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A
History of the Veterans’ League Wrexham
The First Decade
Mr P V Day of Gresford convened a meeting of
interested parties at 7 p.m.on 9th October 1978 at Wrexham Miners
with a view to forming a Wrexham Veterans’ League. Present at the meeting were: Mr C Adams and
Mr D E Dodd (President and Chairman of Wrexham Bowling League), Mr P V Day
(Gresford), Mr E Wright (Miners), Mr H Jones (Gresford Colliery), Mr L Bradley
(Parciau), Mr L Roberts (Esclusham), Mr A Owens (Coedpoeth) and Mr A Jeffries
(Gresford).
Mr Dodd was elected Chairman for the evening
and read the proposal from Mr Day: that …………….
“A Veterans section of the Bowling League be
formed for season 1979. Matches to be
played on Tuesdays commencing at 2 p.m. and each team to consist of eight players. All members to be over 60 and not in regular
employment. All to be registered with
the League”. The proposal was seconded
by Mr Owens and agreed unanimously.
An election of officials took place as follows:
Chairman – Mr E Wright, Secretary/Treasurer – Mr P V Day. It was agreed that one member from each club
would complete the composition of the Executive Committee. It was resolved that eight teams should enter
the league in the first season: the seven which had already expressed an
interest – Rhos, Miners, Parciau, Esclusham, Coedpoeth, Gresford Colliery,
Gresford Village, leaving one vacancy to
be filled by the first team to apply to the secretary.
The first meeting of the newly elected
committee took place at the Miners on 22 November 1978 at 2 p.m. It was agreed to adopt the rules of the
Wrexham Maelor League and to allow ten teams to enter - the seven already
mentioned and in addition: Ruabon, Llay and Gresford Ladies. An offer by Mr Reg Jones to provide the
fixtures for the new league was gratefully accepted.
At the first meeting of 1979 held on 21 March a
Gresford representative asked if lady members under the age of sixty would be
allowed to play in the league. The
reduced-age motion was not accepted on this occasion but at the next meeting on
23 May a formal application was put on the agenda by Gresford Ladies to be
allowed to play from the age of 55. It
was carried with the proviso that members under the age of 60 would have to pay
an additional 8p per person when playing on Maelor Council greens. Thanks were expressed to Mr N Povah
(Esclusham) for negotiating a reduced charge of 8p per player (total £1.28 as
against the standard of £3) for the use of Council greens. A discussion took place over the future use
of two trophies: a shield donated by the secretary Mr P V Day and a cup by Mr
Ernie Smith.
A letter was read out from Rhos Bowling Club
asking to be allowed to resign from the league owing to the death of three of
their members, preventing them from fulfilling their fixtures. This request was accepted with great
regret. At the first AGM held on 31
October 1979 silent tribute was paid to the following league members: Mr J Davies, Mr B Jones, Mr J Skellon (Rhos),
Mr A Hampton (Parciau), Mr I Thomas, Mr E Jones (Esclusham) and Mr N Williams
(Miners).
Officers elected to serve for the 1980 season
were: President – Mr P V Day, Chairman – Mr Lloyd Hughes (Miners), Secretary –
Mr John Albert Jones (Miners), Match Secretary – Mr Reg Jones (Gresford). A motion was passed that matches would start
at 2.30 p.m. from then on. The Miners
were congratulated on being the first champions of the new Veterans League and
Mr P V Day presented Mr J A Jones with the cup.
Membership fees for the league would remain £1 per club. The financial statement showed a balance in
hand of £9.19.
The AGM of February 1980 began with a silent
tribute to the late Mr Trevor Roberts of Coedpoeth.
Mr Henry Williams of
The annual general meeting prior to the 1982
season was held on 3 February and began with silent tributes to Mrs E Fellows
(Gresford Ladies) and the wives of Mr H Hughes and Mr L Challoner (Llay). It was decided to introduce a Merit Shield to
be played for by the merit winners of each club on a knock-out basis. Mr T W Jones (Esclusham) was appointed
auditor. League fees would be raised to
£2 per club. The credit on the accounts
had risen to £30.20. Twenty rules were
approved for the Rules and Constitution of the league.
At the AGM in February 1983 the chairman was
pleased to announce that Mr Ernie Smith (
Penyffordd Bowling Club was welcomed into the
league in 1984 and Ruabon decided to enter a second team. Mr Cyril Adams, who had made an annual
donation to the league, was made an honorary patron. Silent tribute was paid to deceased members:
Mr F Large (Miners), Mrs R Hughes, Mr J Jones (Gresford), Mr I Vaughan and Mr B
Bithel (Ruabon). The financial statement
showed a credit balance of £72.90. The
presentation of trophies took place at the Miners on 2 October following the
Champions v Rest of the League match (eight players only, so Garden Village B,
Ruabon B and Miners were excluded).
The Emlyn Wright Singles competition was
introduced in 1985. At the AGM tribute
was paid to the late Mrs B Jones, wife of the secretary, and deceased members:
Mr I Jones, Mr A Jones (Coedpoeth), Mr C Beattie (Llay), Mr E Williams
(Parciau), Mr E Jones, Mr W Jones and Mr G Williams (Ruabon). In the following year there were further
tributes for Mr R T Jones (Ruabon), Mr G Jones (Penyffordd), Mr A Clarke (
Two obituaries were recorded in the minutes of
the 1987 AGM: Mr K Parry (Penyffordd)
and Mr A Spurdle (Gresford). It was
noted with great regret that the match secretary, Mr Reg Jones, intended to
step down at the end of the season. A
notice of motion was passed that if two teams finished on equal points at the
end of the season they should replay.
The bank balance now stood at £102.60.
In the following year the secretary was pleased to report that Mr Reg
Jones would be withdrawing his resignation.
Mr Jonathan Jones of Rhos submitted an application for that club to
re-enter but again it was decided to restrict the league to twelve teams. Silent tributes were paid to: Mr E Wright, Mr
D Jones, Mr L Challoner, Mr A McCartney, Mr J Rogers and Mr W Taylor. A special tribute was paid to Mr Emlyn Wright
because of his efforts in the formation of the league. Green fees for the coming season would be
chargeable at 20p per player.
Penyffordd withdrew from the league for the
1989 season and applications were received from Monsanto and Broughton. On a show of hands Monsanto were accepted and
teams offered to play friendly matches with Broughton in lieu of membership. Members stood in silence for the late Mr E
Williams and Mr T George. A letter of
condolence was sent to Mr Cyril Adams on his recent bereavement.
The
Nineties
In 1990 Mr Lloyd Hughes was replaced as chairman
by Mr Henry Williams and Mr D L Jones (Monsanto) became vice-chairman. It was unanimously agreed that Mr Hughes
should become a life-member. The
following deceased members were remembered: Mr J P Evans, Mr F Morris, Mr P
West, Mr C Davies, Mr E Trevor and Mr J Charles. The Cunliffe Arms applied to join the league
but was refused because of the twelve teams limit. At the AGM of 1991 the death of Mr Reg Jones,
fixtures secretary, was announced.
Tributes were paid to him and Mr A Owen.
Mr J A Jones decided to retire as secretary and it was resolved to hold
a special meeting for the purpose of filling the two vacancies. Mr P V Day and Mr J A Jones were made life
members. The Cunliffe Arms were again
refused entry to the league.
In March 1991 Dr Frank Long was appointed
Secretary/Treasurer but following the death of Mr T W Jones the position of
auditor was not resolved. An offer by Mr
L Roger (Parciau) to take on the role of fixtures secretary was accepted with
enthusiasm by the committee. At an Executive
Committee meeting on 3 December 1991 it was decided to recommend to the AGM
that a second division should be formed, as five new clubs and second teams
from four existing clubs wanted to join the league. A further decision was to drop the Champions v
Rest of the League fixture and add a Merit Competition for division 2. The annual team fee should rise to £4 and
there should be an annual registration fee of 50p per player. At the AGM of 1992 these recommendations were
accepted and implications for the constitution discussed. Division 1 would remain with twelve teams and
division 2 nine teams. Mr J Mainprize
became Treasurer and Mrs S Corfield Auditor.
The five new clubs were: Broughton, Cunliffe, Gate, Nags Head and
Castell Alun. The second teams from
existing clubs were: Gresford, Monsanto, Parciau and Llay. Mr Merwyn Williams
would donate a trophy for the division 2 winners. Mr D Parfitt (Broughton) gave a shield for
the merit winner.
In May 1992 the Executive meeting heard about
difficulties with the landlord of the Nags Head who was charging £6 green fee
per match and who was making the future of bowling at the venue hard to
predict. By August the members there
were actively looking for an alternative venue.
The bank balance had now risen to £333.07 because of registration fees
and this would allow for a subsidy for the buffet at the merit competitions and
annual presentation event at the Miners on 23 September. At the 1993 AGM both the chairman and
vice-chairman indicated their wish to resign.
Mr R Cooke was elected chairman and Mr A Cherrett vice-chairman. Silent tribute was paid to deceased members:
Mr H Brown (Coedpoeth), Mr J Williams, Mrs M Jones (Ladies), Mr Bob Jones and
Mr R Stewart (Llay). Applications to
join the league had been received from
For 1994 there were 24 team applications, with
Ruabon B dropping out and
Tributes were paid at the 1995 AGM to: Mr M
Davies (Broughton), Mr I Roberts (Coedpoeth), Mr H Warburton (Gate), Mr C Bean
and Mr H Davies (Gresford), Mr R Martin (Llay), Mr H Davies and Mr P O’Leary
(Garden Village). The new vice-chairman
was Mr C Tapp (Gresford). He was praised
for his efforts in formulating the Constitution into a booklet for all clubs. It was agreed that the back-to-back system
for fixtures should revert to the old system.
Fixtures would be incorporated into the Wrexham and District Bowling
League booklet for the first time. A
Referees Seminar was to be initiated. Complaints
were made about league tables not being published in the Leader often enough
and discussions were to be held with the Sports Editor. It was reported that only one of seven
Wrexham nominees was selected for the British Inter County Veterans
Championship team: George Jones. At
various Executive meetings held during the season members stood in silent
tribute to: Mr A Barclay (Bangor-on-Dee), Mr P Crotty (Garden Village), Mrs M
Tapp (Gresford), Mr T Hughes (New Broughton), Mrs M Hopley (Farndon), Mr J
Bennett (Broughton), Mrs D L Jones (Monsanto), Mr D Torrence (Cunliffe), Mr B
Williams (Broughton), Mr D Turner (Gresford), Mr J Kosinski, Mr J Matthews
(Parciau),Mr D Samuels (Ruabon), Mr G Williams, Mr F Bazeley (Parciau) and Mr J
Pritchard (Gresford).
1996 saw the introduction of a third division,
when three new teams (Royston, Bersham BL and Coed Talon) and B teams from three
existing clubs (
As the office of secretary was becoming
increasingly onerous, Mr Harry McCormack was elected Assistant Secretary with
responsibility for all competitions. At
the September executive meeting members stood in silent memory of: Mr D L Jones
(Flexsys), Mr R Smith and Mr R Lewis (Rossett), Mrs T Picken and Mr D Fleetwood
(Parciau), Mrs W Burton and Mr W Simm (Garden Village), Mr F Parry and Mr R
Jarvis (Gresford), Mr D Cutler (Gate), Mr E Cole (Rhos) and Mr J Jones
(Ruabon). John Percy was thanked for his
donation of shields for Merit prizes.
Three extra applications were received for the 1998 season – Treuddyn,
Cunliffe B and Flexsys C - making 35 teams in the three divisions. Two amendments to the constitution were
passed: the rule about not being in full time employment was rescinded and the
C team of any club would have to play home matches on Mondays. The treasurer reported a balance of just over
£700. The Wrexham Maelor League was
thanked for offering to include all details of the Veterans’ League in the
annual handbook. Prior to the opening of
the season, Coed Talon indicated their desire to enter a C team. This was unanimously accepted bringing the
total to 36 teams. Stan Percival replaced
E Boyer Jones on the Inter League selection panel. It was decided not to hold celebrations for
the twentieth anniversary of the league but to wait a further five years.
At the AGM before the 1999 season,
congratulations were given to the Inter League team on winning the British
Aerospace Cup for the third successive year.
The Chairman referred to the sudden and sad loss of fixtures secretary
John Turner, who had put in a great deal of effort over the years. Mr P V Day was honoured with the position of
Life President and Mrs J Lloyd was elected President. Mr Alan Greetham took over the role of
Vice-Chairman from Mr C Tapp and Mr P Mansley was elected Fixture Secretary. Mrs G Hughes agreed to act as Auditor. Silent tribute was paid to five members at
the March Executive meeting: Mr J Jones (Rhos), Mr H Roberts (
In August members honoured the memory of Mr P V
Day and Mr J Mainprize, two past officers who had recently died and who had
served the league with dedication and distinction. Percy Day had convened the inaugural meeting
in 1978.
The New
Millennium
At the AGM in February 2000 the Chairman, Mr
Ron Cooke, again expressed the loss felt by all members for the former President
and Treasurer, who had given so much of their time to the League. He was disappointed to report that the
Clwydian league had beaten Wrexham in the Aerospace Cup. Bangor-on-Dee B would not be seeking
re-election and Gresford Ladies would be renamed Gresford C. Silent tribute was paid to deceased
members: Mrs H Williams (Gresford), Mr K Roe (Parciau), Mrs B Fleming and Mrs M
Jones (
The 2001 AGM began with tributes to six
deceased members: Mr L Hughes (former Chairman), Mr R Richards (Rhos), Mr B
Shephard (Gresford), Mr R Hester (
After completing ten years as Chairman of the
league, Mr Ron Cooke gave his final report at the 2002 AGM. A vote of thanks to Ron for the high
standards he had set was endorsed by all members present. There was some difficulty in filling the
vacant posts but after a great deal of discussion Roy Parker (Cunliffe) was
elected Chairman, Dennis Davies (Brymbo) Vice-Chairman and Alan Greetham (Gate)
moved from Vice-Chairman to Secretary.
Tribute was paid to deceased members: Mr J Clewes and Mr H Williams
(Garden Village), Mr D Jones (Ruabon), Mr R Roberts (Cunliffe), Mr J Unwin
(Coedpoeth), Mrs S Corfield (Bangor-on-Dee), Mr W Forrester (Gate), Mrs E
Morris (Gresford), Mr R Chatham (Llay), Mr S Hughes (Gresford), Mr R Rees
(Johnstown), Mr A Roberts (Treuddyn) and Mr J Green (New Broughton). Members were informed about new BCGBA rules
concerning the use of mobile phones and smoking on the green. An application from Garden Village B to
re-enter the league was approved. An
application from Rhos to play their matches at Gresford Colliery was rejected.
A special meeting was called in October 2002 to
try to find replacements for three retiring officers: Fixtures Secretary,
Treasurer and Competitions Secretary.
Approaches had been made to Mr Alan Luckock, Secretary of the Wrexham
Saturday League, to undertake the post of Veterans’ Fixtures Secretary
also. The Chairman had also sounded out
Mr Ron Jones, Treasurer of the Cunliffe, to see if he was willing to take on
the extra task of Veterans’ Treasurer.
Mr Neville White of Gresford offered his services as Competitions
Secretary. All three were proposed at
the next AGM and elected. Mr Harry Bainbridge (Cunliffe) was elected Auditor.
Honoraria were agreed and accepted as follows: Secretary £100, Fixture
Secretary £200, Treasurer £100 and Competition Secretary £100. Following
successful applications to join the league from Hawkesbury and Brymbo, the
composition for 2003 would be: first division 12 teams, second division 12
teams and third division 14 teams.
Tributes were paid to members who had died during the last year: Mrs E
Bean and Mr R Renshaw (Gresford), Mr H Griffiths (Rhos), Mrs K Griffiths, Mr H
Ffoulkes and Mr L Rowland (Garden Village), Mr A Adams (Parciau), Mr D Bond
(Flexsys), Mr E Jones and Mr V White (Llay), Mr B and Mr J Jones (Chirk), Mr D
Smith (Ruabon), Mr G Forster (Farndon), Mr G Bellis (Coed Talon) and Mr T Brett
(Bangor-on-Dee).
The 2004 AGM began with tributes to nine
deceased members: Mr D Burke and Mr L McCain (Llay), Mr F Smith and Mr C Tapp
(Gresford), Mr B Hart (Hawkesbury), Mr D Evans (Flexsys), Mr D Williams, Mr R Clarke
and Mr L Butts (Chirk). Mr Ron Cooke
replaced Mrs Joy Lloyd as President.
Hawkesbury B, Plaskynaston and Farndon B had applied to join the league. Further tributes to past members were paid at
the 2005 AGM: Mr F Perry (Cunliffe), Mr G Bowen, Mr B Edwards and Mr R Roe
(Garden Village), Mr G Davies, Mr C Rathbone and Mr R Warrington (Miners), Mr B
Gale (New Broughton), Mr G Rogers (Parciau), Mr S Campbell and Mr J Tomlinson
(Rossett). Letters of application had
been received from Aston (two teams), Esclusham and a C team from
The Inter league selection committee was
re-elected as follows; Chairman (Roy Parker), Secretary (Alan Greetham),
Competition Secretary (Neville White), Team Captains (Cyril Adams and Harry
McCormack), President (Ron Cooke), plus Arnold Edwards and Merwyn Williams. Ron Cooke and Alan Greetham were re-elected
as the Inter league representatives. Following
the success of replacing the singles and pairs trophies with voucher or cash
equivalents since 2002, it was decided to give league winners and runners-up
cash prizes of £80 and £50 (for 12 team divisions) and £70 and £40 (for 10 team
divisions). Likewise the P V Day winners
and runners-up would receive £80 and £50.
The three Inter league matches for 2005 incurred expenditure of £393.63
with income from raffles and other miscellaneous items bringing in £215. The accounts as presented by Ron Jones and
audited by Harry Bainbridge showed a balance of £1430.73.
The AGM before the 2006 season was held in the
previous November and began with a silent tribute to deceased members: Mrs
Muriel Miller, Mr C Chowen, Mr G Husbands, Mr J Johnson and Mr E Smith (Garden
Village), Mrs B Owen (Chirk), Mr T Richards (Hawkesbury), Mr D Griffiths (Llay),
Mr N Rogers (Gresford), Mr L Roger (Parciau) and Mr T Howard (New Broughton). The President congratulated the Inter league
squad on winning the Airbus Cup. Three
more clubs were accepted into the league: Castell Alun B, Coedpoeth B and Plas
Kynaston but Castell Alun were eventually unable to take up their place,
leaving only nine teams in division 4. For 2006 the treasurer reported a
closing balance of £1534.22; the loss of income from the Merit Finals raffles
was offset by competition fees income of £266.50. It was decided to scrap the £1 per player
registration fee and raise the existing team registration fee instead. Therefore for 2007 clubs will pay £20 per
team at the start of the season with no further registration payments and
register as many players as desired.
Silent tribute was paid to deceased members: Mr A Gilpin, Mr H Floyd,
Mrs S Humpage, Mr H Kelly, Mr A Rowlands, Mr E Davies, Mr R Williams and Mr R
Lamb. Roy Parker stood down as Chairman
and was replaced by Dennis Davies;
In 2007 Coed Talon A achieved the remarkable
feat of winning all 22 matches in the top division, with their players Peter
Lacey, Granville Rogers, Stuart Thomas and Graham Prydden taking the first four
places in the divisional averages. Hawkesbury finished second with Cunliffe A in
third place. Aston A also won all their
matches in division 2 and will be joined by Chirk in division one for next
season, replacing relegated Castell Alun and Flexsys. A new name was added to the honours boards,
when Hawkesbury won the P V Day Shield for the first time. In the Inter-League competition Wrexham did
well against Clwydians and Gwynedd but were badly beaten by a strong Deeside
squad. Merwyn Williams was the only
player to win all three matches. At the
AGM held in November 2007 two new teams were accepted into the fourth division
for 2008: Esclusham and Gresford
Colliery. Rhos could well be playing
their home matches at Gresford Colliery, if their green remains in poor
condition. Members stood in silent
memory of deceased players: Mrs Irene Clanfield
(Rossett), Mrs Audrey Edwards (Brymbo), Mr Vic Lee (Gate), Mr Gwilym Mears
(Rhos), Mr Ray Baker (Chirk) and Mr Eric Randles
(Rossett). The audited accounts for 2007 from Ron Jones showed a closing
balance of £1479.00. Ron Cooke retired
as President and was thanked for his services; Harry McCormack was elected to
replace him. The new Vice-Chairman will
be Brian Kyffin. Glyn Lockett will be
sharing the position of Fixtures/Results Secretary with Alan Luckock.
Eryl Jones, updated November 2007
Honours
Table – League Champions
|
Year |
Division 1 |
Division 2 |
Division 3 |
Division 4 |
|
2007 |
Coed
Talon |
Aston A |
Farndon A |
Miners |
|
2006 |
Coed
Talon |
Brymbo |
Aston A |
Plaskynaston |
|
2005 |
Rhos |
Coedpoeth |
New
Broughton |
Aston |
|
2004 |
Coed
Talon |
Hawkesbury
A |
Plaskynaston |
|
|
2003 |
Rhos |
Garden
Village A |
Hawkesbury |
|
|
2002 |
Rhos |
Castell
Alun |
Ruabon |
|
|
2001 |
Rhos |
Coedpoeth |
Miners |
|
|
2000 |
Rhos |
Chirk |
Bersham |
|
|
1999 |
Rhos |
Flexsys C |
Castell
Alun |
|
|
1998 |
Rhos |
Miners |
Flexsys C |
|
|
1997 |
Rhos |
Coed
Talon A |
Chirk |
|
|
1996 |
Rhos |
Broughton |
Coed
Talon |
|
|
1995 |
Rhos |
Monsanto
B |
|
|
|
1994 |
Rhos |
Gresford
B |
|
|
|
1993 |
Gresford
A |
Rhos |
|
|
|
1992 |
Esclusham |
Cunliffe |
|
|
|
1991 |
Esclusham |
|
|
|
|
1990 |
?? |
|
|
|
|
1989 |
Esclusham |
|
|
|
|
1988 |
Llay |
|
|
|
|
1987 |
?? |
|
|
|
|
1986 |
Llay/Garden
Vill |
|
|
|
|
1985 |
|
|
|
|
|
1984 |
|
|
|
|
|
1983 |
|
|
|
|
|
1982 |
Miners |
|
|
|
|
1981 |
?? |
|
|
|
|
1980 |
Ruabon |
|
|
|
|
1979 |
Miners |
|
|
|
Honours
Table – Merit Winners
|
Year |
Division 1 |
Division 2 |
Division 3 |