A
Time-line of Trophies
The
club trophies we all compete for are set out in chronological order below:-
1918 - Men’s Singles
Championship; sometimes known as the Club Championship, it is the oldest trophy
in club competition. It was presented by a founder member of the club; Mr B T
Greening.
1937 - Men’s Handicap Trophy; presented by Mr D C
Larg who was Club Champion in 1930 and 1935, and represented
1948 - Eadie Cup; regarded as the Junior
Championship Trophy, it was presented by Mr John Eadie. He was Club Champion 7 times between 1930 and
1959, Club President in 1951 and was made Life Member in 1978. No one winning this trophy, the Championship
or the Men’s Handicap can compete for the Eadie Cup again.
1966 - Men’s Pairs; presented by Mr A
Brearley; who, in 1954 won the Eadie Cup.
1971 - Bennett Cup; qualifiers are men
over the age of 65. It was presented by Mr Wally Bennett, who was made a Life
Member in 1976.
1974 - Ladies’ Singles
Championship; presented by Mr John Moore for the newly-formed Ladies’
Section. He was Club President that year
and was made a Life Member in 1983.
1975 - Ladies’ Pairs; presented by Mrs
Lillian Morrison, wife of the Club President of that year.
1975 - Mixed Pairs Trophy; presented by Mrs Betty Stevens, Ladies’ Captain of that
year.
1976 - Ladies’ Senior Citizens
Plate;
presented by Gwen Ward, who was Ladies’ Secretary the previous year.
1977 - Officers’ Singles
Trophy;
presented by Mrs E Millar in memory of her late husband, Mr Bob Millar, a club
stalwart. Mrs Millar was Ladies’ Champion in 1980 and won the Ladies’ Senior
Citizen’s Plate in 1976 and again in1981.
1979 - Men’s Over 65 Pairs; presented by Mr Sam
Stevenson, whose wife became Ladies’ Secretary the following year.
1979 - Partners’ Pairs; formerly, Husband
& Wife Pairs, sometimes known as the “Divorce Stakes”, presented by Mr
& Mrs Osie and Jean Jack. Jean was Ladies’ Captain in 1981, won the Ladies’
Handicap the same year, and the Ladies’ Senior Citizens Plate in 1979 &
1980.
1979 - Ladies’ Handicap; Inaugurated by the
Club, but without a named sponsor.
1981 - Grant Cup; presented by the
daughters of Mr Arthur Grant as a tribute to his memory.
1982 - Frampton Cup; this started as a ladies’
triples trophy, then it became a mixed triples trophy, but now is the ladies’
equivalent of the Eadie Cup. It was presented by Gladys Frampton; Ladies’
Captain in 1987 she won in the Mixed Pairs in 1981 & 1988, Partner Pairs in
1988 and the Ladies’ Handicap in 1989.
1992 - Two Wood Pairs; also known as The
Jersey Bowl, it was presented by Mr Clive Lewis, who went on to become Men’s
Captain in 1995.
1995 - Good Sports Triples; donated by Good
Sports. This competition is played in a
single afternoon between mixed triples teams drawn from a hat. Each team plays 3 games of 6 ends. The winner
is the team with the highest positive shot difference.
1998 - Barlow/Redford Trophy; presented by Barlow
Redford Insurance Brokers to winners of a mixed triples knock-out played within
one day.
2000 - Fixed
Jack; A singles knockout competition for both men and ladies played up to
and including the semi-final stage within the morning and afternoon sessions of
the same day. The final takes place on Finals Weekend.
2000/2001 Short Mat; Four trophies
introduced Open Singles, Pairs, 2 wood Pairs and League
knock-out. New trophies for each of
these competitions were bought by the club in our Centenary Year.
2002/2003 Short Mat; Kate Cooke Rose Bowl; Ladies singles trophy
presented in memory of Kate by her family.
Kate was key figure in the formation of the Short Mat Section.
2003/2004 Short Mat; Eric Guest Cup; Men’s singles trophy
presented by Jean Guest in memory of her husband. Eric played a key role in the formation of
the Short Mat Section, Chairperson from it’s inception in 2000 to 2003 and won
the Open Singles in 2002/2003. Eric had
previously won the outdoor Club Singles Championship in 1999.
2004 - Cooke Trophy; this competition is open
to all playing members of the club. It was presented by the family of Kate and
Reg Cooke as a tribute to their memory.
Reg was Men’s Captain in 1993 and President in 1995. He was also
President of St Albans & District BA in 1996. Kate was Ladies’ Captain in 1997.
2006 - Australian Pairs; presented by Kevin
Brazier. This is a mixed pairs’ competition, played in the evening in
accordance with “Aussie rules”. Kevin
was Green Keeper from 1985 to 2007, Men’s Captain in 1999 and President in
2001.
2008 - Wightman Cup; presented to the club
by St Albans & District BA on their Golden Jubilee (our Centenary) and
awarded to the winner of the New Bowler Gala.
The competition tests the skills of new bowlers and both men and ladies
are eligible provided they have had less than 3 years bowling experience on
outdoor surfaces. Gordon Wightman, a
club stalwart, was one of its first registered coaches. He was Club Secretary from 1975 to 1986 and
1992 to 2001, Men’s Captain in 1976, President in 1989 and made an honorary
Life Member in 1995. Gordon won the St
Albans & District Officers Singles in 1982 and was in the team winning the
County Triples in 1987 (Worthing representatives).
The list for the outdoor season now contains 22
trophies compared with a single trophy for the first 19 years. Clearly, the
ladies’ game had the effect of doubling the number of trophies during the 70s,
but even so, this was a decade when competitions and trophies really took off.
In today’s setting, a player could enter at
least 10 club competitions and a similar number at District and County level.
On top of these, there are the Club Leagues and Club Friendly games to play as
well, not to mention Galas and Special Matches.
Some might say, “You
know, that is an awful lot of bowls!”