerup and we hope they will enjoy their bowls at The Vics.

We have just completed our Starred Player’s for The Birkenhead Afternoon “A” and “B” teams and they can be seen below.

“A” Team: W. Atkinson, J. Beecham, E. Clayburn, P. Dodd, K. Etches, R. Franklin, A. Ryding, A. Stratton ( R. Jones and K. Stewart) Bob Jones and Keith Stewart will be Starred for Cup Matches.

“B” Team: J. Brandon, J. Davies, M. Johnson, E. Lawrence, E. Peers, D. Thomas, E. Williams, I. Wilson (B. Davies and I. Hamilton) Bernard Davies and Ian Hamilton will be Starred for Cup Matches.

The Vics will once again be representing Merseyside in the British Crown Green Team Championship at Irlam in March and April and full details will be posted when the draw has been made.

Match reports will cease to be posted in 2010 because I now only play Afternoon Bowls at The Vics and it is difficult to catch up on details from the other four teams. Results will be uploaded as soon as I receive them from Team Captains and as usual the results will appear with ongoing averages on the same page.

After a quiet year of posting in 2009, mainly due to a few personal health problems, I will endeavor to keep members informed as early as possible about any relevant information I receive about anything connected with West Kirby Victoria bowls.

Please remember, this website is totally funded by myself and I do this because I want too and not at the request of West Kirby Victoria Bowling Club. I do receive complaints from members from time to time about the content of the site but unfortunately I am limited as to how much time I am able spend on it.

2009 will go into the record books as the Vics most successful season ever with an impressive haul of Cups and League Titles coming our way. This afternoon the Afternoon “B” team completed a comfortable home victory over Albany to win the Birkenhead & Wirral Crown Green Bowling League, Afternoon Division Two Title. The Afternoon “C” team have already won the Division Four Title with still the last match (Poulton at home on Friday) to play. The Afternoon “A” team won the Centenary Cup a fortnight ago with a comprehensive 10 winners to nil defeat of Heswall RBL “B” in the final at Albany.

The Birkenhead Evening League team had an unforgettable season, winning the Division One Title, the Sansom Cup and the Cec Hannay Rose Bowl. They also retained their Merseyside Club Championship with another comprehensive clean sweep of winners in their Final against BRNESC at Liverpool Cricket Club. They will now go forward to the British Crown Green Club Championship in Todmorden on October 4th as the Merseyside representatives.

The Wallasey League side won the Division One Title for a remarkable ninth year on the trot and also added the Presidents Cup with a fine victory against Queens Royal in the Final at Manor Road.

All the Team Captains, John Lloyd, Malcolm Johnson, Billy Atkinson, Keith Etches and Ian Wilson deserve credit for their efforts in keeping their teams fully focused during the season and of course everyone who played for the club during the season have helped to make us the club that everyone will be wanting to beat next season.

The Vics are currently having their most successful season ever with every Team in the Club in with a great chance of winning a Trophy or two.

To date (Tuesday August 18th) our Birkenhead Evening League team have won the Sansom Cup and play in the Cec Hannay Rose Bowl Final this coming Saturday. They are also just one game away from winning the First Division Title, with the match away at Tixall next Monday (August 24th) looking to be the Title decider if the Vics win or, if they lose, then a play off will be needed to decide the Champions.

Our Wallasey League team completed an unprecedented 9th consecutive Division One Championship last Thursday and also won the Presidents Cup last Saturday. The Five A Side competition commences next week and the Vics will be fielding three teams this year.

The Afternoon “A” team have qualified for the Centenary Cup Semi Final and take on Pensby “B” at Royden Hall on Thursday August 27th having to concede 60 shots courtesy of the handicappers. We are currently in 5th place in Division One.

The Afternoon “B” team are currently 11 points clear at the top of Division Two with 6 games to play and look likely to be joining the “A” team in Division One next year as Champions of Division Two.

The Afternoon “C” team are currently 17 points clear at the top of Division Four with 6 games to play and barring a catastrophic collapse in form should be promoted to Division Three next year as Champions of Division Four.

We are also the current holders of the Merseyside Team Championship and will defend the Trophy on Saturday September 5th. We are joint holders of the British Parks Club Championship and will be hoping to win the Cup outright on Sunday September 13th in North Staffordshire.

Congratulations to all our Members and thanks to the Team Captains, John Lloyd, Malcolm Johnson, Billy Atkinson, Keith Etches and Ian Wilson for all the work they have put in to make 2009 our best ever season.

The Vics Wallasey League Team qualified for the Presidents Cup Final with a single shot victory over Sacred Heart last Tuesday. Having to concede a 66 shot start thanks to the Handicappers, the Vics had to pull out all the stops to secure victory and Robbie Fitzpatrick was the player who was on the green with the winning wood when he complated a 21-16 win. The Vics will now play “old foes “, Queens Royal, in the Final at Manor Road on Saturday August 15th with a 5-30pm start. I hope we can get the same support from Club Members that we had in the Sansom Cup Final to help the Vics win a Trophy they last won in 2004.

The Vics Birkenhead League team defeated Gladstone by 5 shots in an excellent Sansom Cup Final last Wednesday watched by a large crowd at Lever Club. The Vics brought the cup to West Kirby for the first time and silenced their critics from Birkenhead with a committed team performance. Down by quite a few shots in a number of crucial games the Vics players fought back each time to gain sufficient points to go with their five winners on the night and take the trophy. Congratulations to John Lloyd and his team in winning Wirral’s premier trophy and hopefully they can now go on and win the First Division Title to complete a memorable season.

Scores:

Gladstone           v   West Kirby Victoria

1 MK ANDREWS v M. GILMORE 21-18
2 N.BURRIDGE V A. THOMPSON 19-21
3. J. FINCH V I. SHERBROOKE 18-21
4. I. HAZLEHURST V R.FITZPATRICK 21-18
5 B.HANLON V MAL ANDREWS 21-17
6 J.HIGNETT JNR V N. SHERBROOKE 21-19
7 J. ELLIS V B.LEONARD 15-21
8 R.FINCH V J FITZPATRICK 9-21
9 C. GOULDING V W. ATKINSON 21-20
10 D. HANKIN V J.DEVLIN 21-12
11 R.LYNCH V J. LLOYD 21-14
12 C. SAVILLE V K.SHERBROOKE 10-21

Total Scores   Gladstone 218-223 West Kirby Victoria

The Vics retained their Merseyside County C.G.B.A. Club Championship this afternoon with two convincing victories in the semi final and final at the excellent Liverpool Cricket Club green. In the semi final against a strong Brooke Hotel side, the Vics had 6 winners out of the 8 blocks, with Billy Atkinson 21-06 and Ian Sherbrooke 21-08 having the best cards. In the final against BRNESC, who had earlier beaten some pundits fancies Walton Park in their semi final, the Vics had 7 winners from the 8 blocks with Karl Sherbrooke 21-07 and Brian Leonard 21-08 having the best cards.

Semi Final:  West Kirby Victoria 154 Brooke Hotel 113      Final West Kirby Victoria 161 BRNESC 115

A delighted West Kirby Captain received the trophy from the B.C.G.B.A. Chief Executive, John Crowther.

The 2008 Merseyside Club Championship (held over from last season) takes place on Saturday 28th March at Liverpool Cricket Club, Aigburth. The event starts at 11-00 am with West Kirby Victoria playing Brooke Hotel and Walton Park playing BRNESC in the Semi Finals. The eventual winners will represent Merseyside in the B.C.G.B.A. Club Championship at Severnside, Shrewsbury on Sunday 26th April starting at 9-30am. West Kirby Victoria reached the Semi Final stage of the B.C.G.B.A. Club Championship in 2008. The 2009 Merseyside Club Championship will be held later this season. Please make every effort to support the Club at Liverpool next week in what should be an entertaining event. The Vics are, of course, the current holders of the Merseyside Club Championship and qualification for the B.C.G.B.A. tournament again, would be a prestigious honour for us.

There have been some significant moves in the playing strength of the Vics Birkenhead & Wirral Evening League team during January. With the unfortunate demise of the highly successful Higher Tranmere side just before the player resignation deadline, the players from Higher Tranmere still wanting to play in the Birkenhead League have had to find other clubs. We at the Vics have been lucky to have quite a few of those players already registered as playing members of our club and we have now registered Dave Gilmore, Mathew Gilmore, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Robbie Fitzpatrick and Anthony Thompson with our Birkenhead Evening League team. Unfortunately, with us only having one team in this League, we have lost 3 players in Frank O’Neill, Colin Saville and Steve Scott who have all decided to move to Heswall Royal British Legion. We are sad to lose 3 players of their calibre but they all felt that with such a large squad at the Vics, it was better for them to move elsewhere to be able to play regular bowls rather than sometimes having to stand and watch. We respect their decision and wish them all the best in their new venture. Unbelieveably, given that the remaining Higher Tranmere players have decided to join Tixall Bowling Club, the Vics have drawn Tixall in the Dr. Dawson Victory Cup 1st Round. Just as remarkable is the fact that the Vics have drawn Heswall R.B.L. in the 1st Round of the Sansom Cup. Both these matches should add extra spice to the early season, if any was needed in the current climate.

I would like to wish all our Members a Happy and successful New Year. I apologise for the lack of information over the last few months but members will know that I was seriously considering standing down after nine years as Secretary. However with a nil response to a request for a new Secretary at the Annual General Meeting in November, I have decided to carry on for at least one more year. Having not been at the Annual General Meeting for personal reasons, I have had to rely on our excellent Chairman, Brian Buck to update me on the happenings. I can inform Members that the Club Officers for 2009 are unaltered and are as follows; President - Dave Bosworth, Chairman - Brian Buck, Vice Chairman - Robby Franklin, Secretary -Peter Dodd and Treasurer - Bill Atkinson. Team Captains for 2009 are Birkenhead League - John Lloyd, Wallasey League - Mally Johnson, Afternoon “A” Team - Billy Atkinson, Afternoon “B” Team - Keith Etches and Afternoon “C” Team - Ian Wilson. We welcome new Members this season in; Peter Lacey, Paul Lomax, Steve Scott and Keith Stewart. Brian Leonard has decided to move to Queens Royal in the Wallasey League but remains with us in the Birkenhead League. Bernie Owen has returned to our Wallasey League set up from Great Meols but is joining West Kirby Park in the Birkenhead and Bebington Leagues. Mally Andrews is going to play in the Afternoon League for us this season as well as the Birkenhead League. Our new Management Committee now consists of the Officers plus John Brandon, Eddie Dodd, Andy Fergus, Derek Thomas and Bill Tottey plus a nominated member from the Tournament Committee. Subscriptions for 2009 remain at £17 per member and are due by May 1st at the latest, please pay Billy Atkinson as soon as possible. The Club won a fantastic £705 in prize money in 2008 and no doubt Billy’s Afternoon “A” Team will be keen to contribute some money to the pot in 2009 after being the only team to miss out in 2008. We have been nominated by the Merseyside County Crown Green Bowling Association as one of their Two representatives at the Annual Irlam Team Championships in March and April and we will be defending our Merseyside Club Championship on March 28th. Once again we will be representing Wallasey in the British Parks C.G.B.A. Club Team Knockout Competition, to be held in North Staffordshire on Sunday September 13th. We are of course joint holders of this trophy with Meersbrook from South Yorkshire and remarkably we have been drawn against each other in the Quarter Finals.

The 88th Annual General Meeting of West Kirby Victoria Bowling Club, will be held in the Hilda Shore Room, West Kirby Methodist Church, Westbourne Road, West Kirby on Thursday November 6th starting at 7-30pm.