Forecast your Division 5 winners & losers
Winter League
Just to confirm that we are now offering a £50 Well Bowled Sales Voucher to the winner of our new Forecast Game for the Winter League season. All the details below.
To all those entering the competition just to emphasise that to have a chance of winning it you really must enter all 10 of the Division Forecast Games. It is your total score that goes forward to the total table which determines your position in the table. Today we provide all the Division 5 guidance you need to select your Division 5 title winners and relegation losers. If you have missed some of the division competitions then here they all are. Click on the links, read the preview, select your winners and losers and add them to the entry form. If you can't remember which divisions you are missing, just do them all and your latest entry from each division will be the one added to your full entry.
Division 5 Preview
Let's start with looking at last year's end-of-season Division 5 table and the 2026-27 line-up.
The Pts Column shows the number of points won last season
The Division 5 teams have a new home green this season as they move to play all their fixtures at Milnsbridge BC. So any advantage seasoned Division 5 teams may have had is likely to disappear as none of the teams in that Division this year played their last season.
The inclusion of the Outlane B team in the line-up probably needs explaining as they were a Division 10 team last season and finished the campaign in the relegation places. This season however the core of the team is made up of bowlers that played in Division 3 last season for the Thorpe Green team so they reappear in Division 5 this year. That doesn't help any entrants in our Forecast Game so your guess is as good as mine about their potential at this level.
In contrast Cowcliffe B earned their place at this level with a resounding performance last season when winning the Division 6 title by a clear 14 points and that followed their 2024-25 title winning season in Division 7. They are moving towards their real level of capability but will this season announce they have achieved their natural level or have the previous season's successes just been a launching pad for even more acclaim? They have shown no sign of faltering at all to date, so why would they now? A strong contender.
Brockholes B are the third team in the Division to come from lower Division status last term and I suspect that this will be a season to consolidate after four seasons in Division 6 this will all be new to the Badgers. They will come up against their clubmates in the Brockholes A team who dropped out of Division 4 last season for a second successive relegation. Surely they will not be in another relegation scrap this season as well?
Jackson Bridge were always the third-best team in Division 5 last season and that may continue again this time around or maybe they are ready for a leg up. With 5 years experience in the League anything is possible and it would be no surprise to see them involved in things at either end of the table come next February.
We come to three teams that were showing their best form of the 2025-26 Division 5 season in the last few weeks of the term. Paddock I&C only suffered one defeat in their last nine fixtures (more than half-a-season) and that was real promotion form. There was only one defeat for the Thorpe Green B team in their final 6 fixtures last season and Kirkheaton C&BC A were unbeaten in their last four fixtures to escape relegation with a better Aggregate For total over Milnsbridge C. In addition they were one of only two teams to beat the Division 5 Champions, Mirfield Old Bank, to show their potential but consistency has been their problem.
In case you missed the previous entry forms you can still find them online along with the pre-season look at each team's chances. Follow these links.
Coming Next: Division 4 preview and Forecast Game entry form
Entries are open until the day before the Division 5 opening round of fixtures are scheduled. Entries are only welcome from bowlers in the Winter League.
My two tips for the Division 5 title and to be relegated have already been entered using the form below.
So what are your top and bottom selections? ENTER NOW
Submit your best guess for both top and bottom and then Click on 'see previous responses' to see all the previous best guesses submitted so far.
If you hit any problems using this entry form then try this link direct to the online option
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