Moves to put bowls house back in order

A bust-up on a Sunday League football ground that got a bit out of hand?

A pub rugby match getting a bit over-heated?

Not quite.

The incident in question actually took place at the final of a crown green bowls competition in Shropshire.

The unsavoury antics which took place at the 2014 Junior County Championship Final, between Shropshire and arch-rivals Warwick and Worcester, led to county officials holding an emergency meeting to discuss withdrawing from the competition.

For anyone who imagined crown green bowls to be a gentle world of warm beer and polite applause, such conduct will come as a shock.

Mike Potter, of Trench, Telford, who next month takes over as president of Shropshire Crown Green Bowls Association, and is one of the county's top referees, says there has been a growing problem of unruly behaviour on the greens over the past couple of years.

He says one of his main aims as he looks ahead to 2015 is to force players to clean up their act.

Mr Potter, who has been playing the game for the past 35 years, witnessed an incident in the junior final at Maddocks Sports and Social Club in Oakengates in September.

"It began with verbal abuse towards the referee and between the two sets of players," he says.

"It almost escalated into violence, but not quite, thanks in large to the managers of the two teams stepping in.

"It started off as banter between the two teams, but some of the crowd, the senior members who used to play in the junior team, became involved and unfortunately the referee lost control.

"Chris Hasselby, the president of the Crown Green Bowls Association, was present, and said how disgusted he was by everybody who was involved."

He said some of the parents who attended the game have threatened to withdraw their children from the team.

"That is something we really would not want to happen," he added.

Mr Potter, of Trench, Telford, says the problem might be in part down to the sport shaking off its "old man" image, and attracting younger players. But he believes it is more a reflection of society as a whole.

"There is not the respect for elders that there used to be," he says.

The matter was discussed at the annual meeting of the British Referees Society, where members were urged to get tough on offenders.

Mr Potter says officials are now being instructed to suspend play, and even abandon games, in the most severe cases.

Would there have been such behaviour at bowling grounds 30 or so years ago?

"Probably not," says Mr Potter. "There used to be a lot more respect at all levels. It is something that has changed over the past couple of years, it is something I have experienced right down to grass roots."

He says unruly behaviour has also led to a growing number of referees quitting after a short time.

"I have had lots of abuse over the years, I can live with it, but some of the others find it too much," says Mr Potter, who is 54.

"We have had referees who actually decide not to carry on because of the behaviour they have seen."

John Coxill, who is the current president of Shropshire Crown Green Bowls Association, did not witness the worst scenes at Oakengates in September, but he did see a few altercations during the away leg in, Birmingham.

"Sometimes these things happen from time to time, but it's usually a trouble-free game," he says.

"The youth are the future of the game, and of course that brings a bit of youthful exuberance, but we wouldn't want to demolish that. There's nothing wrong with that as long as that exuberance, that competitiveness, is expressed in the right way."

However, Rob Burroughs, one of the selectors for the Shropshire youth team, says in his experience it is the senior players who are more likely to get overexcited.

He also missed the game at Oakengates, but says he heard about it, and says at the higher levels the games can become very competitive, leading to tensions overspilling.

"Apparently it was really bad, but I can't say I'm surprised," says Rob, who is 25.

"It's not a quiet game at all. You do get quite a bit of noise at some games, and you do get clashes, but it is usually just banter. I would say the senior games are the worst, you get more people at them and they can be quite competitive.

Sometimes it is the drink that is the problem."