Neil Haydock
A Proud Lancastrian, Peter has never forgotten his roots in Haslingden
President of Rossendale Badminton hosts birthday with England players
President of Rossendale Badminton League, Peter Wood, celebrated 50 years in the role, and a special book was made in his honour - 'Not Bad For A Lad From Haslingden'. Famous badminton players from all over the country attended an 80th birthday party for the President of the Rossendale Badminton League.
Peter Wood celebrated his birthday and marked 50 years in the role of league president by receiving a special book entitled 'Not Bad For A Lad From Haslingden' as a present. It compiled special thoughts, memories and good wishes, and, as Peter's way of saying thanks, he organised a party at Ramsbottom Cricket Club.
Days before his 80th birthday, the ex-England player, who started his career in Haslingden, invited friends and family, where they were treated by a free bar, pie and peas.
Peter also invited everyone, young and old, who had written in his book.
In 1976, Lancashire became the champions of Great Britain. It was the first time since 1938 that the county had won the Inter County Championships. That team then went on to win the Championships for the next eight years and many of the ex-county who were in that team with Peter Wood were at the party. Some of the ex-England stars at the party were Sue Whittaker, Sara Sankey (who now runs the Sankey Academy, Milton Keynes) and Brian and Jill Wallworth, whose daughter, Jenny, is in the England team. There were also many ex-Lancashire players, including Kathy Cashmere, Steve Denner, Steve Ramsbottom, Neil Long, Helen and Mark Palletts, Debbie Rigby, John Cocker, Lindsay Bracken and many more.
In 1968, Peter made a promise to give something back to badminton, the sport which has been 'his life'; he has given his time on committees, as a coach, as a badminton captain, and has never asked anything in return.
A proud Lancastrian, Peter represented his county and his country but has never forgotten his roots in Haslingden.
Team update
Unfortunately, Broadway has had to disband for the 2023/24 season. This has reduced the total teams in the League to 14 which will be split into two divisions. Edenfield will continue to play in Division 1 with Goodshaw A replacing the Broadway team.
Oh What A Night (x two)
The new venue for both the Rossendale Presentation and the A.G.M. proved a big hit, with standing room only at the Presentation (next year we will find more chairs don't worry!) Steve's Sunnybank Social Club was really buzzing and, as you can see from the photos attached, a lot of fun was had by all 85 attendees. Well, £6 for pie & peas, CAKE, amazing disco, Dean on the raffle (who made £220 and is definitely doing it again) and Sunnybank's awesome bar prices, we knew we were in for a great night. Thank you to all those who came and, if you weren't there, why not??
And then, at the A.G.M. - 'Oh What A Night 2'. This was the evening I had waited a long time for. Being able to present our President, P.J. Wood with his very own book, 'Not Bad For A Lad From Haslingden', was an honour that will stay with me forever.
There will be coverage of this story in the local press so please watch out for that, and we are already trending on twitter (BDBadders...and I need more followers, Rossendale!) I know there has already been a lot of interest from those who kindly wrote pieces for Peter to own their own copy. Unfortunately, further printing would be inhibitive: I have, however, got the download which I am happy to email to anyone who would like it, in exchange for a donation which would go to the Junior Rossendale players. The league has a copy of the book which, of course, anyone is more than happy to borrow.
On the 25th April at Accrington Academy, under the watchful eye of our President, Peter Wood, 8 gentlemen and 4 ladies battled it out for the handicapped singles' titles this season. The latter tournament has not been played since 1995 so, although arms had to be twisted and a coupld of ladies withdrew prior to the event, it was fantastic to be able to hold this particular tournament again at long last. So keen were the ladies to play singles infact, when faced with a group of four they unanimously agreed to play the best of three games to 21...whilst Chairman Mick Crilly ran off to the front desk to book a fourth court!
We were entertained by two excellent groups of men's singles: in Group 1, Jason Loffman was the back marker on -5, with Tom James on scratch and Nigel Holt and Ben Maris both on +6; in Group 2, Mr. Peter Pan himself, Rick Smith, was well and truly at the back of the pack playing off a hefty -10, with Michael Paterson electing to play off scratch, whilst the housewife's favourite, Dean Bertenshaw, played off +2 and David Holt from Goodshaw played off +4.
The men battled long and hard and we were rewarded by some brilliant games. Tom James won his group, and then played Rick Smith who had come in second in his group in the first semi-final; whilst the father and son duo found themselves set against one another in the other semi-final as David Holt had won his group and Nigel come in second spot. Rick came out victorious against Tom (21,15) whilst David just about nicked the game from his Dad (21,20) - and all those who had handicapped the tournament breathed a sigh of relief.
As you can see from his beaming smile on the photograph, Rick Smith took the Peter Wood's singles title when he beat David Holt in the final.
Meanwhile, on courts 1 and 4, the ladies continued to battle fast and furious as they played the best of three games against one another. Back marker in the ladies' singles was Joanna Holt on -2, with Kath Owen close by on scratch; Lisa Archer played on +5 and the promising young junior county player, Freya Davey, was on +8. There were smiles, there were tears, as all four ladies played with great spirit, heart and tenacity. The closest match was between Freya and Joanna - Freya won the first 21, 16 before Joanna dug in and pulled the second game back, winning 21, 18. The final game did not disappoint and went right down to the wire with Freya winning by the narrowest of margins, 21, 20! Again, the beaming smile in the photograph says it all.
Many thanks to all the competitors (particularly the ladies - see you all next year!) and also to Mick Crilly for running here, there and everywhere with the match slips. I have to finally mention our President, Peter, and thank him for his tournament guidance and sweet eating ability!
Rossendale Badminton Tournament Day 2nd April, 2023
A healthy number of ladies' and men's doubles pairings arrived at The Adrenaline Centre at 10am on Sunday morning and, once the committee's new recruit, Karen Lamb, had realised she was to do the job of Betty, Steve AND George as she sat behind the organisers' desk in the store cupboard, play commenced.
Both men's and ladies' played one game up to 21, making for lots of competitive battles. An unbeaten sister duo, Kath Owen and Becky Foreman, from Goodshaw, won through in the ladies' tournament, with Jean Mounsey and Rachel Hillary coming in the runner up position. Jason Loffman and the people's favourite, Dean Bertenshaw, back markers in the men's competition, were victorious in the men's doubles, with Nigel Holt and Rob Brocklehurst a close second. Once Chris Peel emerged from his bed to play his back to back games, all of the matches went through without a hitch, thanks to the excellent organisation of Karen in the store cupboard.
The nine couples in the mixed doubles' tournament, meant that there were two groups of matches. The winners of Group 1, Jason Loffman from Accy Flyers and Joanne Schofield from Oakgate, faced the winners of Group 2, Rob Brocklehurst and Rachel Hillary from Accy Flyers in a well matched final. Arguably one of the luckiest players of the tournament was Joanne Schofield: she not only contacted the committee on the last day of entry to see if a partner could be found, but was fortunate enough to be paired up with an in-form Jason Loffman who, having already won the men's in the morning, did the double by winning the mixed with her in the afternoon! Just as there are winners, however, there are also unlucky runners up: Rob Brocklehurst, who lost in both the men's, the mixed and the veterans' mixed finals this season, can take comfort from the fact that there are medals awarded to the runners up in this year's Presentation in May and three of them have his name on them!
It was lovely to see the matches played in such friendly competitiveness throughout the day. It was also good to welcome some spectators to the tournament: firstly Andy Wood (who has promised to enter next season - and now we have that in writing!); and then Betty and Steve Bayes who popped down to keep an eye on us; and lastly our Chairman, Mick Crilly, and his daughter, Daisy, who came along to watch the final matches being played.
The last tournament of the season is the men's and ladies' singles which will be held at Accrington Academy on Tuesday 25th April. Entries are still able to be sent to either Nigel Holt or Claire Banfield for this event, but must be received by Sunday 23rd April for handicapping purposes.
Steve Ramsbottom receives the English Badminton Award
Having already won the Rossendale Lifetime Achievement Award earlier in the season, I was delighted to hear that Rossendale Badminton’s nomination for Steve to receive the coveted English Badminton Award had also been successful. Not only that, Steve had been invited down to the All-England semi-finals at the I.C.C. in Birmingham to receive it!
Some of the All-England staff must have forgotten Steve’s past antics at the tournament, some not all; there were a few who still remembered, particularly Alan ‘give us a wave’ Crow and Yunus Suleman - one of whom greeted him with a ‘what are you doing here?’ and the other ‘how did you get in?’ Undeterred, Steve stood court side in the Yonex arena to receive his prestigious award, resplendent as always in his understated red suit and tie.
With his nephew beside him (that trusty friend, Gordon Mitchell) and his two carers in tow (yours truly and The Lovely Chris) Steve somehow got all four of us in to the heady heights of the V.I.P. lounge as only Steve Ramsbottom can. Not only did we find free food and a free bar up there, we also found a lot of familiar faces – Nathan Robertson, Sue Storey, Jack Shephard and Anthony Clark to name a few. The gold bands Steve had blagged for us were going to be very hard to hand back at the end of the night.
Steve, Gordon and TLC have had a lifetime attending the All-England, for me, however, this was a first. The atmosphere, the badminton, the arena were absolutely incredible. I may not ever get another gold band for that VIP lounge, but I will definitely be going back next year and the year after and the year after that to make more amazing memories and watch more outstanding badminton being played.
Badminton England describe the English Badminton Award as the highest domestic honour that it can give and one reserved for someone demonstrating long standing, exceptional service to badminton in England.
We have always been proud of Steve in Rossendale, in Lancashire; now we know our governing body is too. Well done, Rammy.
Roland sadly passed away in Royal Blackburn Hospital on Sunday 8th January at the age of 73.
Devoted husband of Pauline and loving father to Daniel, Andrew and Amanda. Treasured by his family and much admired and respected by all his friends.
Roland began his career at Howard and Bullough in Accrington. He went on to run his own electrical and building services company before returning to full time education and obtaining a degree in electronic engineering at the age of 40. This allowed him to pursue his dream of travelling the world working as a field engineer. Finally, from 2002 - 2007 he was landlord of the Old House at Home pub in Rawtenstall.
He was a talented badminton player and played competitively in the top divisions of the Accrington, Blackburn, Manchester and Rossendale leagues for approximately 30 years, winning many trophies along the way.
The funeral will be held at Goodshaw Baptist Church, Burnley Road Crawshawbooth, BB4 8BS at 1pm, Tuesday 24th January, followed by interment at Rawtenstall cemetery and a celebration of life at Rawtenstall Cricket Club.
Anybody wishing to attend that has not contacted the family, please email admin@rossendalebadmintonleague.co.uk.
Family flowers only - Donations gratefully received to Alzheimer's Research UK using the following justgiving.com web page.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Roland-Holt94
Rossendale Badminton Veterans’ Mixed Doubles’ Handicap Tournament
‘They’re a friendly lot, these veterans’
On a cold winter’s night, 11 mixed doubles pairings from the Rossendale league, all over 40 (although there was some careful checking of birth certificates!) made their way to The Adrenaline Centre, Haslingden to battle for the prize of all prizes – yes, the Rossendale Veterans’ Mixed Doubles’ cup!
The clubs represented were: Accy Flyers, Blackburn Seniors, Goodshaw and Brunlea – and, in Rob Brocklehurst’s words, ‘You have to be in to win it!’
The entries were split in to two groups and, once the handicaps had been given out, the matches commenced – at a pace so fast and so furious, our jovial organiser, Nigel Holt, was hard pressed to keep up with the recording!
Group 1 had 6 couples: Anser Yaseen and Jean Mounsey (-2); Steve Roe and Helen Shanks (scr); Alex Hinton and Lisa Archer (scr); Dean Bertenshaw and Ailayah Ayub (+4); Salim Islam and Janet Sanderson (+5); Clive Benson and Kath Keir (+6)
This was undoubtedly the closest group, with three of the six couples winning 4 of their 5 games – Anser and Jean, Dean and Ailayah, Salim and Janet. There can, however, only be one winner through to the final, and that was Anser and Jean from Accy Flyers & Brunlea. The one game they lost was to Salim and Janet, and that by the narrowest of margins – 20,21.
Group 2 had 5 couples: Rob Brocklehurst and Alex Bullock (-5); Michael Crilly and Claire Banfield (+2); Zafar Ali and Carol Yates (+4); Karen Rogan and Stewart Holt (+5); and a late entry from Ben Maris and Rosie Fenwick (+2)
The winners of group 2, Rob and Alex, were unbeaten, although your Chairman and Secretary pushed them hard, losing 21,19! It was great to see a new face amidst all the other old ones, the enthusiastic Ben Maris in this his first tournament.
As the final beckoned and Dean resigned himself to being ‘close but not quite close enough’, we settled down to what promised to be an exciting match between Anser and Jean and Rob and Alex – apart from Nigel of course who had somehow offered to score the game.
Jean’s careful short serves and Anser’s focused determination quickly saw the Brunlea/Accy Flyers pairing gain a commanding lead in the first game. There were times during the long, exhausting rallies that Anser called for CPR to be on hand, but his controlled placement of the shuttle around the opposition’s court made for some beautiful play. Undeterred, however, the Accy Flyers couple dug deep, and came back in the opening game, finally succumbing 15,21. As the second game commenced and Nigel struggled to keep up, we knew we were in for a proper battle. Rob’s clever deceptive short serve returns and Alex’s brilliant cross court smashes made for a neck and neck second game. There was no one on the court, however, who wanted to win more than Anser, and he would just not give up with his scurrying retrieval of the shuttle and knowledgeable court awareness. The couple from Brunlea/Accy Flyers won the second game 21,17, much to Nigel’s relief as we only had the courts until 10pm.
In my book there are two signs of a good tournament: one is how well it is organised – and this one went like clockwork, thanks to the organisers, Nigel and yours truly; and the second one is how many players stay behind to watch the final. As you can see from the many photos attached to this roving report, the friendly lot which are the veterans (and some are still not convinced that 40 is old enough to be classed as a veteran…I mention no names!) all stayed, all watched, all cheered the two couples in the final.
Well done to both finalists and to all those who competed in the tournament!
News Page
NEWS FLASH!
We won! We won, we won, we won! We won! We won! Or rather - he won!
Tonight, at The Big Connect Club Awards, hosted at The Ashcroft, Whitworth, our very own Steve Ramsbottom was awarded the Jimmy Armfield Lifetime Achievement Award for his dedication to the sport of badminton. Presenting the award to a beaming Steve, was the Commonwealth Games Gold medallist gymnast, Craig Heap, and Rossendale councillor, Barbara Ashworth.
Date: 14th September, 2022
ROSSENDALE BADMINTON LEAGUE
Following guidance from the BA of E, the fixtures scheduled in the Rossendale Badminton League the week commencing 12th September 2022 have been postponed out of respect to the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
We extend our condolences to King Charles III and The Royal Family at this time of great sorrow for them and us.
Rest in peace your Majesty.
ROSSENDALE BADMINTON LEAGUE
Minutes for the Extraordinary General Meeting dated 11.08.2022
1 Apologies for absence
There were no apologies for absence and, at the roll call, all team representatives were present.
2 Lancashire Disaffiliation/public liability insurance
Following discussion at the AGM, Nigel Holt had investigated a like for like public liability cover in case the league decided to opt out of affiliation to Lancashire.
He had looked at other leagues in the area, such as Blackpool, and found the same level of cover for £360p.a. Individuals would still, however, need to affiliate to Badminton England.
Both the retiring and current management committee felt let down by Lancashire, particularly with regards to their handling of accounts, the proposed pay per club/team fee and the focus upon the elite at the expense of the grassroots.
There was much discussion from the floor prior to taking a vote. It was felt that Rossendale could be seen as very insular, that a couple of pounds was very little to pay and we should be supporting our county in their bid to promote our most able players.
There were three votes in favour of disaffiliation; the over-whelming majority, however, felt that the league should remain with Lancashire.
The secretary was asked to enquire what the fees were likely to be and to ask for more transparency from the county with regards to finances.
3 Proposals to rule changes
The rules proposed for change (3, 14 and 15) were no longer needed to be amended due to the meeting’s decision to remain affiliated with Lancashire.
4 Player registrations
Itching to start on their fixtures, teams were quickly reminded to return Form 1 to the secretary either at this meeting or as soon as possible. The player registration form would need to be returned and paid for by the end of August either by bank transfer/cheque/cash.
5 Fixtures meeting
The two divisions then made their home and away fixtures round separate tables before a master sheet was made by Claire Banfield for Division 1 and Nigel Holt for Division 2, under the watchful eye of our new Chairman, Mick Crilly.
Date: 11th August, 2022
Presentation Awards
Division 2: Sports Team - Goodshaw B; Sports Lady Kathy Kier (Accy Flyers B) and Sportsman David Holt (Goodshaw A)
League Honours
Division 2: Winners Edenfield and Runners up Oakgate B
<span style=">No cup competition held due to the restricted season but all results updated on Results & Winners page
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Events
Monday 11th December 2023 - Mixed doubles Veteran's Tournament (Over 40's) Haslingden Sports Centre
Thursday 14th March 2024 - Team Handicap Cup Final at Haslingden Sports Centre
Individual Handicaps - to be confirmed
Friday 17th May 2024 - Rossendale Presentation Evening (Sunnybank Social Club)
Monday 10th June 2024 - Annual General Meeting (Sunnybank Social Club - 8:00pm start)
Monday 12th August 2024 - Fixtures meeting (Sunnybank Social Club - 8:00 pm start)