Sign of the times!

Bowling News

Danny Beeby won the 2025 Golcar Lib Classic yesterday afternoon when he beat Neil Bethell 21-20 in the Final. I am sure it was a good day and raised some funding for the club. They had clearly worked hard to produce sponsorship for the competition to attract the calibre of bowlers capable of drawing in the crowds. A top prize of £1,100 compares favourably with other similar competitions so well done to Golcar Lib. But the timing of the Finals Day of this competition prompts a question from me. Are Saturday afternoon club competitions in the best long-term interest of crown green bowling?

I have a weekly Tuesday meeting with a small group of good bowlers from yesterday. They are in their 80's and 90's now but like nothing better, over a couple of pints, reminiscing about their playing days which span, for some of them, over 60 years each. They often reflect on how the sport has deteriorated in popularity over the years. They are very much aware of the threat to the continuing well-being of the sport dictated by recent trends.

One trend they reflect on is the problem local leagues have in attracting teams and bowlers to participate in their competitions. Team numbers have dropped remarkably over recent years. The trend being that the best bowlers are no longer interested in Saturday League bowling, preferring to travel on Saturdays to top competitions around the country offering big prize money. Having got through a qualifying round, often not played on a Saturday, they progress to Finals Day and the lure of big money prizes. The usual practice is that good prize money is paid out to all the qualifying bowlers. The Golcar Lib Classic paid £90 to each of the eight losers in the opening round of Finals Day. That guaranteed petrol money offer, along with the lure of a £1,100 top prize, is enough to ensure a good turnout.

However it is clear that such a trend is damaging the quality of bowling in Saturday League competitions. The top bowlers are no longer available every Saturday to make the competition the go-to event of many years' standing. That, in turn, undermines the status of these League competitions, with teams dipping into their B teams to promote players to play in the top divisions.

The Golcar Lib Classic pitched itself directly against the Huddersfield Saturday League with a Finals Day 2.00pm Saturday start time, exactly the same time as the Saturday League. At one time this would never have even been considered as the Subscription Cup League in Huddersfield was the weekly pinnacle of bowling and the one guide to the top bowlers in the area. This new trend has seriously damaged the League's standing. My Tuesday old-boys meeting now refers to the Saturday League 'as a joke' compared with their days. Their words not mine. I think this is a bit harsh but they are adamant in their condemnation of this trend. They are well aware of the long-term damage being inflicted on the sport.

I don't blame the bowlers or the host clubs for introducing this threat to the sport. It makes good short-term business sense to arrange the top competitions for a time when they get the best coverage and most convenient attraction to the spectator which in turn makes it more attractive to the big sponsors. Even this is not guaranteed with the developing trend to provide You-Tube live coverage of the Finals Day of the top competitions which means that the average spectator now has the option of not even attending Finals Day and paying £5 for a pint of lager and £3 for a burger. They can stay dry at home with a couple of £2 cans of lager and a choice of pizza or curry delivered to their front door and watch the full day from the comfort of their favourite armchair.

Are we moving towards the day when Saturday League competitions have disappeared altogether or only exist for the second-tier of bowlers? Maybe we are already there or well down that pathway. I don't believe that these Leagues even envy their rival competitions or maybe don't appreciate the threat to their own League's continuing viability. When Saturday League officials go on to Facebook to congratulate winning bowlers from rival competitions, it tells me that they have accepted the move away from the tradition of Saturday afternoon league bowling and await the total demise of Saturday bowling with silent acceptance or few ideas on how they can recover from this trend.

I am not blaming anyone for the present situation. However I make no apology about highlighting this concern to all those who care about the long term future of crown green bowling. Maybe it was inevitable that a sport that is often regarded as an old man's sport would become an out-of-date product failing to grasp the trends to direct towards a new and different era of bowling. That is unfair but it is how the majority of non-players look at crown green bowling. It can only lead to one long-term ending and the demise of League bowling is not in the interest of anyone who cares about the sport. I am afraid that it really is just a sign of the times, which, I am afraid, League bowling seems ill-prepared and unable to counter.