Manchester League Trophy winners

Historical knowledge and information regarding our great game.
Mick Norris
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Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Mick Norris » Tue Oct 07, 2014 5:22 pm

Since it has attracted attention in a recent thread, I thought I'd post these (note, they are a work in progress, when complete they should be added to the MCF website)
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Mick Norris
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Mick Norris » Tue Oct 07, 2014 5:24 pm

3 of the 4 cup competitions
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Alan Walton
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Alan Walton » Tue Oct 07, 2014 8:06 pm

Mick, 2001 was 3Cs 2 and not 3Cs 1

MartinCarpenter
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by MartinCarpenter » Thu Oct 09, 2014 11:08 am

That's confusing :) Any idea if the 2005 entry was actually engraved as Heywood or Lancashire Forever?

Any idea what happened to plain Manchester round the 60's? Looks like it split into north and south then they both died over time somehow. The current absence of a (strong at least) city centre club is relatively notable of course. Peoples were the last I suppose.

Mick Norris
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Mick Norris » Thu Oct 09, 2014 5:12 pm

MartinCarpenter wrote:That's confusing :) Any idea if the 2005 entry was actually engraved as Heywood or Lancashire Forever?

Any idea what happened to plain Manchester round the 60's? Looks like it split into north and south then they both died over time somehow. The current absence of a (strong at least) city centre club is relatively notable of course. Peoples were the last I suppose.
Direct all queries to David Kierman at Chorlton please, he is the one who compiled the lists :)
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harrylamb
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by harrylamb » Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:29 am

MartinCarpenter wrote:That's confusing :) Any idea if the 2005 entry was actually engraved as Heywood or Lancashire Forever?
Yes the trophy was engraved as Lancashire Forever. It was a win/win engraving. Those of us on the GM side of the argument thought it showed up Heywood/Lancashire as being pretty childish. Presumably Heywood/Lancashire thought otherwise. But maybe Heywood/Lancashire were embarrassed as they reverted back to being Heywood very quickly.
MartinCarpenter wrote:Any idea what happened to plain Manchester round the 60's? Looks like it split into north and south then they both died over time somehow.
I was a member of Manchester in the 1960's. There were very few tournaments in those days so if you wanted to play the strongest players in the region you had to enter the Manchester Club Championship. The club got squeezed though with:-

The growing number of congresses
The cost of rooms in Central Manchester
The fact that no one actually lived in Central Manchester
Some poor strategic planning by the club officials

The club struggled on for many years and folded at the end of the 1978 season
Neither North Manchester Chess club or South Manchester chess club had a formal connection with Manchester Chess Club. In the late 60's early 70's it became fashionable for clubs to put Manchester in their title. So Longsight chess club became South Manchester chess club and Manchester Grammar School Old Boys became North Manchester chess club. Although MGSOB may have called itself Moston chess club for one or two years before becoming North Manchester CC.

But yes both clubs have since folded. North Manchester in 1994. South Manchester just made it into the 21st century and folded in 2001
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Martin Regan

Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Martin Regan » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:37 pm

I also think the "Manchester" clubs were hit by a rise in strength of clubs on the outskirts. Wythenshawe, my own first club, and Stockport, with players like V W Knox, P Macklin, O Jackson and C Fegan, spring to mind - and in the north Bolton and Atherton (M. O'Hara, Jeff Horner, H Lamb and even briefly N Short). Most of South Manchester's strong players finished up at Wythenshawe which itself is no longer in existence.

MartinCarpenter
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by MartinCarpenter » Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:05 pm

Interesting thanks. Suppose Chorlton has - basically by default - more or less taken over as the S/even central Manchester club. Lots of players of course, if never that many properly strong ones.

There was also peoples(?) when I arrived about 10 years ago now (Smith, Burton etc), who played in a pub somewhere roughly round Rusholme somewhere, but they didn't last long. Maybe they were an attempt to keep S Manchester going somehow.

Have to agree about the engraving :)

Mick Norris
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Mick Norris » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:37 am

Peoples (Alan Smith, Graham Burton, Lloyd Powell etc) were a continuation (at a different pub) of White Swan, and previously The Albert (in Rusholme I think) so were actually around for quite a few years

Alan now plays at Stockport and for the county again after a break, Graham doesn't play in the League (after, if I remember what he told me, 29 years) but does play county and 4NCL plus overseas tournaments, Lloyd stopped playing
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MartinCarpenter
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by MartinCarpenter » Fri Oct 24, 2014 5:59 pm

29 years in one league is very impressive :) Suppose you do get a fair turnover of people in Manchester to keep it vaguely fresh.

Reg Clucas
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Reg Clucas » Thu Dec 25, 2014 12:55 pm

When I first played in the Manchester League back in the 1970s there were also F & G divisions. Does any information exist on these?

Gordon Cadden
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Gordon Cadden » Fri Dec 26, 2014 1:47 pm

I live in South Wales, but happen to possess a copy of "Chess and Manchester", by Eric Nowell, 1990. 188p.
During the 1970's, the Manchester League had an F, G, and H Division. This history illustrates the trophies for all eight Divisions.
Very interesting article by the late Richard Furness, on the "Benedictine Years", 1978 - 1983.
For some unknown reason, the French Benedictine Liqueur Company, decided to sponsor an International Tournament in Manchester, which continued annually for five years. The young American IM John Watson, entered the first event, and insisted upon exploiting the Swiss Pairing System, by selecting his "Floats of Convenience" opponents. This request was denied, and when he started to agitate his fellow players, was asked to leave the Tournament Hall, or be forcibly removed.
Eric Nowell has produced a very good history.

Mick Norris
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Mick Norris » Sat Dec 27, 2014 5:25 pm

Gordon

Yes, Eric's book is very interesting, but I haven't seen a copy for a while - does it list the Division and/or Trophy winners, maybe in an Appendix?
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Gordon Cadden
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Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Gordon Cadden » Mon Dec 29, 2014 4:50 pm

Mick
Eric has listed the winning teams for all eight Divisions. Also the Trophy winners for the James Reyner Shield, Dr. Victor Wahltuch Trophy, Dust Cup, Alfred Milner Trophy, H. Hartley Trophy, and the individual Bramley Harker Trophies.
The Manchester Club is well documented in the early years, Listing the 14 Founder members that met at the Albion Hotel, September 3, 1817. Eric has even published potted biographies of all the Founding Members, which must have involved considerable research.
The club went into slow decline in the mid-1930's, when the M.G.S. moved to Old Hall Lane, Rusholme.
Nothing in the history about the demise of this very famous club. It is left to Harry Lamb on this thread, to state that the MCC folded in 1978, at a time when the M.C.D.A. had a massive eight divisions, larger than the London Chess League.
This history is rich in biographies, and auto-biographies. The A4 covers are flimsy. It deserves to be re-printed with fine binding, and hardback covers.

Martin Regan

Re: Manchester League Trophy winners

Post by Martin Regan » Mon Dec 29, 2014 5:34 pm

GC wrote:
For some unknown reason, the French Benedictine Liqueur Company, decided to sponsor an International Tournament in Manchester,
The reason is known. During WW1 the Lancashire pals were based in the area where the monks made the tipple and became quite attracted to it, as a consequence after the war they continued to drink it (as did their offspring) and in the 1960s, 1970s and 80s - I think more of the liqueur was sold in Bolton and Bury than anywhere else in the world.