Palace Shield 1902 - 1931
An article researched and written by Alan Briggs
The details and circumstances relating to the formation of The Palace (Blackpool) Shield Competition are recorded in the Minutes of the first Meeting held at the Railway Hotel, Blackpool on November 4th 1901.
"Present Messrs Bennett (Kirkham), Scholfield (Blackpool), Evans (St. Annes), Wignall (Croston), Gilbert (Ashton), Sanderson (Penwortham), Harrison (St. Pauls) and Etchells (Kirkham)"
Mr. Bennett was voted to the Chair and Mr. Etchells elected Secretary.
Mr. Etchells explained to the Meeting about the offer of Mr. C V Haworth Chairman of the Blackpool Alhambra Company who promised a handsome Silver Shield for the Competition among the Fylde Cricket Clubs. The conditions were :-
- It was to be called The Alhambra (Blackpool) Shield Competition.
- That it be won 3 times before becoming the absolute property of any club. (see 1903)
It was proposed to form a Shield Competition and Mr. C V Haworth was invited to be the first President.
A Further meeting was arranged for November 11th when 20 rules were drawn up for the Competition, and fixtures arranged for the seven clubs taking part.
The subscription to the Competition being fixed at 12/6d per club.
The seven clubs drew lots for the right to exhibit the Shield for one week each.
The seven founding clubs were :-
Ashton, Blackpool, Croston, Fleetwood, Kirkham, Penwortham & St.Annes.
1902
In this, the first season the final league table reading
| St. Annes | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| Penwortham | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 15 |
| Croston | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| Kirkham | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Blackpool | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Ashton | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 8 |
| Fleetwood | 12 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
At the end of the season a match was arranged between St Annes (Champions) and the Rest of the League. This resulted in a win for St.Annes 85 - 65. The following extract appeared in the Blackpool Times "On Friday last an interesting event took place at the Alhambra, Blackpool when Miss Vesta Tilley presented the handsome Alhambra Challenge Shield to the St Annes team."
No league from 1915 to 1919. St Annes did not rejoin.
1924
St. Annes were admitted to the 1st Division. Blackpool A resigned form 2nd Division Fulwood ll and St.Annes ll admitted, making 22 teams in all.
1928
St.Annes and Great Eccleston were promoted to the 1st Division and Morecambe relegated. In the 2nd Division Preesall retired and vacancies were filled by British Goodrich and Leyland Motors lll.
1931
Electric and Transport were promoted and St.Annes relegated. In Division 2 Thornton ICI ll and Leyland Motors lll resigned one vacancy being filled by Electric & Transport ll.
Ribblesdale League 1928/29
Having finished in the bottom two for six successive seasons and facing great financial difficulties, Burnley St. Andrews became the first of the founder clubs to disappear for ever from the Senior League. They were replaced by St. Annes, in 1928, and an application from Dick Kerr's C.C. of the Palace Shield Competition was refused, leaving the number of member clubs at 12. Both batsmen and bowlers prospered in 1928, the sunniest season for years. James Peters of Whalley had a record individual knock of 158 not out versus Chorley, which included 2 sixes and 23 fours and one over from McNairy which went for 22. It beat the previous best of 146 not out by Padiham professional Atherton versus Barrow in 1913. Four batsmen topped 600 runs: Massey of Blackpool, Crabtree of Barrow, Pollard of Clitheroe and Peters. Crabtree helped Pitchford to an unbeaten opening partnership of 240 for Barrow against Leyland which remained a record until 1947. The aggregate for that match was only 9 short of the record set three years earlier: Barrow 2400, Leyland 2326. But the bowlers had their moments too. Holmes of Lancaster had 73 against Leyland and 83 including a hat trick against Darwen who were all out for 13. Eddleston of' Read took all 10 wickets against Leyland.
In 1929 Blackpool just failed to gain a hat trick of titles by one point, Whalley finishing champions for the tenth time with the help of new professional Ernest Smith, who began with 3 wickets in 4 balls in his first match and had best match figures of 819, and of course James Peters whose 50 against St. Annes made it a half century against every club in the league.
Ribblesdale League 1936
Times were still hard and Clitheroe, Read and Ribblesdale Wanderers were all without professionals. St. Annes had in their ranks the legendary Sidney Barnes, now 63 years old.
Ribblesdale League 1938
For the 1938 season, the league as always kept up with the trends, this time by introducing the 8ball over. Leonard Green who had heard good reports of its introduction in Australia in season 19367 was a prime mover in the change. The Daily Mail and Daily Express expressed their approval of the move, giving the Ribblesdale League some rare national coverage. 20 minutes per innings could be saved, it was hoped. The season came to an exciting finish with St. Annes needing a win on the last Saturday to take their first title. In fact they lost to Barnoldswick, who moved above Blackpool leaving the previous year's champions as wooden-spoonists
Ribblesdale League 1940 - 1951
In the Second World War cricket was able to continue albeit in straitened circumstances. Professionals were not used, registration rules were relaxed for troops at home and to reduce travelling the clubs were divided into two regions. One region comprised Blackpool, St. Annes, Chorley, Leyland, Leyland Motors and Lancaster; the other was Clitheroe, Whalley, Ribblesdale Wanderers, Read, Darwen and Barnoldswick. Fears were expressed that the split might have lasting effect (which in a sense it eventually did when the Northern League was formed in 1952) but no other solution was possible.
In the event a playoff between the sectional winners in 1940, Darwen and St. Annes, was not possible, so the title was shared. The bat was generally in command. Twice the league's second wicket partnership was beaten. First by Joe Massey, the Blackpool skipper, and Lieutenant McDonald who put on 157 against Leyland Motors. Then Crompton and Harwood of Darwen added 173 against Whalley. The record was Peters and Langshaw's 156 for Whalley against Great Harwood in 1908.
For the next five seasons, the Junior League was suspended and Great Harwood, Blackburn St. James and Cherry Tree came from it to replace Lancaster, Leyland Motors and St. Annes. A Blackpool Services XI, usually referred to as Blackpool R.A.F. was also allowed in, sharing the ground with Blackpool C.C. and bringing the number of members to 13. The sectional system was abandoned but each team played only 16 matches.
1946 saw the league back to normal. Lancaster and St. Annes returned. Great Harwood and Blackburn Northern (renamed from Blackburn St. James the previous season) were allowed to continue after standing in so creditably during the war years. And Settle, first champions of the league, were readmitted after an absence of 22 years. So the league was now up to fifteen teams and the troubles which led six years later to a splitoff of the Northern League were put in motion.
1948 was Blackpool's year again with Whalley close behind and Lancaster third, Warne for the second successive season exceeding 100 wickets, 107 at 9.4 this time. Lawton of St. Annes, the husband of Dora Bryan, had a golden day against Leyland Motors, 135 not out and 728.
But the important events of 1951 took place off the field as the Ribblesdale League faced the second major crisis of its history. With the membership now at 18, the clubs could only play five teams twice and rumblings of discontent had been heard over a number of years. A resolution was brought to the AGM in Whalley on 10th November, 1951 that a Western Section be formed comprising Blackpool, Chorley, Darwen, Fleetwood, Lancaster, Leyland. Morecambe, St. Annes plus Leyland Motors, if they wished though they had not been involved in the preliminary discussions which the clubs concerned had held, plus two new clubs, Kendal and Furness of the North Lancashire League, representatives of which attended the AGM. In proposing the motion, Mr. I.C. Higginson of Lancaster said, “We have heard quite a lot about secret meetings but I want you to forget that. We have had this change in mind for a number of seasons and it was necessary for us to get together and go into the possibilities of a Western Section. The best way to do this was to have an informal talk among ourselves and afterwards we duly advised the President of the situation.” He emphasised that no split was intended. To their minds the league in its present formation was unwieldy and the fixtures unsatisfactory. The vote, perhaps expectedly, was 99 and the President, now in his 45th year in the office and a much revered figure, used his casting vote to defeat the proposal. He made it quite clear that he did not like the situation at all. Two clubs, he said, had been persuaded to resign from another league and the nine clubs had more or less put a pistol to the heads of the officials. The first definite news of the move was when he had read of it in the press. Mr. Higginson denied that Kendal and Furness had been approached in the first instance and the clubs' representatives stated that they had been "kicked out of the league". Nevertheless the vote had been cast and the eight clubs resigned from the league and left the meeting. Leyland Motors, though expressing reservations about the way the matter had been handled, felt constrained to follow suit as they naturally belonged economically and geographically with the western clubs. The split had been completed. The 11 clubs met later on the Saturday at a Whalley Hotel, formed the Northern League of 11 clubs and fixed their first AGM for Sunday, 25th November.
The Ribblesdale League was back down to nine clubs.
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