Welcome once again to a new season.  This year a decline has again occurred reducing the number of teams from 35 to 32, although we are happy to welcome one new club, Banstead Neville Bowling Club.  We have therefore kept 4 divisions but reduced the number of teams in each division to 9, 8, 7 and 8. One important result is that in Divisions 2, 3 & 4 teams will meet three times, with Division 1 teams meeting twice. This divisional structure has enabled us to meet most of the requests by clubs and teams.

Last season we were able to bring back the Closed Championships which were a success, thanks to Alan Lewell, who was awarded the Ken Mantell Memorial Cup for his excellent services to the league, and his team of helpers.  We have arranged the Closed Championships for Sunday 1st March 2009 at West Sutton Youth Centre (same venue as for 2007/08). Please support your Closed Championships - an entry form is included at the back of the handbook.

On a sad note we have to report the death of Spen Lanham, who helped to run the league for a number of years and will be sadly missed.

I would like to thank Des Petherbridge, our former Chairman, for the effort that he has put in over the years in running the league and am pleased we still have his input on our committee now he enjoys better health.

Congratulations to last year’s Championship, Trophy and League winners, and I wish everyone an enjoyable new season.

Ray Ellis
Chairman