History

Main Club – Established circa 1835

Smethwick Cricket & Athletic Club may date from 1835 and certainly existed in 1840. The club was one of a number of locations under the Dorothy Parkes Trust, which also included The Old Church (next to the Old Chapel Public House). The Smethwick area at that time was part of the Parish Of Harborne, with a population of approximately 7000. By the mid 1870’s the club was known as ‘Smethwick Cricket & Quoit Club’.

Much of the land along the ‘Uplands’ was owned by the Dorothy Parkes Trust and in 1898 Henry Mitchell (son of the original brewer and one half of the founders of “Mitchells & Butlers”) purchased a plot of land from the trustees which included a park (now “Harry Mitchell Park”), the South Staffordshire Volunteer Reserve (now ‘”Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre”), and the Broomfield cricket ground. Henry Mitchell made this purchase as a memorial to his son Harry who had died in 1894 at the age of 27. In the A.G.M. of 1897, held on 27th March Henry Mitchell was in attendance. He said that although he was to purchase the club, he expressed his intention not to intefere with the occupancy of the club - this was met with applause.

Henry Mitchell

In 1899 Henry Mitchell gave the land to the Smethwick Corporation (now under Sandwell Council) in trust with the cricket ground being given to the club itself providing they had 25 subscribing members, played cricket and that they paid an annual rent to the Corporation of £12.00. In the early 1900’s the cricket club members built a pavilion (what we now use as our main clubhouse) and in recognition of this effort the Smethwick Corporation agreed to pay the club £8.00 each year to help with the upkeep. The club was now paying only £4.00 per year for the use of Broomfield.

Henry Mitchell died in 1914 and in his time had also formed a brewery at Cape Hill as well as the M&B football and cricket club (now “M&B Portland Road.”).

The three locations (cricket ground, park & leisure centre) are still to this day under the Harry Mitchell Trust, the deeds of which are held by Sandwell Council. The trust ensures that our club will always be protected and can never be owned or purchased. The cricket ground was given to the club. Smethwick Cricket & Athletic Club is a members club and its last owner was Henry Mitchell himself.

Est. 1898 / Est. 1908 – A Dilemma

The minutes from main club committee meetings prove that the green wasn’t laid until 1908. We celebrated our centenary in 1998 under the belief that the bowls section was 100 years old.

From all the information available we can confirm that bowls was played at Smethwick Cricket & Athletic Club before 1908. The club fixture lists of the early 1900’s advertise not only cricket, but also bowls, hockey and lawn tennis. All of these sports were played on the main cricket outfield. Broomfield Bowls Club was officially established in 1908, but bowls had been played at the ground in a very simple format from the time that Henry Mitchell purchased the land in 1898.

From A Duck Pond 1903 ~ 1912

In August 1903, Woodward & Mills of Balsall Heath were contracted to carry out the complete refurbishment of the Holly Bush Public House (still located next to our ground on The Uplands). They were given permission to tip their rubbish and earth from the excavations into the duck pond at the lower end of the cricket field so far as to fill up the pond and level. Woodward & Mills paid us £5.5.0 for the privilege. The original idea behind this action was to lay tennis courts at the lower end of our ground.

In August 1906 it was proposed to build further tennis courts as well as a bowling green in the far right hand corner of the field. In September 1906 levels of ground were taken and estimates of costs were prepared.

It was not until August 1908 that the clubs committee gave the go ahead for the work to begin. The formation of the Broomfield bowling green was carried out by J.Hunt & Sons of Waterloo Road, Smethwick as well as a Mr. R.Standing and cost the club a total of £81.00. The shape of the green was agreed on 13th October 1908 and it was shortly after this that the green had its first use.
1909 saw the start of the bowls section and the main club purchased the various equipment needed for the members to enjoy the new facility. In 1910 the very first Broomfield bowls captain was nominated, Mr. T.Tootell. Competitions were taking place by June 1910 and five bowlers were also elected to stand on the main club committee.

The original bowls shelter / pavilion was demolished in 1912 (now the place where the mower shed stands) and plans were put forward to build a new pavilion which would consist of a man’s room, tool shed and stable. To this day we still use the same building as our main pavilion although many changes were made in the late 1980’s. This included the addition of a kitchen, men and women’s toilets and front windows and door (replacing the large stable doors).

In 1912 it was agreed to extend the green by one yard in the direction of the drill hall – what we now know as “Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre”.

A breakdown of the land in trust under Sandwell Council.

A - Cricket square and outfield.

B - Bowls green, former location of the duck pond / pool.

C - Cricket practice area, former location of tennis courts.

D - Harry Mitchell Park, formerly known as 'Harry's Park'

E - Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre, previously 'South Staffordshire Volunteer Reserve'.

F - The Drill Hall within the Leisure Centres grounds.

G - Cricket club entrance, the car park and main clubhouse.

H - The Hollybush P.H. - In 1903 rubble and earth from here used to fill the duck pond.

1960’s ~ 1980’s

The early history of our club from 1913 ~ 1960 will always be a work in progress as very little official documentation exists. The original A.G.M. minutes from 1960 onwards have recently been rediscovered after they were presumed destroyed.

Only friendly games were played between members up until sometime in the 1960’s. During the A.G.M of 1966 it was proposed by Wilf Robins that we should apply for nomination into the Warwick & Worcester Bowls Association, although this notion was seconded and passed, nothing ever came of it. In 1969 Broomfield joined the Oldbury & District Midweek Bowling League and also entered a team in the Harborne League. League bowls created more competition within the section and the next eight seasons saw us rise up the leagues and eventually win the Oldbury League Division 1 three seasons running. Wilf Robins was the first captain of the Oldbury side but it was under Ray Fletcher’s six years as captain that we collected honour after honour. The side that won Division 1 was without doubt the best in the district, fielding players such as Ernie Dent, Brian Male, Roger Bowker, Roy Freeman, Stan Thompson, George Garbett, Wilf Robins, Peter Gwilt and Harold Fletcher.

The Oldbury League was considered to be highly competitive and in 1975 it was decided to withdraw the Harborne side and enter a ‘B’ team in the Oldbury League. In 1976 our Chairman Billy Adams helped to create the Smethwick & District Sunday Morning Bowling League. Although interest was described as “remote” at the beginning, it soon became very popular. Chris Mullis captained the Smethwick team during our first season.

Only one factor was stopping us moving forward, the fact we did not play league bowls on a Saturday meant the section found it difficult to attract new players. At the end of the 1976 season seven of the Oldbury ‘A’ side left the club. It was on Thursday 3rd November 1977 that Broomfield finally made that vital change and agreed to join the Warwick & Worcester. At the A.G.M eleven years previous it was Wilf Robins that proposed we join and it was the very same person who on that night in November again proposed the change. He explained the main advantage gained from this change would be being able to attract new bowlers and having one of the finest greens in the county helped this. Chris Mullis seconded the proposal and the vote was as follows: 13 for, 2 against, 8 did not vote. Stan Thompson proposed the first Warwick & Worcester captain to be Joe Russell and this was seconded by Roy Freeman.

Wilf Robins - Who was determined for Broomfield to join the Warwick & Worcester. Now in his 90's, Wilf attended the Oldbury Seniors cup final in 2007.

The next 15 years saw many firsts for the club and success seemed to happen season in season out. 1979 saw our green used for a county match by the Warwick & Worcester for the first time. In 1980 we entered a ‘B’ side in the Smethwick league and also a team in the West Bromwich Midweek Bowling League. 1981 saw us join the Warwick & Worcester Alliance league and Barry Griffiths captained the team. 1982 saw us field a second team in the West Bromwich league. Broomfield was now fielding 8 different teams, compared to only 2 in 1975.

The late 1980’s saw some sad and disruptive times. The parent club started to struggle with its finances and some players left the club through dispute or by order of the committee. In a three year period between 1987 and 1989 Broomfield lost five great characters, two of them tragically. In 1987 Ray Fletcher passed away, a great captain who even served on committee when he could no longer play simply because of the knowledge and wisdom he could pass on to the club to keep us moving forward. That same year Peter Hargrave died in clubs function room while dancing with Janice Freeman. One year later Fred Freeman passed away, the first of three Freeman generations and a great servant to both the bowls and cricket sections. In 1988 Peter Wassell suffered a heart attack on the green and died, he had only been at the club for four years but had become a very popular member. ‘The Coach’ Albert Brazier passed away in 1989, a player who was never highly rated but had an amazing knowledge of our green. His 40 plus years at Broomfield meant he was able to advise any new or young bowlers.

Roy Freeman

1991 saw us lose our greatest servant and sportsman, Roy Freeman. At club level Roy is our most successful player in the history of Broomfield Bowls Club winning 10 finals, 4 of them in the club championship. A committee member for 14 years (1978-1991) he also held the position of secretary from 1981 to 1984. He captained our senior side from 1984 to 1987 as we made our way up the Warwick & Worcester Premier divisions. It is interesting to note that at the 1983 A.G.M he commented on the “good progress” made by younger members Paul & Francis Newman and Paul Freeman – players who would eventually be regarded as some of our best when we finally competed in W&W Premier 1.
Many tales are told about ‘Titch’ but one that no doubt deserves a mention is from a cup final on West Bromwich Football Supporters. Facing defeat at 20 ~ 1 down, Roy’s expression had not changed all game. Dogged and determined as ever he won the following end and every one there after coming back to win 21 ~ 20.

After his passing at the end of the 1991 season, Chairman Barry Griffiths had this to say; “Roy was a very placid member of our bowls club who would always listen to members problems then help and advise where possible, he was a very loyal and hard working member to both the Bowls and Parent club. He will be sadly missed but always remembered by both myself and I am sure all of our members. He was dearly loved by his family and the members of Broomfield Bowls Club.” A small garden in the corner of our bowls area is named in his memory and at the A.G.M in 1996 it was proposed by Paul Newman and seconded by Dave Jones that The Roy Freeman Cup and the Club Championship become one to form The Roy Freeman Club Championship.

Roy Freeman 1936 ~ 1991

1995 ~ 2002

At the 1995 A.G.M we elected our first life members; Joe Russell, Fred Price, Billy Adams, Sid Overfield, Arthur Woodward and Jack Howell. On the same night our President Janice Freeman was also made a life member of the bowls section for services over a great number of years.
The club achieved its main ambition in 1995, something that we set out to do in 1978 – make it from Warwick & Worcester Senior Division 11 to Warwick & Worcester Premier Division 1.

The 1998 season deserves a special mention, it no doubt goes down as the year that we hit our peak. During our most successful season ever the Premier side finished 3rd in Division 1, the Alliance team finished runners up also in Division 1. The Alliance team won the cup while Malcolm Spencer won the Alliance Division 1 league averages. The Oldbury ‘A’ midweek side did the double by winning both the league and cup. The West Bromwich cup competition was won by our ‘B’ side, who beat our ‘A’ side in the final. The Smethwick ‘A’ side won Division 1 for the ninth time in 10 years. Darren Griffiths was chairman for the first time and Paul Newman took on the role of Club Captain. Paul Freeman won the senior averages and Pete Nichols won the club championship for the third time. We also managed to field five midweek teams. Our Premier side that year consisted of Ollie Newman, Paul Freeman, Nigel Freeman, Ian Tew, Pete Nichols, Darren Griffiths, Steve Blakeman, Paul Newman, Chris Price, Mark Hadley, Frank Newman and Mick Barnwell.

We have never bettered 1998’s effort but still enjoyed another three successful seasons in 1999, 2000 and 2001. The Alliance side again won the cup in 1999 and the Smethwick ‘A’ side did the double. In 1999 we were also Free Press Cup runners up and in 2000 we won The Free Press Cup for the second time and collected five other league honours. The disappointment that year was the Premier side being relegated to Division 2. In 2001 we won promotion back to Premier 1 and collected another four league honours. That included the first ever Dudley side, a mixture of senior and new bowlers. We collected three more league honours in 2002, all of them as champions for the Smethwick ‘A’, West Bromwich and Dudley teams.

2003 ~ 2007

2003 saw the start of a decline, we started to show the effects of losing high quality senior bowlers like Paul Freeman, Pete Nichols and Darren Griffiths. Our Premier side was relegated to Division 2 after only winning seven games. The following season saw another low after withdrawing the Alliance team for the very first time. It was proposed by Nigel Freeman and Paul Newman that the Saturday side would be selected on a rota basis to try and keep the club together by offering all players Saturday games. Relegation to Division 3 looked more than likely until a miracle performance…

Using the rotation side we went to the then league leaders The Greyhound at the end of July. That day, ‘alliance’ players such as Terry Jones, Pete Rose and Nigel Francis all won and an away win was in sight. Nigel Freeman was last on the green, needing to win 21-16 to win the match. He found himself 16-20 needing to run out to win the match and that he did. His last bowl will always be remembered as people watched it approach a brown patch on the green and then trickle towards the jack. We won by 1 shot and it turned out to be the result that kept us in Division 2.

A huge effort and renewed enthusiasm throughout the section saw a turn around for the 2005 season. The W&W Premier side saw the return of players like Ollie Newman, Ian Tew, Matt Barnwell, Steve Barnwell and Phil High. New and old bowlers joined us and we registered nine players under the age of 25. Player availability almost doubled from the season before and for the first Saturday selection we had 38 players available to fill 24 places.

2005 saw our best season since 1998. The Premier side returned to Division 1 after winning Division 2. On their return to the Alliance league, our second time romped Division 4 with 17/20 wins and a plus of 1496! The Dudley side won promotion to Division 3 (in 2001 we were in Div 7). The Oldbury team finished runners up to the George ‘A’ in Division 1. The West Bromwich side finished mid table after losing 4 of their first 5 matches. The Smethwick ‘A’ side finished as runners up in Division 1 while the ‘B’ side return to Division 2 after winning Division 3.

2006 was a mixed season. The W&W Premier team finished bottom of Division 1 and only won six games all season. The W&W Alliance side was rarely challenged and clinched the Division 3 title after winning 20/22 matches. Terry Jones won the league averages. The Smethwick 'A' team finished runners up in Division 1 and won the S.F.Jones Cup for a record 6th time. The Smethwick 'B' team started well and challenged for promotion but a poor end of season saw them finish 5th in Division 2. The Oldbury 'A' finished runners up to the George 'A' in Division 1 for the third year running but went into the final game of the season with the title still in reach. Ollie Newman had a 16 game unbeaten run in the Oldbury 'A'. The West Bromwich team had another mid table finish. The Dudley team gained promotion into Division 2 to continue their rise up the Divisions, Nigel Francis won both club and league averages. A second team was entered in the Oldbury league to give experience to beginners. They finished 7th and managed to win three games. We fielded a strengthened side in the Oldbury 'B' Cup and came runners up. The Oldbury Seniors had their best season in years and on there return to Division 1 finished 3rd and were in touching distance of a runners up place. Ollie Newman became only the second person to win all three 'A' team averages in one season.

Click here to read 'A Season In Review 2007'

At the 2007 Prize Presentation Evening, seven members were inducted as new life members. This title was awarded for a long service to the club of over 25 years or because of active service, involvement and effort over a 20 year period or more. The bowlers inducted were Malcolm Spencer, Chris Price, Frank Newman, Nigel Francis, Mark Hadley Snr, Steve Blakeman and Nigel Freeman.