Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
The late Bernard Mortiboys formed the League in 1984.
Bernard, a crown green bowler for over forty years, started bowling at Handsworth Park B.C., continuing a family tradition, as his father, Claude Mortiboys, had bowled for thirty years for Aston Park B.C.
The initial idea of the League was started in 1983. Bernard’s aim was to set up a League that would provide competition for the young, novice & inexperienced bowlers, who were members of a Club, but were unable to have regular opportunities in Team matches. He also thought that there was room to operate another mid week League in the South Birmingham Area, and so he discussed his idea with several different Clubs, who all said they would be very interested in this, and welcomed the initiative.
Bernard decided to develop his idea, and by the end of the 1983 season had already devoted a large amount of time into setting up and structuring a new league and had obtained clearance to affiliate with the Warwickshire and Worcestershire County Bowling Association when the new league was officially formed.
The next step was to find a name for the league. Bernard thought that having a reference to our sport would be important in identifying it easily to new and novice bowlers. The league would contain greens of varying size and condition all playing within one organisation, and the name “Big Crown Bowling League” was born.
The league was undecided as to what day it should operate, with Monday or Thursday the favourite choices. Following advertisements in the Birmingham Evening Mail and Sports Argus, replies were received by interested clubs, and Thursday evening bowling was selected.
The obvious factor now was finance, and how to generate an income to allow the league to be solvent. The league had administration costs, affiliation fees etc, supported by Bernard.
Although the league was aimed at novices and young bowlers, it seemed appropriate to reward successful teams with trophies so Bernard approached a local business in Stirchley and asked if they would be interested in sponsoring a new league. The business was A & D Pool Services, who sold bowling equipment and offered a bowling renovation service, along with their main activity of snooker suppliers. Their support and willingness to help the league was apparent from the first meeting, and so began a long and happy association that continued for several years. Although the main sponsorship from A & D ended in 1994, the firm continued to support the league through advertisements in the league handbook until the late 1990’s.
The League was officially launched in 1984, and commenced with one division & two cup competitions.
It was a great success, with the League fulfilling its ambition to introduce novice & young bowlers to a competitive stage of similar ability. This was combined with a popular & sociable atmosphere at all games, and we are glad to say that these fundamentals have remained the pinnacle of the Leagues objectives.
It was a good platform on which to build, and the following season, 1985, saw an increase in membership resulting in Division 2 being added.
The League was now enjoying publicity of many of its matches in local newspapers, and to help with the increased workload, Bernard’s wife Barbara took on the role of Treasurer, while son Colin became the League’s Press officer, with weekly coverage in the Sports Argus & local media.
The League suffered a very sad loss at the end of the 1988 season when Bernard Mortiboys passed away. This was a terrible loss for the family, but they knew it would have been Bernard’s wish to see the League continue & prosper.
The Club’s within the League were unsure if the League would continue, but after many words of encouragement, Colin Mortiboys took on the responsibility of running the League at the age of 22. Barbara Mortiboys continued as Treasurer, and following a meeting with A& D Billiards, it was tremendous news to know that they wished to continue with their support of the League.
Following a meeting of the membership and the acceptance and support of the new set up, it was good news to know that additional teams wished to join the League, resulting in the introduction of a 3rd Division.
In 1989, the League seemed to gain a more competitive edge, and many of the young bowlers who had been ‘novices’ only a few years earlier, were developing into accomplished bowlers and some were even representing the Junior County side.
The rise in standard continued, but it was good to see that the enthusiasm and friendliness were still playing a major part in the matches. At the end of the 1989 season, the League introduced the ‘Bernard Mortiboys Memorial Competition’ as an annual event.
In 1991, Colin introduced the first League Handbook. This was an instant success and the league was also enjoying more publicity and becoming a household name around the bowls circuit. At the end of that season, Colin realised that the continued growth of the league and the increased workload meant that the league needed to review how the League was managed.
Mr Sid Coldwell, a member of Central Edgbaston B.C. was approached to take on the position of Chairman, and following his acceptance, Colin & Sid met on a cold winters night at Arrow Valley Social Club in Redditch to discuss the future direction of the League and set up an official set of Rules & Guidelines.
At the 1992 AGM, Mr Coldwell was officially welcomed as Chairman of the League.
During the season Colin Mortiboys introduced the first in-house Newsletter, named appropriately ‘Crown Comment’. This gave a much wider coverage of the League with match reports and information. At the end of the season, Colin & Sid met again and set about implementing their aim of structuring the League further with the introduction of a Management Committee.
In 1993 the League formed a Management Committee, which coincided with the League’s tenth year since formation. Due to other commitments, Colin Mortiboys informed the League of his intention to step down as Secretary, but continue as a Committee member.
In 1994, Ray Pickering was elected as League Secretary and this coincided with the League changing to a ‘mixed’ league, allowing female bowlers to participate in the League. The League also increased to a 4th Division.
In 1995 the League introduced a representative side to play the Dudley & District League on an annual basis.
In 1996, Mr Coldwell retired from his position as Chairman, to be replaced by Malcolm Wilson of the British Oak.
At the beginning of the 1997 season, Mr Pickering resigned as League Secretary due to personal commitments, and Colin Mortiboys was chosen to become acting Secretary until an EGM. Following this meeting, Colin was officially welcomed as Secretary and Mike Moloney accepted the new position of Merit Secretary.
The League continued to grow over the years and in 1997 had over 1000 registered bowlers from 34 teams representing 20 different Clubs.
During the winter of 1997, Colin had several meetings with large companies in an attempt to attract a major sponsor to the organisation. One of these introductions was successful & following additional discussions, the League unveiled Renault Solihull as the their main sponsor for the commencement of the 1998 season. This sponsorship continued until the end of the 2000 season.
During the winter of 2001, Colin proposed to the committee an idea to formulate a Monday morning league to cater for a wider selection of bowlers. The idea was to attract, not just pensioners, but early retirees (who were unable to bowl in established age restricted day leagues), mature students, unemployed and people who may work shifts etc & were not able to bowl in the evenings. The format proposed was to have only four people in a team, to avoid the possibility of teams having to turn up short, while being able to travel together in only one vehicle if possible. The idea was accepted and John Beechey & Steve Jesic set to work on developing the project. While this hard work was continuing, Colin searched to attract a sponsor for the new league. His pursuit was successful when the local radio station, BBC WM, agreed to sponsor the ‘Monday Masters’ for the 2002 Season.
During 2003 & 2004, the Monday Masters operated with a Premier League and a Division 1 League however since 2005 only the Premier League remains.
Sadly, by 2004, the Big Crown had been reduced to 3 divisions and by 2006 to 2 divisions.
The League are proud that they have become a well-known organisation in the bowling fraternity.
Its success has been due to many people’s efforts, hard work, dedication & determination, not least of which, those mentioned above. This has been supported by the bowlers who have played in the League, and without their participation and support, we would not have been able to progress.
(History provided courtesy of Colin Mortiboys - June 2007)
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
League land award
From the archive, first published Wednesday 11th Jul 2001.
THE Big Crown Bowling League in West Midlands has received a boost from a major British Telecom award scheme, BT Community Connections, which aims to award one million pounds worth of Internet-ready PCs to community groups across the UK.
The League has been awarded a PC and one year's access to the Internet, where they plan to develop its online activity, including news, features and results service, along with attracting new people to the sport with the aid of information technology.
The League -- one of 48 groups to receive a BT Community Connections award in the West Midlands -- impressed judges with its innovative ideas on how an Internet-ready computer will benefit so many people in the local community.
Bromsgrove-based general secretary of the league Colin Mortiboys said: "We are absolutely delighted with the award.
"The use of an internet-ready PC will promote the sport to a much wider audience and we hope to attract the local community to play the sport at our member clubs based throughout Warwickshire and Worcestershire."
From the archive, first published Wednesday 10th Oct 2001.
THURSDAY September 20 saw the inaugural representative fixture between the Heart of England Bowling League and near neighbours Big Crown Bowling League.
Twenty-four players took to the green on a wet and dismal evening. The Heart of England chose the Valley BC green at West Midlands Travel, Billesley, as their home venue whilst Big Crown utilised Kings Norton BC.
Although the leg at Kings Norton got away to a prompt start - a credit to the club and green-keeper in such horrid conditions - the Valley leg was under serious threat as the green-keeper initially declared the green unfit for play. However, in view of the effort everyone had made in attending, he relented and play started 15 minutes late after the green had drained.
Whilst this drama was going on, at Kings Norton play was under way. First card off was a victory for Heart of England with Tome Sankey winning 21-3 over Alan Phipps. This was soon cancelled out with Big Crown's first winner Keith Rosten who came off 21-5 over Clive Sewell. With Steve Waldron and Andrew Taggart defeating Heart of England's Junior Merit Champions of the past two years Paul Whitcombe and Kevin Mytton 21-14 and 21-19 respectively, Big Crown took a seven shot lead after four ends and it appeared they were in for a close match.
Over at the Valley a similar story was emerging, with Heart of England claiming the first winner of the evening with home captain Len Mole coming home 21-13. However, Big Crown took the next three ends with Maurice Acton 21-14, Janet Walker 21-18 and Ged Sinclair 21-12 winner over last minute replacement Nigel Winn, who stepped in when Jim Ingles declared himself unfit to play. This left Big Crown 11 shots to the good after the first four.
At Kings Norton, Big Crown were turning the screw, reeling off four straight wins from Ray Hodgetts, Jason Galvin, Diane Ross and Alan Blore, 21-13, 21-17, 21-15 and 21-11 respectively. However, the four Heart of England representatives, Marj Robinson, Individual Merit Champion Harvey Lee, Sarah Harvey and Les Nunn all fought hard for every shot. Big Crown were now in command,increasing their lead to 35 after eight ends.
At Valley, Big Crown were in a prime position with 21-12 victories by Lee Lowery and Colin Mortiboys over Ray Preston and Fred Harris. It was at this stage that the game of the night took place with Big Crown's Rita Lannie taking on the youngest bowler on show at either venue, Lee Kington, from Acocks Green. What a struggle it was, with Rita holding the lead for the entire match until Lee took the match 21-20. He left the green to a standing ovation from both sides. Whilst this was going on Heart of England had another winner, Brian Handley bowling well for his 21-14 victory.
Back at Kings Norton, Heart of England were trying hard to limit the earlier damage. George Donaldson, carding a 21-19 success for Heart of England. However John Bradnock was unable to match a tight game bowled by Big Crown's Mark Cole which ended up 21-6 to the youngster. Away captain John Alderson gave Heart of England a third winner on the night, defeating Jeff Wedgewood Snr 21-14. Michelle Chatwin finished off proceedings with another victory for Big Crown, defeating Rod Monnington 21-15 making a difference in this leg of 47.
At the Valley it was looking unlikely that Heart of England could recover enough shots to take overall victory, especially when ninth end off was a victory by Steve Jesic for Big Crown 21-7 over Kelly Martin. Maliza Herbert and Rod Brammer made things slightly better with their respective scores of 21-18 and 21-10 over Paul and Keith Farley. Big Crown sealed proceedings with Matt Bradley getting off to a flyer against Graham Kidner, building up a 15-0 lead before Graham rallied to end up a 21-9 loser.
This rounded off a 33-shot victory in the away leg for Big Crown and an overall aggregate of 80 shots.
From the archive, first published Wednesday 27th Mar 2002.
BOWLERS have the chance for further competition now the Big Crown Bowling Association has expanded its organisation and launched a Monday morning event.
The BBC Radio WM-sponsored Big Crown Monday Masters is open to all crown green bowling clubs in the West Midlands and Worcestershire.
It aims to provide shift workers, unemployed and retired people with the opportunity to play competitively during the week.
The 2002 inaugural season will see 21 teams competing in the premier division with each team playing ten home and away games.
Matches will start around 11am and all venues are within an hour's travelling distance while regular features during the season can be heard on BBC WM's Thursday evening sports show.
Association General Secretary Colin Mortiboys said enquiries had come from all over Worcestershire and Staffordshire.
Mr Mortiboys added: "While some teams have been unable to enter a team this season, many have already told us they will be looking to join for 2003."
Could anyone with any history surrounding the Big Crown and the Monday Masters E mail me so I can put together a history before it is lost or forgotten.
This could include dates, founders, founder members and any stories, anecdotes and photographs. Let's get it down before it's lost forever!
Back To Home Page
