North West Federation of Croquet Clubs - for everything Croquet in the north west
Congratulations to Chester player John Dawson, who competed at the English Veteran’s AC handicap national championship at Budleigh Salterton last week (24-29 June), where he won the trophy, winning 6 out of 7 games.
For Information: The Croquet Association Veterans’ Championship is designed for players over 65 years of age (with a special and delightfully friendly division for the over 75s). The Tournament travels around the country, for 2019 it was allocated to Budleigh.
Whilst the rest of Europe were celebrating record summer temperatures, our Federation had its own record to celebrate – the 25th year of the North West Festival of Croquet – record number of competitors, new competition with Level Play Golf introduced, Southport lawns best ever, we even hired Portaloos for the first time!
Manager Ivan Wheatley produced a strict schedule of matches to fit everything in and for the first time, games were ended as soon as the ball stopped moving when the timer ‘pinged’, much to the chagrin of the croquet heroes who like to come from behind to snatch a win with their last turn.
The Southport micro climate gave us a mixture of blue skies, dazzling sunshine, bracing sea breezes, grey skies and the odd shower – all adding to the colourful spectacle as up to 100 people filled the lawns with a kaleidoscope of club team colours. Margaret Flemington and her team produced another catering triumph enabling everyone to indulge in a fabulous lunch, afternoon tea and copious light refreshments. Players mingled and renewed friendships and rivalries – it seemed as though everyone knew everyone producing a wonderful atmosphere, so typical of our Federation.
After two days of competitive croquet Pendle set another record by winning the Advanced and the Handicap trophies for the first time, Chester retained the Short Croquet shield, Llanfairfechan won the Golf Croquet event and Southport became the first winners of the new Level Play Golf Croquet trophy. When all the points were calculated, Pendle were declared Festival Champions for 2019.
| 2019 FESTIVAL PLACINGS | ADVANCED AC | HANDICAP AC | SHORT AC | LEVEL PLAY GC | HANDICAP GC |
| 1st | Pendle & Craven | Pendle & Craven | Chester | Southport | Llanfairfechan |
| 2nd | Bury | Fylde | Southport | Crake Valley | Crake Valley |
| 3rd | Bowdon | Bowdon | Westmorland | Pendle & Craven | Culcheth |
Federation Chairman Paul Rigge closed the Festival with a presentation of all trophies, acknowledged the enormous work of Southport for their organisation and of course everyone who participated in a great weekend.
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THE INTER-CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 (AC)
Advanced Level, no handicap restrictions.
Featuring Bowdon – see Inter-Club results here
11 May – Bristol beat Bowdon 6-1
THE GOLF CROQUET INTER-CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 (GC)
No NWFCC clubs entered this year – see GC Inter-Club results here
THE MARY ROSE INTER-CLUB TROPHY 2019 (AC)
Advanced play, players must have Handicaps of 0 or greater and teams must have a gross handicap of at least 4.
Featuring Bowdon, Chester, and Pendle – see Mary Rose results here
02 July – Bowdon beat Pinchbeck 4-3
09 July – Chester beat Pendle 4-3
THE GOLF CROQUET MURPHY SHIELD 2019 (GC)
Featured Pendle – see GC Murphy Shield results here
25 April – Pendle beat Ripon Spa 6-1
19 May – Croquet Durham beat Pendle 5-2
THE LONGMAN CUP 2019 (AC)
Handicap play, players must have a Handicap between 3.5 and 20. Teams must have a gross handicap of at least 24.
Featuring Bowdon, Bury, Chester, Pendle, Southport – see Longman Cup results here
9 May – Tyneside beat Pendle 4-3
25 May – Bury beat Southport 5-2
10 Jun – Chester beat Bowdon 7-0
THE SECRETARY’S SHIELD 2019 (AC)
Handicap play for players with a maximum handicap of 20. Normally one doubles and six single matches are played in a single day by a team of four, but variation is possible – refer to the full regulations for details.
Featuring Chester – see Secretary’s Shield results here
19 May – Chester beat Tyneside 4-3
THE SHORT CROQUET INTER CLUB TROPHY 2019 (AC)
Handicap play on Short Lawn – in each team, one player with a short croquet handicap of 3+, others 5+. Maximum handicap of 10. Teams must have an aggregate short croquet handicap of at least 25.
Featuring Bury, Bowdon, Chester, Penrith, Southport and Westmorland – see Short Croquet Inter Club results here
10 May – Bowdon beat Bath (w/o)
13 May – Kington Langley beat Chester (w/o)
19 May – Nottingham beat Southport (w/o)
4 Jun – Penrith beat York 8-3
6 Jun – Bowdon beat Huddersfield (w/o)
15 Jun – Bury beat Nottingham (w/o)
19 Jun – Penrith beat Westmorland 9-2