There’s less than a week to go before the first League fixtures of the new 2024 season.

But, before then, the League’s officers would like to wish all of its bowlers, friends and clubs a happy, healthy and peaceful Easter.

The new campaign opens with first matches in the Afternoon Division and the Dennis Lewis Division taking place on Thursday 4^th April.

In the afternoon reigning champions Donnington Wood entertain divisional newcomers St Georges in a 6-a-side match while in the evening it is Sinclair who have the tough task of heading to Shrewsbury to take on 2023 title winners Castlefields in the 8-a-side division with its unique points scoring system.

Action in the main Friday divisions starts on 19^th April while Monday night sides return to action on 8^th April.

And League chiefs are still hoping to re-launch the Saturday Division this season with matches of 4 singles-2 doubles that mean a minimum of just 4 bowlers is required to fulfil fixtures that start at 2pm.

This division has been in cold storage since the 2019 campaign due to the pandemic, but already 6 potential teams from 5 clubs – Allscott Heath, Charlton, Donnington Wood, Wrockwardine Wood and Worfield – have expressed an interest.

A final decision will be made at the League’s April meeting on Tuesday the 2^nd.

It’s Saturday and the afternoons will be soon be a lot warmer . . . and YOU could be playing bowls in a unique division the League is hoping to re-boot in 2024.

Matches in the Saturday Division are four singles-two doubles and that means that a minimum of just 4 bowlers is required to fulfil fixtures that start at 2pm.

This division has been in cold storage since the 2019 campaign due to the pandemic, but already 6 potential teams from 5 clubs – Allscott Heath, Charlton, Donnington Wood, Wrockwardine Wood and Worfield – have expressed an interest in re-launching it.

Now the big questions for League officers are can we get to 8 teams? And will we have lift-off again come May?

The divisional rules are already in place – and available to see on this site under Admin and the League Rules – and a final decision on whether the division gets re-born will be made at the League’s April meeting on Tuesday the 2^nd.

So if you have enough bowlers at your club interested in some Saturday afternoon action, please contact your club secretary and get them to express an interest to either fixture secretary John Palmer or general secretary Malcolm Fletcher.

Now that the League’s fixtures have gone live, the finalised 2024 Competition and Team KO dates are now available on this website.

They have been emailed to the secretaries of all 27 member clubs with entry deadlines and fees, plus venues if known at this stage.

Ahead of the start of the new playing season, all bowlers interested in learning about the rules of the game are encouraged to attend a special free seminar.

David Williams, the chief of the British Crown Green Referees Society, will be the man in the spotlight on Tuesday, 26th March, starting at 7pm at Tilstock BC, near Whitchurch (SY13 3JL).

Delighted Shropshire Referees Society secretary Louise Cotton said: “This is a great opportunity for club captains, officials and those interested in being a referee to update their knowledge and ask questions from the expert.”

 “It’s aimed at those wishing to continue to sit their referee exams or for club officials/captains that would like the opportunity to refresh their current knowledge.

“David is an expert who will help people to understand the correct rules and provide greater confidence when you have rule issues during a league game.

“This is likely to be a popular event so to ensure we are aware of numbers expected, please can you let myself ([email protected]) know the names of those attending and which bowling club they are representing by March 21.”

Looking further ahead to the League’s April meeting, the plan at this stage is to open the meeting to all team captains to take them through all the new rules passed at the AGM in January.

We are ready to roll! The fixtures for the 2024 season are now LIVE on the website.

And the finalised competition and team knockout dates, entry fees and venues if already known, will be posted by organiser Rob Burroughs today on the relative pages.

The Club Contacts for 2024 are now Live too! And big thanks go to webmaster Steve Wall for that.

Rob and hard working fixture secretary John Palmer have worked methodically for the last 5 days to formulate as fair a programme as possible, and with as few clashes as possible too.

The last push now for League officials is to try and recruit at least two more teams so that 4 singles-2 doubles Saturday Division can be re-launched.

There’s already 4 clubs expressing an interest and a final decision will not be made until the April meeting.

“We are looking for a minimum of 6 teams to compete and I feel we have a bit more time with regards to a potential Saturday Division as fixtures won’t have to start until May,” said general secretary Malcolm Fletcher.

A brand new club and 11 new teams were accepted into the League for the 2024 season at the season-defining March executive meeting.

Meole Brace from Shrewsbury were voted into the Dennis Lewis Thursday Division along with the returning Sir John Bayley and B teams from Allscott Heath and Prince of Wales Hotel to give it a perfect 14 sides.

Four new teams – Edgmond C, Newport F, Allscott Heath E and Much Wenlock C – will feature in a 13 strong sixth division, with 12 in divisions 4 and 5 on Monday nights.

Horsehay’s successful application to the Premier League leaves the Friday division with 36 teams divided into 3 divs of 12.

And the Afternoon Division, only launched last year, has grown to 9 teams with the addition of St Georges, Albrighton Blue and Edgmond B.

There’s still hope too for the re-launch of the 4 singles-2 doubles Saturday Division with 5 clubs expressing an interest. A final decision will be made at the April meeting in the hope of being able to attract a minimum of 6 sides.

For the record, a total of 5 teams withdrew from the League’s various divisions, including Horsehay from the top flight.

With the structure agreed on, fixture secretary John Palmer is now working hard on producing start and finish dates and avoiding fixture clashes for all divisions while comps sec Rob Burroughs confirms his calendar. Both will publish their results as soon as possible . . .

Match fees will rise to 60p across the board this year and the affiliation fee will return to £10 per team after being cut in half in 2023 to try to help clubs recover from the Covid hiatus.

The new 48 hour deadline for new team applications or old team withdrawals before the March executive meeting has passed!

And that means fixture secretary John Palmer is able to finalise the proposed divisional structures for the 2024 season.

He will be working closely with competition secretary Rob Burroughs to ensure all their dates marry up in what looks like being a varied and packed programme.

They and their fellow League officers hope it will get official approval from club delegates at the March executive meeting . . .

 Agenda for the March 2024 Executive Committee Meeting

To be held on Tuesday 5^th March at Sir John Bayley Club at 7.30pm

1  Chairman’s remarks to open the meeting

2  Apologies & In Memoria

3  Minutes of the December Management Committee Meeting

4  Matters arising

5  General Secretary’s report

6  Correspondence

7  Fixture Secretary’s report

(a) Applications for new teams / withdrawals (note new 48 hour rule)

(b) Constitution of Divisions for 2024

(c) Start dates & green choices

8  Re-launch of the Saturday Division ?

9  Treasurer’s report – match fees for 2024, entry fees & prize money

10 Competition Secretary’s report – finalised dates for 2024

12 Plans for pre-season meeting – for new captains, conduct & safeguarding

13 Approval of 2024 AGM minutes

14 Annual Presentation Dinner review

15 County matters – updates from AGM & BCGBA

16 Any Other Business

17 President / chairman to close the meeting

The League’s bid give new life to its Saturday Division has been launched.

In hibernation since 2019 due to the pandemic, the 4 singles-2 doubles division will have fixtures that start at 2pm.

“We already have interest from 4 clubs – Allscott Heath, Charlton, Sinclair and Worfield – in competing as they can see that a minimum of 4 bowlers are needed for matches !” said League general secretary Malcolm Fletcher.

And, in the first official re-launch move, he has now written to all clubs that have competed on Saturdays in the League in the last decade to see if they would be interested in rejoining.

“We are looking for a minimum of 6 teams to compete and, although I am obviously aware of the new ’48 hours before the March executive deadline’ for new team applications, I do feel we have a bit more time than that with regards to a potential Saturday Division,” he added.

“That’s because fixtures probably won’t have to start until May so we do have the April meeting to garner interest and then make a final decision about going ahead – or not.”

Member clubs have already been given advance notice that League officers are considering holding an extra pre-season meeting ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Updating secretaries and team captains – old and new – about the rules passed at the AGM in January is a key reason, but there’s also the issues of safety and safeguarding.

And, just as important in terms of getting the message across, is the thorny issue of player conduct after at least one official complaint was received last season.

The League has had a Code of Conduct in place since 2017 – and it can be seen on this site under the Admin icon.

But now, a year later than promised, the sport’s governing body – the British Crown Green Bowling Association – has issued a Disciplinary Policy which they will now be enforcing.

It has been circulated to all affiliated leagues and clubs, and new National Administrator Jim McGurk said:  “It is important that this BCGBA Disciplinary Policy is communicated to all members of the association.”

And that means every single bowler!

 The policy can be read here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tw_LKl75NB-sQo6nN3JEZ2vEjaTRkJwn/view

Congratulations go to the League’s fixture secretary John Palmer (pictured) who has added yet another string to his bowls bow.

John, the Bylet club secretary and chairman and fixture secretary of the Highley League, was elected secretary of the Mid Shropshire Senior Citizens League at its AGM.

Bridgnorth-based John was already serving as its webmaster and is following in the administrative footsteps of his late father Jim, who was a long serving treasurer of the MSBL.

In terms of Mid Shropshire evening league duties, John is currently working on potential divisional structures and fixture dates for the 2024 season after being inundated with applications to join from new teams. They will all be voted on at the March meeting.

And League officers are hoping to build on interest from 3 clubs in re-launching the four singles-two doubles Saturday afternoon division – with a minimum of 6 in total needed for it to be brought out of cold storage.

All the 3 sets of rules by which the League will be run this year are now LIVE on this website (under the Admin icon) and clubs are reminded of the new ‘48 hours before the March executive meeting deadline’ for any further team applications and withdrawals.

All the 3 sets of rules by which the League will be run for the 2024 season are now LIVE on this website for all bowlers to see – under the Admin icon.

The key changes to bear in mind as the playing campaign approaches is the new 48 hours before the March executive meeting deadline for team applications and withdrawals – management Rules 12 (b) & (c) – and that teams that win away from home in divisions 1 to 6 will now receive 4 points and not 3.

Meanwhile, an embarrassment of riches continues to face fixture secretary John Palmer, who has received applications from more teams wishing to join the League since the AGM.

That has helped ease the pain of losing first division side Horsehay following their election to the Premier League, but an enquiry from Childs Ercall about the 2024 campaign has now been withdrawn.

Meole Brace, Sir John Bayley and Horsehay want to join the Dennis Lewis Thursday Division and there are at least three new sides applying to join both the Monday divisions and the Afternoon Division for only its second season.

There is also growing interest in re-launching the league’s four singles-two doubles Saturday Division that was put into cold storage due to the pandemic, with officers poised to set a minimum number of team entries to make it worthwhile running.

“It’s really encouraging that so many teams want to join the League and has given everyone a real boost – and potentially a few headaches in the coming weeks!” said general secretary Malcolm Fletcher.