Premier Champions 1988 – 2005 Paul Ellison, from the 2016 thread

Winter 1998/99

The Facebook Appeal 11th February 2016 · 26 comments

Confirmed by people who were there

Every one of these matches the Hall of Fame independently — which is reassuring, since the Hall of Fame was partly built from this thread.

New, and not in any written source

Doubles 2014/15 runners-up

Lisa Dart & Michelle Grundy — the Hall of Fame leaves this blank. Established in the thread by Liam Moore asking "was this against Lisa and Michelle I think", and Lisa Dart replying "It sure was".

Winter 2013/14 cup

Snipers won "the 2013/14 cup winter season". The Hall of Fame gives the Team Knockout to Pot Blacks that year and leaves the Chairman's Cup blank — so this most likely fills that gap.

Other Lists from the Thread

Also posted: Premier ratings — 2000 B. Murray, 2001 D. Regan. Singles champions — 1992 I. Oliver, 1993 M. Kerslake, 1994 P. Fitzgerald, 1995 S. Paramore.

Others Reading Their Own Trophies

Joanne Chevalier

Ladies singles winner 1997 and 1999, runner-up 2002; mixed doubles winner 2001 with Gary Rossiter and again in 02/03 and 03/04 with Gareth Smith. Team honours: red division runners-up 97 and 98, division 1 winners 00/01, yellow division runners-up 2001, red division winners 2002, premier winners 02/03.

Liam Moore

Team K.O. runners-up 2008/09 (to Rentokil); First Division runners-up 2010/11 and 2012/13; Chairman’s singles runner-up 2010/11 to Rich Maslen; singles runner-up to Bill Murray 2008/09.

Geoff Hamlyn

"Muckers won Division 1 in the early 2000’s with a team from Dunkeswell Air Centre as runners up."

1988 – 1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

Winter 2016–2017

Summer 2017

Winter 2017–2018

Summer 2018

Winter 2018–2019

Summer 2019

Winter 2019–2020

Summer 2020

Winter 2020–2021

Summer 2021

Winter 2021–2022

Summer 2022

Winter 2022–2023

Summer 2023

Winter 2023–2024

Summer 2024 divisions taken from the final tables — no competition record survives

Winter 2024–2025 first single-division season · from the final table

Summer 2025 divisions taken from the final tables

Winter 2025–2026 finals night, 9th April 2026 · Victoria Arms

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

Team K.O. Final

Contested by

Ratpack (the Dolphin) v Haywain Hustlers

Result

Ratpack won 5–3

Match report

Level at 3–3 after nearly two hours; Nick Hawkins then Paul Fitzgerald took the next two frames to win it.

Venue

3 Cups Hotel — 8.00pm, after the trophy presentation. Free buffet.

8-Baller Trophy Winners

Player Ratings

AGM & Meetings

AGM & Back Office 1st September 1994

Constitution amendments tabled

• Combine the positions of Treasurer & Fixtures Secretary referred from the 1991 AGM
• Create a new committee post of Competition Secretary

Match rule alterations tabled

• Rule 4a — allow more than two current-season county players where a player was selected mid-season, or was a regular member of the same team the previous season
• Rule 7 — no county players signed after halfway; additional members may be registered on the back of the score card on match night up to three weeks from season's end, while the team has ≤10 registered players; absorb rule 8 (no transfers after halfway)
• Rules 10 & 11 — home team fills out the score card, but responsibility for returning it moves to the winning team, with late cards costing them their two bonus points

Committee elected

Chairman

Rod Webb re-elected

Vice Chairman

Eric Bowerman new

Secretary

Belinda Woodgate re-elected

Fixtures Sec. & Treasurer

Gary Grensted re-elected

Competitions Secretary

John Blount new

Landlords' Rep.

Caroline Baker re-elected

Any other business

• Moving competitions to run during the season rather than after it
• Re-instating the no-talking rule between doubles partners once a visit has commenced

Fixtures Secretary's Report

"On the whole a successful season, both winter and summer. With only one incident involving two teams from the same home venue to mar an otherwise smooth-running season. The teams involved know who they are, and the less said the better."

Fines collected

£51 — noted as money that "should have gone into reducing the entry fee".

Withdrawals

One winter and one summer team pulled out before completing fixtures; several played short, usually without telling the secretary.

Press coverage

Wellington Weekly News — 15 winter tables, 5 summer, plus a presentation-night report.

Presentation night

"Well attended and on the whole a successful and good-humoured event." Trophies presented by Rod Webb.

Finance

Disciplinary Fines £51 total · 19 teams

Key: FTU = failed to turn up, cancelled without notification (1st £3, 2nd £5) · LC = late result card (1st £1, 2nd £2, 3rd £3) · CM = absent at captains' meeting without notice (1st £1, 2nd £2) · PO = pulled out before completing fixtures (loses deposit)

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

"This year was definitely the year of Rentokil, having either a winner or runner-up in every competition going."

Team K.O. Final

Contested by

Rentokil (the Dolphin) v Haywain Hustlers

Result

Haywain Hustlers won score not recorded

Venue

Wellington Rugby Club — 8.00pm. Free buffet.

8-Baller Trophy Winners

Player Ratings

AGM & Meetings

AGM & Back Office 31st August 1995 · Ship Inn, Mantle Street

A combined AGM and captains' meeting, 8pm prompt, open to all. Under a ruling carried at the previous AGM, only captains of last season's and the coming season's teams could vote on the constitution or any ruling affecting the league or its committee.

Match rule alterations tabled

• Rules 3 & 7 — allow signing on of up to 12 team members, with a maximum of 10 played at any one fixture agreed at captains' meeting, Oct 1994
• Rule 11 — change wording from "Cottage Inn" to "Sanford Arms"

Any other business

• No-talking rule between doubles partners once a visit has commenced carried over from 1994
• Promotion of an overly successful team from Second straight to Premier; entering new teams of known high standard into First rather than Second

Committee

Chairman

Rob Webb — 660863

Vice Chairman

Eric Bowerman — 664939

Fixtures Sec. / Treasurer

Gary Grensted — 664943 roles now combined, as tabled in 1994

League Secretary

Belinda Woodgate

Competition Secretary

John Blount new post filled, as tabled in 1994

Landlords' Rep.

Caroline Baker

Landlords' Circular 14th August 1995

Sent by Gary Grensted ahead of the 1995–96 winter season, enclosing team entry forms:

• Entries accepted up to 8pm on 31st August, immediately before the meeting — "strictly no later"
• Entry forms required landlords to declare under-18 players and whether food would be provided for the visiting team
• The league draw took place at the meeting; captains were told their first fixture there and then
• Result cards issued at the meeting — roughly 15 per team

Fixtures Secretary's Report

Entries

Down on the previous year — the summer league ran with only 11 teams.

Withdrawals

One summer team withdrew before playing a game (replaced, and the replacement completed all but one fixture); the Vintage team folded before the season's end.

Press coverage

Wellington Weekly News — 12 winter tables, 5 summer, plus a presentation report, but no photographs.

Presentation night

"Not particularly well attended, with quite a few not even bothering to turn up to collect their trophies." Uncollected trophies were recycled for later seasons.

Competition entries

Up slightly, except the ladies' competition — abandoned with two entrants.

Roll of Honour

League Champions two divisions only

No Second Division is recorded for 1996 — the league had contracted to two divisions.

Summer league

Winners

Weavers Hustlers

Runners-up

G.B.A.'s

Final Tables

Competitions

8-Baller Trophy Winners

Player Ratings

AGM & Meetings

Extraordinary General Meeting rebuilding the committee

Opened and chaired by David Bailey, Landlords' Representative, who explained the absence of an AGM and called for new committee members.

Chairman

David Bailey elected unopposed

Vice Chairman

John Blount resigned as Secretary, accepted Vice-Chair

Fixtures Sec. / Treasurer

Gary Grensted continued

League Secretary

Jo Chevalier "persuaded to assume the post"

Competition Secretary

Becky Stimpson unopposed

Landlords' Rep.

Dillon Wood (Globe Inn, Milverton)

Business

• Accounts for 1995–96 presented and accepted as true and correct
• Summer league trophies presented to the Weavers Hustlers and G.B.A.'s
• Discussion on late result cards — no ruling passed
• The Fixtures Secretary reminded players they are "effectively guests of the Landlord... and also ambassadors of the league as a whole"
• Agreed to adopt the World Pool Rules on a trial basis for the forthcoming Summer league

Captains' Meeting Circular 11th December 1996

Called for Wednesday 15th January 1997, Sanford Arms, 8.30pm sharp — "likely to last about ¾ of an hour". Non-attendance without apologies: £1.00 team fine.

Agenda

1. Committee — where are they, why no A.G.M. has been called
2. Treasurer's Report 1995–1996
3. Presentation of Summer League Trophies
4. What to do about repeated late return of result cards
5. General conduct during matches / rule changes
6. Knockout competitions
7. Any other business

Knockout entry terms

Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles (only one of the pair need be a registered league player) and Ladies Singles. £1 per person, straight knockout, best of 3 games on neutral tables. All money collected returned as prize money and trophies.

Finance

Accounts 1995–1996 as at 20/8/96

A funeral wreath for Richard Forward — winner of the first Charlie Walter's Trophy in 1994 and a Rentokil competitor throughout 1995.

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Summer League — Final Tables 19th August 1997

"The battle for supremacy of the Yellow division went right to the last games of the last match... Both teams ended the season on the same number of points, but the winning honours go to the Beauties due to the fact they have won more games."

Competitions

Team K.O. Final

Contested by

The Cottage v Weavers Hustlers

Result

Weavers Hustlers won — "a comfortable win for the Hustlers"

Venue

Sanford Arms, Thursday 1st May, 8.15pm. Free buffet. Trophies presented by Chairman David Bailey.

Charlie Walter Trophy — First Round Draw 46 entrants

The full draw survives, giving a rare complete snapshot of who was playing and for whom.

Knockout round dates

Ladies Singles R1

20th March 1997

Mixed Doubles R1

27th March 1997

Singles Quarter-finals

3rd April 1997

Doubles R2

10th April 1997

Player Ratings

The Season

Teams & Venues on the Circulation List from the 1997 address labels

A mailing sheet naming roughly 30 team captains and the pubs and clubs then in the league — a useful cross-check on which venues were active.

Venues: White Hart Inn (Milverton) · White Hart Hotel (Wiveliscombe) · The Cottage Inn · The Blue Ball Inn (Sanford Moor) · The Eight Bells · The Weavers Arms (Rockwell Green) · The Barley Mow (Rockwell Green) · The Vintage Inn · The Sanford Arms · The Dolphin Inn · Victoria Arms · The King's Arms · The Ayshford Arms (Burlescombe) · The Three Cups Hotel · The Globe Inn (Milverton) · The Blackbird Inn (West Buckland) · The Catherine Wheel (Hemyock) · The Sportsman Inn · The Martlett Inn (Langford Budville)

Teams named: Wobbler's · Pooh's Potters · Cottagers · Wivvy Worzels · Jesters · Sinners 'A' & 'B' · Odd's & Sod's · S.B.S. · Ole Muckers · Weavers Rockers · Wanderers · Sharp Shooters · Kickers · Red & Blacks · S.S. Squad · Area 51 · Rentokil

AGM & Meetings

AGM 28th August 1997 · Sanford Arms

Agenda

• Change to constitution paragraph 12 — amend league boundaries to include the Blue Ball and Catherine Wheel
• Adoption of World Rules for the forthcoming winter season
• Proposal for a single Ladder league to run concurrently with the winter season
• Re-organisation of the league hierarchy — top two from Div. 2 and top three from Div. 1 promoted to Premier; lowest four or five in Premier and First relegated
• Suggestions on how to spend the league's surplus cash

Committee

Chairman

David Bailey — 01984 623344

Vice Chairman

John Blount — 664943

Fixtures Sec. / Treasurer

Gary Grensted — 664943

League Secretary

Jo Chevalier

Competition Secretary

Emma Carrow

Landlords' Rep.

Dillon Wood (Globe Inn, Milverton) — later T.B.A.

Fixtures Secretary's Report

The season

"Particularly successful and close fought... a few points separated the top 5 teams" in Division 1. All Premier and First fixtures played; Second missing a couple.

Summer league

Doubled from 9 to 18 teams — attributed to reducing the required number of lady players per team from 2 to 1. The Catherine Wheel dropped out four weeks in; the Blackbird stepped in.

World Rules

Introduced in the summer league on trial. "This brought some contention and much discussion into the subject of pool."

Press coverage

W.W. News — 12 winter tables, 11 summer.

On late cards

"Usually the reason for not sending the results to the paper was due to the score cards not being returned on time. If the teams can't be bothered, why should I."

Thanks

To the committee, "and in particular Emma Carrow & Andy Smith for their assistance in running the league & competitions."

Finance

Accounts 1996–1997 as at 27/8/97

Also This Year

Captains' EGM 6th October 1997 · Victoria Arms

Called at short notice, 8.00pm sharp, "likely to last about ½ an hour". Non-attendance without apologies: £1.00 team fine.

Agenda

1. Committee — vote of confidence
2. Adoption of one team, one vote on all matters affecting the league, at all future captains' meetings and AGMs
3. Discussion of World Rules
4. Knockout competitions
5. Any other business

The voting slip

A formal ballot was printed and circulated with the notice:

Vote 1

Retain new World Rules —or— return to old E.P.A. rules

Vote 2

World Rules for Premier & First, old EPA for 2nd Division —or— one set of rules for all divisions

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Summer League — Final Tables 29th August 1998

White Division

Winners

Rockers

Runners-up

Kickers

The Red Division play-off

Vic Potters and Sharp Shooters finished level on 77 points from 12 wins each. A play-off at the Cottage Inn saw the Sharp Shooters win 5–1 to take top honours. A further play-off for the Summer League Shield was arranged between the Faithful Few and the Sharp Shooters.

Weekly League Tables 7 press releases

Seven weekly table releases for the Winter 1998–99 season survive (weeks 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20), written for the Wellington Weekly News. The final surviving table, dated 9th March 1999, shows a twelve-team Premier and eleven-team First Division:

Competitions

Team K.O. Final

Contested by

Rentokil v Weavers Hustlers

Result

Weavers Hustlers won score not recorded

Player Ratings

AGM & Meetings

The Breakaway That Wasn't from the Fixtures Secretary's report

"Last year started with a lot of controversy over the adoption of the 'New Rules' for the forthcoming season. Despite them being adopted by the league at the AGM, a number of players felt so strongly against playing the new rules, a meeting was arranged with the Taunton LVA with the view of starting an alternative new league in direct competition to our own league. The result of this meeting was that the majority of people present, while many of them disliking the new rules, did not want to divide and weaken the existing pool league."

Outcome

Two teams withdrew — but the season saw the highest number of teams ever taking part.

Mid-season losses

S.B.S. withdrew from the Premier at the halfway point, unable to raise enough players. Pooh's Potters withdrew from the Second two-thirds through.

Press coverage

W.W. News — 14 tables published during the season.

Minutes of the 1997 AGM read at the 1998 AGM

Chaired by David Bailey. Accounts for 1996–97 presented by Gary Grensted and accepted, with one query from David Smith on the cost of finals night — explained as the buffet.

The World Rules vote

"A long discussion then took place regarding the continued adoption of the 'World Rules' for league games. After a heated discussion which resulted in at least two members leaving the meeting, a show of hands vote was taken, the results being 19 for, 19 against. The Chairman took the casting vote and opted to retain the 'World Rules' as played in the Summer League."

Other business

• Constitution clause 12 amended to bring the Catherine Wheel (Hemyock) and Blue Ball (Sanford Moor) inside league boundaries
• Chairman appealed to all captains to return result cards on time
• Promotion motion passed: top two from Second and top three from First promoted, where they had outclassed their division
• Discussion on spending the surplus cash — no conclusion reached

Committee changes

• Dillon Wood resigned as Landlords' Representative — replaced by the Landlord of the Martlett Inn, unopposed
• Emma Carrow voted in unopposed as Competition Secretary
• All other members re-elected unopposed

AGM 27th August 1998 · Sanford Arms, 8pm prompt

Agenda

• Proposal to amend the league's version of World Rules: maximum of 3 deliberate fouls per game
• Collection of entry forms and fees for the Winter League
• Suggestions on the league's surplus cash — donation to charity, reduced future entry fees, or a part refund of winter entry fees

Outcome reported in the summer league press release

"A brief meeting resulted in no changes to the committee, no major changes to league rules or constitution. Although many teams brought their entry forms along at the meeting, the number of entries is well down on last year's 32 teams. As a result the closing date for entries has been extended until Friday of this week."

Notice terms

Captains of the forthcoming winter season and of that year's summer leagues were required to attend; failure to attend or send a representative without notice incurred a £1.00 team fine under the constitution. Only captains and team representatives could vote. Points for discussion had to be submitted to a committee member at least two days beforehand "so we can control the meeting in an orderly fashion, and keep it as brief as possible."

Committee

Chairman

David Bailey — 01984 623344

Vice Chairman

John Blount — 664943

Fixtures Secretary

Gary Grensted — 664943

League Secretary

Jo Chevalier

Competition Secretary

Emma Carrow

Landlords' Rep.

Richard (The Martlett Inn)

League Affairs

Banned Players Letter 11th May 1998

A circular from Gary Grensted to a team captain regarding players subject to L.V.A. exclusion orders under the Local Banning Scheme:

"I must ask you not to play any player that may be banned from a particular venue to play at that venue. The Wellington & District Pool League has a good reputation within the town and ask all players to ensure that it stays that way."

Finance

Accounts 1997–1998 as at 26/8/98

A note on the accounts projects summer league trophies at £273.00 — 7 trophies × 6 teams at £6.50 each.

Roll of Honour

League Champions

Finals Night 2000 Thursday 20th April 2000 · Wellington R.F.C., Corams Lane

Start 7.30pm, buffet, presentation from 10.45pm. "All players, bar 7.30pm starts, should arrive ½hr early."

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Winter 1999–2000 — Premier Division complete final table

White Hart and Rentokil both finished on 20 wins from 22. White Hart took it by three points on doubles — 51 to 43 — despite Rentokil winning more singles frames.

Winter 1999–2000 — First Division

Joss Giants and The Sportsman both won 17 — two more than second-placed Rows' Rebels — and finished below them. Frames, not wins.

Competitions

The Hall of Fame rows for Team Knockout, Chairman's Knockout, Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Ladies are all blank for 1999. Either the competitions weren't held, or the results were never entered.

Player Ratings new category

Player Ratings — Winter 1999/2000 121 players with 15+ frames

Bill Murray topped the ratings and won the Men's Singles at Finals Night 2000 — the two records agree. 8-ball clearances: Dave Smith, Julian Jones and Bill Murray (2 each), then Paul Thomas, Allan Samuel, Ken Rixon, John Lower, Mike Glanfield, Guy Blackhouse and Eric Tottle.

The Season

Summer 1999

The White Hart won all ten — and went on to take the Premier title that winter. The Hall of Fame has no Summer 1999 entry at all; this season survives only inside the database.

AGM & Meetings

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Summer 2000 complete final tables

Competitions

Player Ratings

Player Ratings — Winter 2000/2001 157 players with 15+ frames

Dave Regan tops the ratings — matching the Hall of Fame, which names him Premier Division ratings winner for 2000. 8-ball clearances: Peter Callery (4), Dave Smith and Mike Smith (3 each), Ian Benton and Sean Mitchell (2 each). Simon Heritage, second here, is still winning ratings titles in 2021.

How the League Scored and Rated

Match format

6 singles and 3 doubles Winter 1999/2000

Points

1 per singles frame · 1 per doubles frame · 2 for a match win · 0 for a draw or loss

Rating factors

Win 1.25 · Loss 0.75 · 8-ball 1.35

Rating weighting

Latest frame weight 30, weight drop 1, over 20 games

The Season

Winter 2000/2001 28 teams across three divisions

Premier Division

The Bra Brigade lost all fourteen. Useless Blues played two matches and vanished.

AGM & Meetings

Roll of Honour

Rentokil take a second straight Premier title. No minutes, accounts or fixtures survive for this year.

Final Tables

Competitions

Player Ratings

AGM & Meetings

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

Cup Draw 32 teams plus a preliminary round

A full five-round bracket, each first-round tie assigned a neutral venue — the Vintage Inn, The Bear, White Hart, Victoria Arms, Blue Ball, Sportsman, Three Cups, Prince of Wales, Courtyard, Ship Inn, Globe, Barley Mow, Weavers Arms, D'well Air Centre, RGWM Club and Kings Arms all hosting.

Charlie Walters Competition first & second rounds, 3rd April 2003

Run as eight groups at eight venues, producing eight qualifiers, reduced to four for finals night by paired play-offs:

• Barley Mow ↔ Weavers Arms — winners meet at the Barley Mow
• The Cottage ↔ The Ship — winners meet at The Cottage
• White Hart (Wivey) ↔ Courtyard Inn
• Three Cups ↔ Victoria Arms

Entrants: John Hunter · Kevin Cox · Andy Steer · Mike Robinson · Ernie Pincombe · Tim Parsons · Brett Coombe · Ivor Thomas · Paul Sydenham · Roger Summers · Joey Booker · Leon Sprague · Julian Always · Stuart MacKenzie · Will Studley · Mike Smith · Barry Cotton · Simon Trott · Paul Cotton · Justin Jenkins · Andy Guest · Ken Flint · Rochelle Davey · Jody Webb · Donna Hawkins · Liam Moore · Mark Salter · Pete Brown · A. Whitworth · Chris Smith · Ben Tyson · Andy Harvey · Jamie Lamb · Stuart Mudge · Gaynor Chivers · Lisa Moore · Alan Sprague · Geoff Hamlin · John Harvey · Pete Greedy · Kevin MacKenzie · Rowena White · Hayley Windsor · Derek Vile

John Hunter — 1995 Doubles winner and Singles runner-up — is still competing eight years on.

Player Ratings

The Season

The League in 2002–03 33 teams

Division Two

Venues in Use

Cottage Inn · The Globe (Milverton) · Ship Inn · Dolphin Inn · White Hart (Wiveliscombe) · Blue Ball (Sampford Moor) · Courtyard Inn (Wiveliscombe) · Weavers Arms · RGWM Club · Sanford Arms · Sportsman Inn · Dunkeswell Air Club · Three Cups · Barley Mow · Vintage Inn · Kings Arms · Victoria Arms · Prince of Wales (Holcombe Rogus) · The Bear (Wiveliscombe)

The contacts sheet also records, per team, whether under-18s were permitted and whether the venue provided food for visitors — only the Globe, Blue Ball and Courtyard answered yes to food.

Season Schedule 19th September 2002 – 1st May 2003

22 league weeks interleaved with competition rounds:

Singles Round 1

7th November 2002

Cup Round 1

14th November 2002

Mixed Doubles

2nd January 2003

Cup Round 2

16th January 2003

Cup Quarter-finals

6th February 2003

Cup Semi-finals

20th March 2003

Singles Round 2

3rd April 2003

Cups & Singles finals

1st May 2003

AGM & Meetings

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

Player Ratings

AGM & Meetings

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

Player Ratings

The Season

Format

Two seasons side by side on one card — Winter and Summer — with week numbers, dates, Home/Away and a blank opponent column.

Marked weeks

Competition weeks are marked "C" with dashes instead of a fixture.

Example team

The surviving cards are made out for Mutts Nutts.

AGM & Meetings

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

Singles Competition first round, 24th November 2005

Run across eight venues, best of 3, with two players progressing from each venue. One winner per venue was responsible for returning the sheet by Sunday 27th November.

Both Gary Grensted and John Blount — committee members since 1994 — are playing. So is John Hunter, a decade on from his 1995 double.

Player Ratings

AGM & Meetings

AGM & Season Setup AGM 18th August 2005 · captains' letter 20th August

League size

Grown to 10 teams in each division — 9 new or re-formed teams joined, 3 from the previous year did not re-enter

Placing new teams

By player ratings or former standing in the league

Promotion knock-on

Bottom two relegated, top teams promoted to bring each division up to 10 — which meant some teams finishing 3rd or 4th also went up

Distribution

Fixtures, match rules and scorecards sent to captains and home venues, "to ensure that your landlord is aware of the fixtures too"

Points raised at the AGM

• Mobile phones — a player should not make or take calls while playing a frame; failure should end their visit. The committee judged it hard to police and asked for a friendly reminder rather than a penalty for the first half of the season.
• Score cards in Team Knockout matches — how to fill them out was clarified, with detail to follow.
• Unsportsmanlike behaviour — including breaking your cue.

Rules & Constitution

The 2005 Constitution 28th April 2005

The earliest complete constitution in the archive. Key clauses:

Eligible voters

The committee, any player from the summer season, or the captain/representative of any team entered for the coming season wider than the 1995 captains-only rule

AGM deadline

No later than 30th August each year

Rule changes

Must reach the league secretary two weeks before the AGM to appear on the agenda

Order of elections

Chairperson, Secretary/Competitions Secretary, Fixtures Secretary, Treasurer, Vice Chairperson, Landlords' Representative

EGM trigger

Committee, or a written request signed by seven or more current team captains; 21 days' notice required

Captains' meetings

Minimum twice a year

Moving venue

A team must take 4 or more registered players with it to retain its league status

Entry deadline

The date of the AGM — "no entries accepted after this date regardless of the captain's or team's former status"

Under-18s

Permission required from the opposition's landlord at least 24 hours before a match. Responsibility rests with the team captain, not the league or the landlord.

Non-attendance fines

League Boundaries constitution, final clause

"From Wellington by-pass to the Catherine Wheel, Hemyock, back to the Blue Ball, Sampford Moor, Prince of Wales Inn, A38 to Ayshford Arms, back to the A38 into Holywell Lake, over Langford Common, to Wiveliscombe, to The Rock Inn at Waterrow, back to Wiveliscombe then to Silk Mills via Halse and Norton Fitzwarren, back along A38 to starting point."

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

Player Ratings

The Season

Summer 2006

Two fixture lists — a standard version and a Tuesday variant — plus the opening captains' letter

Winter 2006

Fixtures (PDF), captains' letter, landlords' letter and a finals-night letter

Fixture generator files

FIX2006.TXT and FIX2006 v2.txt — input data for the league's fixtures program, left in the software folder

AGM & Meetings

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

Team Knockout 2007/08 first round, 11th October 2007

Second round

8th November 2007, venue T.B.A.

Final

6th March 2008, venue T.B.A.

Rentokil — champions or runners-up every year from 1997 to 1999 — are still in the draw a decade later.

Player Ratings

AGM & Meetings

AGM Notice 14th August 2007

Circulated by Gary Grensted. A roll call at the start would record who attended and who did not.

"The AGM is your opportunity to have your say on how the league is run, who runs it, constitution changes and rule changes. We don't expect this meeting to last more than 30 minutes so please spare the time to attend."

The notice flagged the coming debate in advance: the committee wanted to restrict entries to both leagues, "to prevent the situation that has happened in this year's summer league and to a lesser extent last winter's league where the acceptance of extra teams has meant that there are too many byes, too many divisions and a short season."

AGM Minutes 28th August 2007

Chair

Pete Callery captain of The Splitters in 2002

Opening

Roll call to establish how many teams had attended

Chairman's statement

Problems in the summer league — too many byes and missing match results

2006 minutes

None existed; the committee agreed to fix this in future

Accounts

Presented by the treasurer, adopted as true and correct

Committee

Re-elected unopposed. Landlords' Representative left unfilled — no landlord was present.

The Web Co-ordinator's report — a new post

Jez Harding, Web Co-ordinator, asked captains to:

• Fill out score cards with clearly printed full names
• Understand that signing the card means agreeing the final score
• Notify him or Gary of cancelled matches
• Supply match detail — emailed or written on the back of the card — "so Rowe had something other than scores to write about in the newspaper report"

He also explained why the player ratings had not been published for the first few weeks of the season.

Fixtures Secretary's report

Gary Grensted thanked Jez "for his sterling work which had made his job much easier", and argued that restricting the number of teams would reduce byes.

Motions carried

• 3-point deduction for cancelled matches — voted on and passed
• Restriction on the number of entries to both Winter and Summer Leagues — carried unanimously

Rules & Constitution

Rules & Constitution 2007

Three documents survive: a combined 2007 LEAGUE RULES AND CONSTITUTION.doc and two versions of the match rules. The AGM minutes confirm rule changes "proposed were voted on and adopted", so the 2007 text supersedes the 2005 constitution.

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

Team Knockout — Winter 2008/09 first round, 16th October

Second round

15th January 2009

Third round

19th February 2009

Team Knockout — Summer 2008 first round, 22nd May

Second round 26th June, final stage 21st July. Summer-only teams appear here that never surface in the winter directory — Summer Blues, Trout Heads, The Old Sportsmen, Drillers and Natural Born Losers.

Player Ratings

Finals & Presentation Night

Presentation & Finals Night Thursday 11th September 2008 · Barley Mow

Schedule

Singles semi-finals from 7.00pm; presentations and Team K.O. final from 8.00pm

Presentations

Winners and runners-up of both the Red and Yellow summer divisions, plus "a number of 8 ball trophies"

Finals played on the night

Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Ladies

Catering

Free buffet, laid on by the league

The Season

Winter 2008/09 — The League 24 teams in two divisions

Venues: Cottage Inn · Barley Mow · Bear Inn (Wiveliscombe) · Catherine Wheel (Hemyock) · Victoria Arms · Kings Arms · The Vintage Inn · R.G.W.M. Club · Dolphin Inn · Ship Inn · Courtyard Inn (Wiveliscombe) · Sportsman

Season Structure

Match night

Thursday

Week 1

18th September 2008

Fixture variants

Two fixture documents survive — a standard set and a 12-team version, suggesting the division sizes were still being settled when they were drafted

AGM & Meetings

AGM Friday 5th September 2008 · Dolphin Inn (upstairs)

Opened

8.15pm by Chairman Pete Callery

Closed

8.55pm 40 minutes

Format

Team roll call, apologies read out, previous minutes agreed as a true and accurate account

Accounts — not presented

No statement of accounts was given: the Treasurer did not attend. A short discussion followed on the "lower than usual bank balance" and cost cutting, particularly the expense of the winter finals night. No decisions were made.

Motions and votes

Why the time limit was needed

"A brief discussion was then given to how long a player should be allowed to play a shot. And although no time limit is imposed in the league rules and also due to the fact that referees are generally not present to enforce the rules, it was agreed that a reasonable time (Max 3 Minutes) should be added to the rules."

Also on the agenda

• Tie-break order clarified for teams level at season's end: Points → Match Wins → Away Wins
• Report from the Web Co-ordinator, Jez Harding — no matters arising
• Committee re-elected en bloc, unanimously, there being no other proposals

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Competitions

Team Knockout — Summer 2009 first round, 21st May

Quarter-finals

18th June 2009

Semi-finals

16th July 2009

Player Ratings

The Season

Winter 2009/10 — The League 20 teams, evenly split

* team provides food. "The Vintage & King's only permit ONE under 18 player."

New this season: Weigh Anchors, The Bear Hunters, Sportsmen and The New Inn (Halse) — the last bringing a new village venue into the league.

The League Goes Online first appearance on a fixture sheet

Website

http://www.wdpl.co.uk

Email

wdpl@wdpl.co.uk

Result cards to

Jez Harding, 10 Parklands Road, Wellington — by noon Sunday following the fixture

Responsibility

The winning team returns the card. Late cards lose 3 points.

Cancellations

Text Trevor Hull on 07787419212

Competitions

Rowe White on 07530015532

Season Calendar 17th September 2009 – 1st April 2010

League weeks

Thursdays, 17th Sept 2009 to 4th March 2010, across a 10-team round-robin

8th Oct 2009

Team K.O. 1st round · Mixed Doubles 1st round

5th Nov 2009

Team K.O. 2nd round · Team K.O. quarter-finals

Also scheduled

Singles K.O. 1st round · Doubles K.O. 1st round · Team K.O. semi-finals · Chairman's & Singles

1st April 2010

Finals & Presentation

The sheet notes "further dates to be advised — all comp dates subject to change."

Summer 2009 16 teams

AGM & Meetings

AGM agenda only

The 2009 agenda is the shortest in the archive — the standard nine items with no specific motions listed at all, in contrast to 2008's four numbered proposals. The committee posts up for election were Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Fixtures Secretary, Web Co-ordinator and Landlords' Representative.

League Affairs

The Penalty Points Proposal not adopted

A one-page proposal, printed three to a sheet for handing round at a meeting:

"The Pool league to adopt a driving license style, penalty point system. Penalty points added to teams licence (License to Play in Wellington League) for such things as not turning up for fixtures, late return of score cards, non-attendance of captains meeting, etc."

Starting penalty

Any team with offences from the previous winter season starts on 3 points

Duration

Points stay on the licence for 3 seasons

Ban threshold

12 points and the team is banned for 12 months

Rules & Constitution

Rules WEPF in print

Seven files — six variants of a single-sheet World Eightball Pool Federation rules poster, in Word and PDF, clearly prepared for printing and display in venues. The poster covers the spirit of the game, the four classes of foul (Standard, Non-Standard, Serious, Loss of Frame) and foul snookers, and carries space for sponsor details and the WEPF member logo.

Roll of Honour

Winter 2009/10 Finals Night April 2010

The Mixed Doubles final was played at a separate venue simultaneously; the Radfords took the first game before White and Booker won the next three.

"The match looked as though it would be a quick affair, after The Dolphin went 5–1 up, but Rentokil made a fantastic comeback taking the match to a last game decider. Darren Copp and Guy Backhouse played the closely watched final game which saw Darren sink the black to take the winning trophy for Dolphin Dilusionals."

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Summer 2010 — Final Tables

Both match the press reports: the Snipers led Division One all season and Pot Blacks — newly reformed — were unbeaten at the top of Division Two at week 9. The Man At The Bar lost all sixteen.

Winter 2010/11 — Final Tables

Note on the figures: the database's Points column excludes point deductions, which are stored separately. Five teams carried 3-point penalties this season — Pocket Rockets, Dolphin Wanderers, Motley Crew, Winter Blue's and Operation Annihalation — none of them affecting the top two.

Competitions

Chairman's Knockout Thursday 18th February 2010 · six venues

How the draw was run

• Draw at 8.00pm sharp, by the person named at the top of the list
• Only players present at that time go into the draw
• Names alternate between upper and lower halves of the sheet so nobody gets a bye to the final game
• All games best of 3; one player goes through
• Form returned by the winning player to Jez Harding by 12 noon Sunday

Competitions Secretary: Rowena White. Website: wdpl.co.uk · Email: info@wdpl.co.uk changed from wdpl@wdpl.co.uk

Steve Condick — 1995 Charlie Walter runner-up, 1997 winner — and John Blount, Competitions Secretary from 1994, are both still in the draw.

Team Knockout — Summer 2010 bracket with scores

The eight quarter-finalists match the pairings named in Row's Reports for 10th June exactly.

Player Ratings

The Season

Summer 2010 — The Season Red & Yellow divisions · reports for weeks 1–9

Red Division

The Snipers led unbeaten until week 9, when Mutts Nuts beat them 8–7

Yellow Division

Pot Blacks — newly reformed — were still unbeaten and top at week 9

Week 8

"No Report"

Moments from the reports

• Gaz Smith (Snipers) — two eight-ball clearances and a hat-trick in one match, beating Man at the Bar 12–3
• Dez Derrick (Snipers) marked his 30th birthday with all three games in a 15–0 whitewash of Spoil Sports
• Simon Gray (Croppers) potted "a fantastic black off of four cushions after snookering himself" to complete his hat-trick
• Darren Windsor (Two Tees) potted "a stunning black" in the deciding frame after Pot Blacks came back from 7–4 down to 7-all
• Spoil Sports turned up with only three players, forfeited the rest and lost 13–2
• Chris Patten (Legends) took his first ever hat-trick in the league
• Eight-ball clearances also from Ben Chinn, Jack Harris, Aaron Manning, Ryan Redwood, Mike Glanfield, Andy Bowrah and James Milton his second of the season

Quote of the week, from Joey Booker of Row's Rebels: "I think we lost, I'm not sure." — they had.

Summer competitions

Team K.O. quarter-finals

10th June — Snipers v Pocket Rockets (Weavers) · Bear Hunters v Croppers (Victoria) · Two Tee's v Mutts Nuts (Dolphin) · Motley Crew v Summer Blues (Cottage)

Singles

Round 1 on 15th June, round 2 on 13th July

Winter 2010/11 17 teams

The Dolphin Inn alone fields four teams. * denotes food provided.

AGM & Meetings

AGM 24th August 2010 · the fullest minutes in the archive

Opened

8.10pm by Vice Chairperson Rowena White

Apologies

From the sitting Chairman, Lisa Moore — she did not attend

Previous minutes

"not available and so could not be read and agreed as a true and accurate account"

Accounts

Treasurer Stan Armstrong reported £453.42

Closed

9.25pm

A crisis of entries

A discussion on the lack of teams entered for the coming winter. Mark Kerslake observed from the floor that "not many people seem to know about the AGM or entry forms." Gary Grensted explained that in previous years letters went to last winter's captains, current summer teams and all local venues — but this year forms were sent to the venues only.

Fixtures Secretary Trevor Hull agreed to telephone the missing teams. The floor voted to extend the entry deadline to 31st August and push the season start back a week to 16th September 2010.

Rule decisions

A contested election

The only contested committee vote anywhere in the archive:

Gary Deville now holds both Fixtures Secretary and Web Co-ordinator — the same double role Jez Harding had grown into, and a reminder of how few people were doing the work.

League Affairs

Jez Harding Stands Down after running the website since 2007

"A special mention goes to Jez Harding. After running the web site and in fact the heart of the pool league for many years, he has decided to stand down. This role which can be thankless and challenging was made to look easy by Jez and kept the pool league running smoothly."

Gary Deville took over, with new result cards issued carrying his address. The summer league began on Thursday 8th April 2010.

The Sponsorship Drive

A letter from Gary Deville seeking sponsors, as the league "rearranged our divisions and competitions":

The ask

A sponsor to pay for two cups — winner and runner-up — for one competition or division

Cost

£60 to £150 each, depending on size

In return

The competition renamed after the sponsor on an ongoing basis, and that name carried in the weekly newspaper match reports

The cups

Engraved annually and held in the public house the winners play from

Also This Year

Weekly Score Cards

The Pool Week files are photographs of completed handwritten score cards — not league tables. Each card carries both teams, the division, the date, fifteen frames with the players' full names, a 1 or 0 per frame, and both captains' signatures. Roughly six cards per week survive.

A sample card from week 1: Man at the Bar v The New Inn 'B', Division 1, signed off by captains Chris Wells and A. Westcott.

Also This Year

• Pool card 2010 — eleven files, the pocket fixture card in Excel and PDF, front and back
• Venue contacts and a WDPL sign-in sheet
• Letters to captains, landlords and the Conservative Club for the winter season
• Singles 1st and 2nd round sheets, and the winter team knockout — including a losers' knockout bracket
• A two-line planning note —: put a calendar on the back of the fixtures list, and include meeting dates on it

Roll of Honour

Summer 2011 — Final Standings Fixtures Secretary's report

Both divisions went to the wire:

"We saw Barley Army & the Snipers at the end of the season finish on level points but Barley Army took 1st place on matches won. In the Red division it was between Milverton C.C & Pot Blacks and was down to the last game with Milverton needing a 9–6 win to take first place but Pot Blacks won the match 10–5 to seal their victory."

Roll of Honour Winter 2010/11 and Summer 2011

Final Tables

Winter 2011/12 — Final Tables no winners were recorded anywhere until now

Competitions

Winter 2011/12 Competitions

Mixed Doubles final

22nd March 2012 @ The Dolphin — Andy Dart & Kate Yarde v Steve Smith & Donna Smith

Singles semi-final

22nd March 2012, Kings Arms — Andy Dart · Jack Wall · Leon Sprague · Neil Gamlin

Doubles semi-final

6th March 2012, R.G.W.M.C.I. — Aiden Hodge/Dave Darch · Andy Dart/Andy Bowrah · Chris Collins/Ed Penfold · Jack Wall/Dave Elliot · Leon Sprague/Bert Alway

Chairman's Knockout

Quarter-finals 10th November · semi-finals 8th March · final 29th March 2012. Snipers, Jesters, Two Tees and Winter Blues feature in the later rounds.

Standing instructions on every draw sheet

"Draw to take place 8pm sharp · games best of 3 · organisers in bold · any no-shows must be marked down · results to be returned."

Player Ratings

Finals & Presentation Night

Presentation Night Victoria Arms

The evening opened with the Team K.O. final: Blue Bears took an early lead before Pot Blacks pulled it back to win 8–6. Chairman Paul Ellison then presented trophies for division winners and runners-up, ratings winners and runners-up, the Team Knockout, and the 8-ball trophies.

Completeness

Every Red Division match was played; the Yellow Division finished one score card short

Press

Row's Report ran in the W.W. News 11 times — fewer than usual, "due to the birth of my baby boy"

The Season

Winter 2011/12 19 teams — an odd number, so a bye each week

New names this season: Barking Mad, O.F.I.T., New Inn Travellers and The Jesters — the last a revival of the 1998 Second Division champions.

Sample week — Winter Week 17

Summer 2011 16 teams

Barley Pool Stars · Blue Bears · Rows Rebels · Milverton C.C. · Pocket Rockets · Two Tees · Pot Blacks · Motley Crew · Man at the Bar · Barley Army · The Legends · The Jesters · Operation Annihalation · Good, Bad & Champions · The Mutts Nutts · Snipers

The team listed all winter as "Good, Bad & Curly" appears on the summer sheets as "Good, Bad & Champions".

AGM & Meetings

AGM 8th September 2011

Balance

£693.88 — up £240.46 on the £453.42 reported at the 2010 AGM

Treasurer

Stan Armstrong absent; figures relayed by the Chairman

New agenda items

Rule clarification, and finals-night arrangements for both the 2011/12 winter and 2012 summer seasons

What the committee planned to say

• Paul to update on team numbers "hopefully showing an increase" and open the floor for ideas on growing them further
• Adam to review the league boundaries and contact every pub in the area to help them form teams for future seasons
• Trev to read the minutes
• Paul to walk through the rules update, handed out on arrival, then put a rule change proposed by Andy Dart to the floor
• Winter finals night: at the football club again — discuss which competitions to play, and applying for a later drinks licence

A proposal on choosing the finals venue

"As the finals night is played in the local pubs that support the WDPL there will always be issues over where it is played, ie if it is played in a venue whose team reaches the final. I propose that the venue should be put to the vote at the captains meeting before the start of the summer league so the captains decide on the venue. Each team gets one vote and they cannot vote for their own venue."

League Affairs

The Website Is Destroyed and Rebuilt Web Co-ordinator's report

"At the start of the year the web servers got infected with a virus which meant the website had to be deleted and redone from scratch. Always the optimist, I saw this as an opportunity to give the site a much needed revamp and so that is what I did. The process took a long time and a few late nights (early mornings)."

Also reported: the forum was little used since being taken offline before Gary Deville took over, though he left it running "because there's no harm in having it there."

An Appeal for the Missing History 2011

"I am working on putting a hall of fame for past divisions but there are a few years where no records were kept, if anyone has any information on this it would be a great help, or if you know of anyone that might have information — this maybe old cups or shields in your home pub, or there was a book kept of all results at one point, I believe this was a leather binder of some form. If anyone knows where this might be let me know and I can chase it up."

Rules & Constitution

Rules & Constitution

Six files, all dated 2011 — CONSTITUTION UPDATED 2011, LEAGUE RULES AND CONSTITUTION UPDATED 2011, two versions of MATCH RULES UPDATED 2011, match rules 2011 and wdpl rules sept 2011. The AGM agenda confirms an updated rule sheet was handed to every attendee on arrival.

Also This Year

Database Exports

Roll of Honour

Winter 2012/13 — Complete Results

Michelle Grundy took the Ladies title and was runner-up in both the Chairman's Singles and the Mixed Doubles. Andy Bowrah won the Singles and the Doubles.

Summer 2012 — Three Divisions

"All of the division winners played the whole season unbeaten."

Red & Green

Won "by a large margin" — 2nd and 3rd decided on the last match of the season

Yellow

Much closer: Milverton led for most of the season before giving way to Operation Annihilation

Completeness

Every match in every division was played — the first time the report can say that

Press

Row's Report ran 12 times in the W.W. News

Presentation

R.G.W.M.C. — Team K.O. final saw S.S. Squad lead early before Pot Blacks pulled it back. Trophies presented by Chairman Paul Ellison.

24 teams across three divisions: Summer Blue's · Row's Rebel's · Pocket Rocket's · Jester's · Milverton Splitter's · Blue Bear's · Two Tee's · Operation Annihilation · Cunning Stunt's · The Hangmen · Sticky Vicky · Pot Blacks · B.A.T.V. · S.S. Squad · Good, Bad & Curly · Sniper's · Mutt's Nutt's · Legends · Touching Cloth · Motley Crew · Weaver's Warriors

Roll of Honour

Final Tables

Premier Division — Final Table

First Division — Final Table

Competitions

Player Ratings 111 players rated

Highest peak rating

Pete Callery — 1170 best, Premier finished 9th on current rating

Most 8-balls

Alfie Callery, Andy Dart and Nick Fenn — 4 each

Busiest players

Neil Gamlin, Tom Davies, Pete Brown — 60 frames each

The ratings carry both a best and a current figure, so form across the season is visible. Lisa Moore — chair in 2008–10 — sits 8th in the First Division. Gary Grensted, on the committee since 1994, is 47th in the Premier.

The Season

Season Calendar winter 2012/13 competitions

31st Jan

Doubles K.O.

5th Feb

Ladies K.O.

12th Feb

Mixed Doubles 1st round

14th Feb

Singles 2nd & Chairman's 1st round

19th Feb

Team Chairman's 1st round

26th Feb

Mixed Doubles final

28th Feb

Team quarter & Chairman's 2nd round

5th Mar

Doubles final

12th Mar

Team semi & Team Chairman's quarter

19th Mar

Singles quarter & Chairman's final

26th Mar

Team Chairman's final

28th Mar

Finals Night

Competitions ran on Tuesdays, league matches on Thursdays. Draw sheets carried a standing instruction: "A toss of the coin decides who is home and who is away. The home team fill out the first frame, away team fill out the next two."

Recruitment Flyer "Summer Prospective 2012"

A one-page pitch to new players, teams and venues:

• 19 teams from 10 venues in the 2011–12 season
• Affiliated to the Somerset County Pool Association and the English Pool Association, with trials for Somerset County
• Website with "regularly weekly updated stats during the season with individual ratings", plus a newly started Facebook page
• Finals & Presentation night at Wellington AFC — trophy presentation, finals matches, a free BBQ, and an exhibition from a pool professional: Oly Bale, former European Champion
• "Extra revenue for pubs from regular weekly matches"

AGM & Meetings

AGM 30th August 2012

Chair

Paul Ellison — "statement of the year's progress noted no problems"

Previous minutes

Not read — the secretary was not there

Accounts

Stan Armstrong reported £1,391.44, including that night's winter entry fees up from £693.88 in 2011

Fixtures

No problems, a couple of late cards, all back matches played on time

The forum loses to Facebook

"Still on-going mobile website development, forum not being used but Facebook is more so, most people would rather use Facebook. Will leave forum up anyway."

Committee elected

Chairman

Paul Ellison

Vice Chairman

Rowena White

Secretary

Trev Hull stepped down; Gary Grensted nominated by Sandra Reed, seconded by Mark Kerslake — unanimous

Fixtures Sec. / Web Co-ord.

Gary Deville

Competitions Secretary

Mark Kerslake

Landlords' Rep.

Joe O'Brian (Milverton C.C.) — unanimous

Motions

Also This Year

From Row's Report

"Milverton Splitters had a good night ending Pot Blacks' winning streak of 2 years, beating them 9–6, with Pete Callery kicking the night off with an 8-baller, coupled with a hat-trick from Bob Foster."