Forward

Having already compiled a ‘Biography of John Watkinson’, and a ‘History of the Huddersfield Chess Club’, I thought it was only proper that I should complete the local picture by producing a history of the Huddersfield
and District Chess Association. This has indeed been a labour of love, as it was due to this organisation that I began to play the game seriously. I was introduced to the Watkinson Knock-out (section three) in 1940 by a friend, Andrew Leitch, who worked alongside Norman Calvert, who was then the Association secretary. At that time paying the entry fee of one shilling (5p) meant that you became a member of the Association. I was beaten in this final by Harold Beaumont, but with my runners-up prize money, I joined the Huddersfield Chess Club.
I should like to express my thanks, firstly to the present secretary, Bill Lumley, who has provided me with the dates of various events, and also with many names missing from my own records of winners. And secondly to Nigel Hepworth for transferring my written notes into print.
Edgar Priestley
April 2004

The Beginning

It has been recorded that in the 1894-95 season, the Huddersfield Chess Club had an ‘A’ team which played mid-week friendly matches against some local teams, for example, Honley, Lindley Parish Church, Lindley Liberals, Huddersfield YMCA, St. John’s YMCA, Hillhouse Congregational Church and the Friendly & Trades Club. At the AGM of the Club on 18th May 1895, it was proposed and agreed to inaugurate a new  competition for a trophy open to Clubs in the Huddersfield district (defined as the Huddersfield Poor-Law Union area).
John Watkinson proposed that a meeting should be called at which representatives of district teams should meet officials of the Huddersfield Club to formulate the rules for this new competition. He also said that he would contribute a suitable trophy. On 13th July 1895, a meeting was held at the Huddersfield Club’s headquarters in the Byram Arcade, and rules were agreed for the ‘Watkinson Trophy’. “There were to be teams of 6 players, but no team was to have in it more than one player who within the last four years had competed for the Woodhouse Cup or the Silver Castle Trophy. John Watkinson Prizes, to become the property of the winning team, shall be competed for, in addition to the trophy.”
On 14th September 1895 there was a ‘Watkinson Trophy Meeting’. This was held at the Byram Arcade, under the chairmanship of the Huddersfield Club’s President, T.S.Yates, with the Huddersfield secretary,W.U.Rothery, and representatives of the other clubs.Twelve teams entered for the trophy competition, namely, Honley Liberal Club, Slaithwaite chess team, Milnsbridge House chess club, Lockwood Conservative club, Primrose Hill club, Lindley Church Institute, Friendly and Trades club, Huddersfield YMCA and St. John’s YMCA. The teams were divided into 3 groups of 4. Fixtures were made for each
team to play home and away matches in these groups by the end of February 1896. Then a further meeting was to be called to arrange details for the 3 group winners to play off to decide the trophy winner.
Although these two meetings were not officially described as the ‘Huddersfield Chess Association’ it seems clear that this was the real beginning of this organisation.
It would appear that the Holmfirth Club was a late entry, as they were to become the first winners of the Watkinson trophy. When they repeated their performance in the 1900-01 season, they claimed possession of this trophy. It was described as “a handsome black marble timepiece with an engraved and ornamental gilt dial, bronze figure and bronze inlaid, standing on an ebony pedestal in which were inserted gilt chamfered shields, one inscribed with the name of the donor, and the object of the trophy, and the other with the name of the winning team, and of the captains who had lead them to victory.” John Watkinson then presented a second trophy, in the form of a large silver rook, with the proviso that this one could not be won outright. This is the trophy which is still in use up to the present day. John continued to support this competition, and it is reported that when a team from Meltham won the trophy in 1908, he was invited to a special celebration at the Carlisle Institute in Meltham, where he gave a simultaneous exhibition against the six players of their team. Even at the age of 65, he was able to get 5 wins and a draw. The meeting concluded with a special song, with words put to a well known tune, written by the Meltham captain.
 

Individual Knockout Competitions

In 1936, it was decided to inaugurate three knockout competitions for individual players. These were divided into groups designated as ‘strong players’, ‘average players’ and ‘novices’. Three cups were purchased for the winners to hold for twelve months, and they were engraved with the name of ‘John Watkinson’, despite this being thirteen years after his death. Entry to these knockout competitions was open to anyone living in the Huddersfield district. In paying the sum of one shilling (5p) the person became a member of the Association. At the time the Financial Secretary was Norman Calvert, of the Huddersfield Club, and he was dedicated to attracting entries. Up to 1937, all boys attending the Huddersfield College (a secondary school) were taught the game of chess by the then headmaster, H.E.Atkins (nine times British Champion). As most of these pupils obtained employment in local industries, it followed that there were a large number of men in the district who could play chess. Consequently for the first few years of these competitions there were large numbers attracted to the lower section - usually in excess of 60.

Stanley Littlewood

Stanley Littlewood became President of the Association in 1939. He was a prominent member of the Lindley Chess Club. On this occasion he entreated all strong chess players in the association to join the Huddersfield Club, in order to strengthen their teams in the Yorkshire competitions. He set an example by joining himself. Unfortunately the Second World War intervened, when all Yorkshire fixtures were abandoned for the duration. No Association team matches were played either, although the individual knockouts continued to thrive. Stanley was a great character, and he had a wealth of anecdotes of events from his earlier days. One of his favourite stories concerned the occasion when the Lindley team had to visit Brighouse for the final deciding fixture. The match was closely contested and the games continued for a long time (there were no clocks used then), so much so that when finally the Lindley team had proved victorious they found out that they had missed the last tram back to Huddersfield. So they had to walk back all the way to Lindley.
 

Post World War II

On re-starting the Watkinson League after the War, the teams taking part were, Huddersfield, Halifax, Lindley, Ravensthorpe, the Huddersfield Industrial Society, Britannia Works & David Brown’s Gears. They were soon joined by the Polish and Ukrainian Clubs. Jack Walker (of Lindley) took over as secretary, being succeeded in the early 1950’s by Harry Wadsworth (of Huddersfield). Harry continued in office for about 15 years. In 1952, the Huddersfield Club initiated a weekly chess column in the Examiner, and Harry contributed a weekly report of Association matters, using the none-de-plume of ‘Max Lange’, for many years. He was also the captain of the successful Huddersfield Knights team. At the AGM of 1957, Stanley Littlewood resigned as President, as he thought that he had held the position for so long, it was time to give someone else a chance. He suggested that it would be beneficial if the office was only held for 5 years. His successor was Norman Calvert who had been a successful secretary in the past.
 

Handicap System

It was in 1958 that a major change to the handicap system was introduced. Previously each club received a block handicap for the season, depending on results from the previous season. Each club had to produce
a list of registered players, and this handicap evaluation was based on the strength of a club’s strongest players. Now a change was introduced which required that every registered player should have an individual handicap, from 0 to 10, with 6 points being awarded for a win, and 3 points for a draw. These were initially agreed by a show of hands at a special committee meeting, at which all clubs were represented, at the  eginning of the season. Later it was decided that a separate Handicap Committee should be elected to determine these handicaps on a more studied scientific method. Prominent early members were Ted Mitchell (ICI), Edgar Priestley (Huddersfield), Bob Ramage (Britannia Works) and Eric Bower (David Browns). Initially there were fears expressed about the mathematics of this new system, but year by year confidence grew as it was apparent that in practice the system did work. No particular type of team appeared to benefit unduly, so that teams of varying strengths could compete equally. This change (and note that this was developed before the National Grading system was adopted by the BCF) had several beneficial effects. Firstly, a club that was not able to field its strongest team in a particular fixture, was not penalised on this handicap system, so that clubs were able to involve many more of their members in matches. Secondly, clubs who had some strong members who were not available on a regular basis could now register them without any penalty. Previously not many leading players in the district took part in Association matches, but under the new conditions many Woodhouse Cup players were registered by several Association clubs.

Peak Years

So that there was a dramatic increase in the number of players taking part in the Watkinson League, as now some clubs were entering more than one team.
Bob Ramage, who became the President in 1962, was the leading force behind the Britannia Works Club. He was a popular figure and had been a prominent member of the Association for many years. He was also a member of the Huddersfield Club, where he was the captain of their second team taking part in the I.M.Brown Shield competition at that time. There were eight teams taking part in the Watkinson League at this time, namely, Huddersfield Knights and Bishops, Britannia Works, Armitage and Norton, Lindley, Park Works, ICI and King James Grammar School. Incidentally, the first four all shared their headquarters at the Britannia Works Social Club at Blacker Road, Birkby. It was at Bob Ramage’s suggestion that a new competition was introduced in 1966 into the calendar, namely a team knockout event for a newly purchased Challenge Cup. For the first three years this trophy was held by the Huddersfield Knights, under the captaincy of Harry Wadsworth. The next President (1967-72) was Horace Walker, the popular Huddersfield player. In the early 1950’s, as his work prevented his appearance in Saturday matches, he was undoubtedly the strongest player in the Watkinson League. He went for many years without losing a game. He was also the captain of the Bishops, who had a very successful side in the 1960’s. Denis Hill, who played for Armitage & Norton took over the secretarial duties. By 1967, Dewsbury, C&J Hirsts, Huddersfield New College and the Colne Valley High School had joined the Association. Edgar Priestley of the Huddersfield Club became President 1972-77. Alan Wright was secretary for the first year being succeeded by Brian Herriot. Both were members of the ICI club. There was a dramatic increase in the popularity of chess, following the publicity arising from the Fischer-Spassky World Championship match in 1972. The established clubs had increased memberships, and there was a gradual increase in new clubs affiliating to the Association. Consequently there was a general demand to have more fixtures available, so that a secondary handicap tournament was introduced in 1973, when fixtures were arranged on alternating weeks with the major competition. A new trophy was purchased for the winners and named the ‘Stanley Littlewood Shield’, in commemoration of a long and distinguished contribution to the Association.
New clubs had an option of the number of teams they could enter in both competitions, giving works clubs more fixtures per player, whilst regional clubs who had more players could run more teams.
 

The Dial System

This increase in the number of teams entering, which now varied from year to year, created a fixture problem. However these were solved when the President devised a system whereby any number of teams could be accommodated in one competition. The teams were arranged into a dial, each team having home fixtures against the 4 teams immediately to one side, and away matches against the 4 teams on the other side.
This gave each team 8 fixtures for the season, which was followed by a play-off between the top four teams to decide the trophy winners. In the 1973-74 season there were 20 teams in the Watkinson League, and 10 teams in the Littlewood Shield competition. At this time there were almost 90 players taking part in the individual knockouts, and to facilitate games, fixed venues and dates were allocated for each round. Section 1 games being played at the Huddersfield Club headquarters (Lindley parish room), Section 2 at ICI, and Section 3 at Britannia Social Club in Macaulay Road, Birkby. In April 1974 a 40 board match was played at Brighouse between an Association team and a team representing the Bradford & District Chess Association, our team winning by 19-17. A repeat fixture took place at the Polytechnic in September which we lost by 18-19. In 1976 the office of ‘Financial Secretary’ of previous years was divided, W.F.Lumley took over as Tournament Secretary, while B.J.Herriot was responsible for financial affairs. The following year the offices were described as Secretary and Treasurer, being held by Bill Lumley and Rupert Fisher (both of the Polytechnic). Thus began Bill Lumley’s long service as secretary. He also joined the Handicap Committee at this time.
In 1977 Eric Bower became President, but only served for three years as his employment lead him to leave the district. Eric was a very keen player, being secretary at the David Brown’s club., and treasurer and
second team captain at Huddersfield. He also found time to captain the winning Watkinson League team at Crosland Moor Liberals in 1971. In November 1977, a Kirklees Twinning Trophy event was held at the
Sports Centre, between Kirklees, Besancon, and Kreis Unna. This triangular tournament took place over a weekend. On the Saturday Kreis Unna beat Besancon by 4½ games to 1½. On the Sunday morning the Association team (D.Firth, R.van Kemenade, T.Pogson, F.W.Brown, J.E.Harrison and R.Keely) beat the Germans by 3½ to 2½. Having to play two matches on the same day the Association fielded a second team
(D.Firth, W.Smith, J.Atherton, E.Priestley, M.Fox and R.Fisher) against the French in the afternoon, but lost 5 games to 1. In the evening, the Mayor of Kirklees entertained all the players and officials to a Presentation Dinner at the Sports Centre. Scratch League At this time there was a strong lobby for converting the Watkinson League to a scratch competition. There were now more stronger teams in the competition. Two recent additions had been the Polytechnic and the Denby Dale club. The former contained several teachers who had had experience of other leagues, whilst the latter consisted mainly of players from the Wakefield club. A trial scratch competition was held in 1976-77 which was won by the ICI team. So the following season it was agreed to organise the major competitions on a scratch basis. There was a 1st division of 8 teams competing for the Watkinson Trophy, and a 2nd division of 7 teams playing for the Littlewood Shield. A new trophy was provided by the Huddersfield Examiner for a handicap tournament (15 teams). The Challenge Cup continued on a handicap basis. In 1980, Frank Brown (ICI and Huddersfield) took over as President. The post of Treasurer was held by Dr. J.Atherton (1979-83) followed by Alan Kennedy (Kirklees Finance) (1983-98). Alan also served on the Handicap Committee.

Rapid Play Tournament

An innovation started in 1980 was a one day (Sunday) rapid-play tournament. This was first held at the ICI club, but later at the Polytechnic, and has continued as a regular event. In 1986, Frank Brown presented a trophy to be held by the winner. The controller of this event has been John Newsome, of the Netherton Family Club. The individual knockout competitions were very popular at this time, for example, in 1983 the total entries reached an all time record of 110 competitors. Section 1 was now held at ICI (Frank Brown controller), Section 2 at the Polytechnic (Bill Lumley) and Section 3 at Huddersfield’s headquarters at the Polish Club (Edgar Priestley controller). There were thirteen clubs affiliated to the Association. The next President was Colin Brooke of Dewsbury 1988-92. Colin was very keen to establish a stable structure to the running of the Association. So he was very keen to put forward his idea that any changes made to the rules should only be possible if two-thirds majority of votes was recorded. Previously a simple majority sufficed. Tony Midgley, of Huddersfield, joined the committee. It was in 1989 that the Britannia Works club dropped out of the Association after a very long existence. Also the Polytechnic team gave up. Bill Lumley was responsible for the formation of a new club at East Bierley. John Newsome became the President in 1992. Special mention must be made of his contribution to the Association. Not only has he been controller of the rapid-play event since its inception, but he has been responsible for the development of the Netherton Family Club. Starting as a team of pupils from his local school, the club has gradually increased by attracting members from the Wakefield and Barnsley areas. At the present time Netherton has the largest number of registered players and enter the most teams in the competition. Since the demise of the ICI club in 1992, they have also hosted the AGMs at the Netherton WMC.

The Decline

The number of teams in the Watkinson Trophy competition had generally declined, so that by 1994-95 season a single division of 12 teams took part. These included 4 teams from Netherton and 3 teams from Denby Dale. The Littlewood Shield was hence forward awarded to the runner-up in this competition. In 1992 the total entries for the individual knock-outs had declined to 40. As these could all be accommodated at the  Huddersfield Club’s headquarters, now at the Royal Infirmary, all the rounds in all sections were played there, with Edgar Priestley as controller. The next President, in 1996, was Roger Tuddenham, of the Denby Dale Club. Whilst a teacher at the Huddersfield New College Roger had been responsible for chess at that school, which had produced many fine players in the recent past. He had also been captain of the Huddersfield Club’s Woodhouse Cup team, but he will be remembered chiefly as the organiser of the club at Denby Dale. He managed to attract many strong players from the Wakefield Club, and they have been a very competitive team in the league.

The Centenary

On the 24th June 1995, the Association celebrated its Centenary at an event held at the University. A buffet meal was followed by a chess match between the large number of members attending. It was especially
pleasing that our old friend Stanley Littlewood was able to be present. Although now 95 years of age (and not having played any competitive chess for 15 years) he took part in the match, and even managed to win his game against the youngest player present. This was D.W.Jackson of Netherton, who incidentally was to become winner of Section 1 of the individual knockout competition in 2002. Alan Kennedy, of Kirklees Finance (later NALGO), retired after 14 years as Treasurer, in 1998. This office was taken over by David Firth. David has had a long career in the Huddersfield first team, playing for many years with ICI, then East Bierley. He is perhaps best recognised for his record number of wins (11 to date) of Section 1 of the knockout competition. Up to 1996 the handicap committee had worked out individual handicaps for each season, based on player’s performances of the previous year. Comparisons with the National and YCA gradings were always made, but it was felt that due to various reasons, our local assessments were more accurate than the other systems. However it was always hoped that some correlation between the systems could be realised, and this step was taken in 1996 as it was recognised that by this time the National Grading system had been improved. So that the Huddersfield handicap grades of 0 to 10 were evaluated in terms of ranges of the YCA grades. This evaluation was revised in 2003. Alec Ward became President in 2001. He had been a disciple of Bob Ramage at Britannia Works, where he played for many years. When this team resigned from the league he joined the David Brown’s Gears team. This club now was a work’s team in name only having no direct link to the works. So that now there were no clubs representing industrial works left in the Association. There were also no clubs remaining with headquarters near the town centre of Huddersfield, and no school teams.
These factors were due to the changing patterns of local life. A new competition was inaugurated in 2003. This was a rapid play team event, which was played as an all-play-all tournament held at four venues.
A new trophy was purchased to be presented to the annual winners and was named the ‘W.F.Lumley trophy’.

Bill Lumley

This history would be incomplete without a special reference to the outstanding contribution of Bill Lumley, who is still going strong as secretary, now in his 28th year of office. His organisational skills coming from his years as controller of the Polytechnic (later University) Sports Hall, have proved to be a great advantage to the Huddersfield and District Chess Association. It should also be mentioned that Bill has also become an expert at correspondence chess, in which field he has graduated to become an International Master.

Presidents
1939-57 Stanley Littlewood
1957-62 Norman Calvert
1962-67 Bob Ramage
1967-72 Horace Walker
1972-77 Edgar Priestley
1977-80 Eric Bower
1980-88 Frank Brown
1988-92 Colin Brooke
1992-96 John Newsome
1996-01 Roger Tuddenham
2001- Alex Ward

List of Affiliated Clubs to the Association since 1945
Note that several have had changes in their names.
1. Armitage and Norton / Accountants
2. Brighouse
3. Britannia Works and Sports
4. Thomas Broadbents
5. Colne Valley High School
6. Crosland Moor Liberals
7. David Browns Tractors
8. Denby Dale / Chartists
9. Dewsbury
10. East Bierley / Spen
11. Halifax
12. Heckmondwike
13. C. and J. Hirsts
14. Holme Valley
15. Holme Valley Grammar School
16. W.C. Holmes / Peabody-Holmes
17. Holset
18. Huddersfield - Bishops, Knights, Dragons, Castles, Rooks
19. Huddersfield Industrial Society
20. Huddersfield New College
21. ICI and Dalton Works
22. John Crowthers
23. King James Grammar School / College
24. Kirklees Finance / NALGO / Unison
25. Kirkheaton Liberals / Conservatives
26. Lindley
27. Mirfield High School
28. Netherton Family
29. Park Works / David Browns Gears
30. Polish
31. Polytechnic
32. Post Office / Telecom
33. Ravensthorpe
34. St. Gregory’s Grammar School / All Saints
35. Thornton Lodge Bowling
36. Ukrainian
37. Wakefield
38. York House

Watkinson Trophy Winners

1896. Holmfirth
1897. Milnsbridge House
1898. Milnsbridge House
1899. Friendly & Trades
1900. Holmfirth
1901. Holmfirth
1902. Lockwood Conservatives
1903. Milnsbridge Liberals
1904. Lockwood Conservatives
1905. Brighouse
1906. Brighouse
1907. Brighouse
1908. Meltham
1909. Linthwaite
1910. Huddersfield YMCA
1911. Huddersfield
1912. Huddersfield YMCA
1913. Huddersfield
1914. Milnsbridge Liberals
1920. Huddersfield
1921. Lockwood & District
1922. Brighouse
1923. Berry Brow
1924. Huddersfield YMCA
1925. Huddersfield YMCA
1926. Huddersfield
1927. Lindley
1928. Meltham
1929. Lindley
1930. Parkwood Institute
1931. Huddersfield
1932. Huddersfield YMCA
1933. Lindley
1934. Huddersfield
1935. Parkwood Institute
1936. Lindley
1937. Huddersfield
1938. H.I.S. Ltd
1939. Lindley
1946. Huddersfield
1947. Halifax
1948. Lindley
1949. Ravensthorpe
1950. Halifax
1951. Lindley
1952. Ravensthorpe
1953. Huddersfield
1954. David Browns Tractors
1955. Ukrainian Association
1956. David Browns Tractors
1957. Polish
1958. Polish
1959. Polish
1960. King James Grammar School
1961. Polish
1962. Britannia Works
1963. David Browns Athletic
1964. Huddersfield Bishops
1965. King James Grammar School
1966. Huddersfield Bishops
1967. Huddersfield Bishops
1968. David Browns Park Works
1969. Accountants
1970. King James Grammar School
1971. Crosland Moor Liberals
1972. Britannia Works
1973. Dewsbury
1974. Huddersfield
1975. Britannia Sports
1976. Dalton Works
1977. Huddersfield Dragons
Scratch
1978. Huddersfield Knights
1979. Denby Dale
1980. Huddersfield Knights
1981. ICI
1982. ICI
1983. ICI
1984. Huddersfield Knights
1985. Denby Dale
1986. Polytechnic
1987. Huddersfield Knights
1988. Huddersfield Knights
1989. Polytechnic
1990. Huddersfield Knights
1991. Huddersfield Knights
1992. Denby Dale
1993. Denby Dale
1994. Denby Dale
1995. Denby Dale
1996. Denby Dale
1997. Netherton
1998. Netherton
1999. Huddersfield Knights
2000. Netherton
2001. Netherton
2002. Netherton
2003. Netherton
2004. Netherton
2007. Netherton 1
2009. Huddersfield Knights
2011. Huddersfield Knights
2013. Huddersfield Knights

Challenge Cup Winners
1966. Huddersfield Knights
1967. Huddersfield Knights
1968. Huddersfield Knights
1969. Huddersfield New College
1970. Dewsbury
1971. Crosland Moor Liberals
1972. Lindley
1973. Dewsbury
1974. Polytechnic
1975. Huddersfield New College
1976. Mirfield High School
1977. Huddersfield Dragons
1978. Denby Dale
1979. David Browns Gears
1980. Britannia Works
1981. David Browns Gears
1982. Huddersfield Bishops
1983. Huddersfield Rooks
1984. Holme Valley
1985. Polytechnic
1986. Huddersfield Bishops
1987. Polytechnic
1988. Mirfield High School
1989. Dewsbury
1990. Dewsbury
1991. David Browns Gears
1992. Denby Dale
1993. East Bierley
1994. Netherton
1995. Netherton
1996. Netherton
1997. Denby Dale
1998. Brighouse
1999. Brighouse
2000. Brighouse
2001. Netherton
2002. Netherton
2003. Holme Valley
2004. Chartists

Littlewood Shield Winners
1973. Britannia Works
1974. Huddersfield New College
1975. ICI
1976. Denby Dale
1977. Denby Dale
1978. Huddersfield Dragons
1979. Polytechnic
1980. Dewsbury
1981. Kirklees Finance
1982. Holme Valley
1983. Polytechnic
1984. Holme Valley
1985. Netherton
1986. Huddersfield Dragons
1987. Dewsbury
1988. Holme Valley
1989. York House
1990. Huddersfield Bishops
1991. Dewsbury
1992. Netherton
1993. Brighouse
1994. Huddersfield Knights
1995. Denby Dale ‘B’
1996. David Browns Gears
1997. Huddersfield Knights
1998. Denby Dale
1999. Netherton
2000. Chartists
2001. Chartists
2002. Huddersfield Knights
2003. Huddersfield Knights
2004. Huddersfield Knights
Examiner Trophy Winners
1978. Polytechnic
1979. Huddersfield Castles
1980. Huddersfield Dragons
1981. Post Office
1982. Huddersfield Rooks
1983. Kirkheaton Conservatives
1984. Dewsbury
1985. Huddersfield Bishops
1986. Huddersfield Bishops
1987. Huddersfield Bishops
1988. Holme Valley
1989. NALGO
1990. Denby Dale
1991. Holme Valley
1992. Huddersfield Rooks
1993. Denby Dale
1994. Huddersfield Dragons
1995. Netherton
1996. Netherton
1997. Huddersfield Rooks
1998. Brighouse
1999. David Browns Gears
2000. David Browns Gears
2001. Netherton
2002. Chartists
2003. Chartists
2004. Holme Valley

Individual Knockout Section 1 Winners
1937. W.Dyson
1938. W.Dyson
1939. T.Milne
1940. H.Boothroyd
1941. H.Rawcliffe
1942. H.Boothroyd
1943. H.Boothroyd
1944. T.B.Small
1945. T.B.Small
1946. H.Greenwood
1947. S.Leff
1948. H.Boothroyd
1949. K.Beaumont
1950. A.G.Midgley
1951. T.B.Small
1952. A.G.Midgley
1953. H.Boothroyd
1954. A.G.Midgley
1955. K.Beaumont
1956. A.Goodwin
1957. A.G.Midgley
1958. C.H.Hinchliff
1959. A.G.Midgley
1960. G.M.Sheldrick
1961. P.R.Bielby
1962. P.R.Bielby
1963. P.R.Bielby
1964. R.de L.Holmes
1965. M.Hellewell
1966. M.Hellewell
1967. P.R.Bielby
1968. M.Hellewell
1969. A.Heaton
1970. E.Priestley
1971. A.M.Walker
1972. E.Priestley
1973. H.Walker
1974. F.W.Brown
1975. T.Pogson
1976. D.Firth
1977. T.Pogson
1978. D.Firth
1979. A.Holford
1980. D.Firth
1981. R.van Kemenade
1982. D.Firth
1983. R.van Kemenade
1984. P.Noble
1985. D.Firth
1986. M.White
1987. D.Firth
1988. M.White
1989. T.Pogson
1990. R.van Kemenade
1991. G.Keeling
1992. G.Neave
1993. D.Firth
1994. D.Firth
1995. D.Firth
1996. C.P.Booth
1997. D.Firth
1998. R.S.Boylan
1999. M.Eke
2000. M.Eke
2001. R.S.Boylan
2002. D.W.Jackson
2003. D.Firth
2004. P.Shaw

Individual Knockout Section 2 Winners
1937. D.Hirst
1938. A.E.Middleton
1939. A.Collinge
1940. H.Rawcliffe
1941. H.Warwick
1942. N.S.Calvert
1943. H.H.Smith
1944. A.Asquith
1945. E.G.Bainbridge
1946. J.Rushton
1947. H.Walker
1948. A.G.Midgley
1949. E.Denison
1950. E.Tregeris
1951. E.B.Spratt
1952. D.Hirst
1953. J.Berry
1954. J.Haluszka
1955. A.Goodwin
1956. Z.T.Karpinski
1957. T.R.Richards
1958. G.M.Shelrick
1959. W.Wiewidrowski
1960. N.S.Calvert
1961. R.A.Lee
1962. S.Hnatkiwskyj
1963. R.de L.Holmes
1964. A.M.Walker
1965. D.Renehan
1966. J.L.Fayne
1967. D.Wilkinson
1968. T.V.Prior
1969. J.Callaghan
1970. G.Fielding
1971. H.Wadsworth
1972. J.Callaghan
1973. H.U.Hanson
1974. B.J.Herriot
1975. C.Grier
1976. D.Meade
1977. C.Thompson
1978. A.Ward
1979. P.Noble
1980. G.Twitchell
1981. D.Heaton
1982. V.Nikitin
1983. S.Tatlock
1984. M.McDonald
1985. P.Punter
1986. P.F.Miall
1987. A.Kennedy
1988. D.Wilkinson
1989. C.Sykes
1990. D.Woodhead
1991. E.Mellor
1992. H.Carr
1993. W.F.Lumley
1994. P.Mallard
1995. A.Randall
1996. D.Dragicevic
1997. D.Tooley
1998. P.H.Jackson
1999. I.Craig
2000. N.R.Hepworth
2001. A.Ward
2002. D.Dragicevic
2003. W.F.Lumley
2004. N.R.Hepworth

Individual Knockout Section 3 Winners
1937. J.Thornton
1938. J.Thornton
1939. H.Stables
1940. J.Potter
1941. H.Beaumont
1942. D.H.Goodyear
1943. J.Turner
1944. N.Naylor
1945. F.Schofield
1946. C.Armitage
1947. E.B.Spratt
1948. J.Walker
1949. H.Wadsworth
1950. R.A.Ballinger
1951. H.B.Cartwright
1952.
1953.
1954. F.Reynard
1955. Z.T.Karpinski
1956. K.Garside
1957. T.Hirst
1958. G.Walker
1959. B.Crowther
1960. A.Heaton
1961.
1962. J.D.Bremner
1963. A.M.Walker
1964. B.Taylor
1965. V.Eglinton
1966. A.M.Crawford
1967. J.D.Kaye
1968. L.Lankovits
1969. J.E.Kabala
1970. J.S.Armitage
1971. M.H.Hardi
1972. H.U.Hanson
1973. B.J.Herriot
1974. B.McGreevy
1975. D.Woodhead
1976. A.Dearnley
1977. K.Ramsden
1978. B.Lockwood
1979. V.Nikitin
1980. A.Brett
1981. D.Bowkett
1982. C.J.I.Marsh
1983. M.Haigh
1984. C.Sykes
1985. Mrs.Sanderson
1986. S.Inglis
1987. J.Carr
1988. G.McLeary
1989. B.Watson
1990. C.Mulligan
1991. N.R.Hepworth
1992. W.Westerman
1993. J.D.Courouble
1994. S.Westermoreland
1995. G.F.Wellick
1996. D.Pickering
1997. N.Walpole
1998. M.Rojinsky
1999. J.Brook
2000. D.T.Hill
2001. J.Castle
2002. K.Haig
2003. M.Shah
2004. M.Shah
Individual Rapid Play Winners
1979. D.Firth
1980. D.Firth & M.Eke
1981. M.Eke
1982. B.J.Herriot
1983. D.Firth, R.van Kemenade & A.Hart-Davis
1984. R.van Kemenade
1985. D.Firth, T.Pogson & K.A.Dawson
F.W.Brown Trophy
1986. M.Eke
1987. M.Eke
1988. R.van Kemenade
1989. T.Pogson
1990. T.Pogson
1991. D.Firth
1992.
1993. T.Pogson
1994. R.Keely
1995. D.M.Denison
1996. R.Keely
1997. M.Ellis
1998. R.Keely
1999. R.Keely
2000. D.M.Denison
2001. P.Shaw
2002. D.M.Denison
2003. L.Keely
2004. P.Shaw & D.M.Denison
W.F.Lumley Trophy - Team Rapid Play Winners
2003. Netherton
2004.