Tag: Sports

Norbreck Bowling and Tennis Club Opens

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Norbreck Bowling and Tennis Club (as it is known today) plays an important role in the lives of many local people. Its foundations in the community were laid in October 1931, when the land owner Mr Walter Spencer set out to build a community centre for the local neighbourhood. Today the club boasts superb facilities including a beautifully maintained green, two refurbished all weather tennis courts, snooker room with two full size tables, Pool, Darts & a newly installed Petanque Court. There’s also a large bar and function room. The Club in those days, was on what is now the…

Tragic End for Olympian Alfred Tysoe in Blackpool

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The Olympic Games of 1900 in Paris were far removed from the modern spectacle. Poorly organised and overshadowed by the World’s Fair, they still provided the stage for a Lancashire runner to make history. Alfred Ernest Tysoe, born in Padiham on 4 April 1874, rose above the chaos to claim gold in the 800 metres. On an uneven grass track at the Bois de Boulogne, he left American rivals trailing and crossed the line in 2:01.2. He then added a second title in the 5000 metre team race alongside his British teammates.

Frederick Arthur Stanley – Blackpool’s First MP

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Frederick Arthur Stanley, the 16th Earl of Derby, had been born on 15 January 1841. For many years he was known as the Honourable Frederick Stanley, and later, from 1886 until 1893, as Lord Stanley of Preston. A figure of both politics and sport, he had served Britain as a Conservative politician and had held some of the highest offices in the government. His time as Colonial Secretary ran from 24 June 1885 to 28 January 1886, before he crossed the Atlantic to serve as Governor General of Canada from 1 May 1888 to 18 September 1893. Away from politics,… Read more »

Malcolm Crane Releases ‘The Story of Ladies Golf’

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Though best known for his books about rugby union (The Rugby Clubs of England) and golf (The Story of Ladies’ Golf and A Century of Knott End Golf), Malcolm Crane is a lifelong racing enthusiast, whose passion has reached new heights as the co-owner of White Rhino, a racehorse that triumphed at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2024. Crane from Little Thornton, is a member of the syndicate that owns White Rhino, entered in the Pertemps Network Final Handicap. At which Manchester club did the mass murdering doctor Harold Shipman sometimes provide medical assistance? Which former Conservative party leader found… Read more »

Fairhaven Golf Club Moves to Current Location

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Fairhaven Golf Club was originally a 12-hole course adjacent to Fairhaven Lake in 1892 and founded as a club in 1895. Its time located next to the sea was eventful, having had to contend with the vagaries of the tides on one side and the encroachment from the developers of King Edward School and housing on the other. Fairhaven Golf Club moved half a mile inland to its current location, in what was then Lytham Hall Park, in 1924. As the course was then very flat and without trees, J.A. Steer, the then professional at Blackpool Golf Club and later… Read more »

Billy Ronson Joins Blackpool Football Club

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William “Billy” Ronson was born 22nd January, 1957 in Fleetwood, Lancashire. Billy, the son of Fleetwood Football Club stalwart Percy Ronson, began his career at Blackpool Football Club, making his debut in March 1975 against Nottingham Forest. He originally struggled to break into the side but eventually managed to establish himself in the first team. He was unable to prevent the club’s relegation during the 1977-78 season and spent one more year at the club before joining Cardiff City for a fee of £130,000, a club record at the time. He went on loan to the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers in… Read more »

Poulton’s Moorland Tennis Club

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Trading under the name of Moorland Tennis Club today, Moorland Sports Club Limited in Poulton-le-Fylde was incorporated in 1946. However, there was an ‘opening’ event in 1950, attended by Tessie O’Shea who lived just a little further down Breck Road in Poulton. Another celebrity, Terry Thomas, was also at the event. The club is adjacent to the YMCA sports complex and golf club and has undergone significant renovations since then, including a new clubhouse and updated tennis facilities. Members can play year-round on floodlit courts, with both carpet, astroturf, and hard courts available. The club also participates in various leagues for… Read more »

Poulton Health & Fitness Centre

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The Poulton Health & Fitness Centre in Poulton-le-Fylde was built in 1974. It was originally part of the Poulton Leisure Centre, which also included dry-side facilities like a 43-station gym and an 8m x 15m exercise studio. The site also features wet-side facilities including a 3-lane 20m pool and a separate spa. The YMCA Poulton is your local leisure centre where everyone is welcome! Their friendly staff will help you with any aspect of your mental and physical fitness journey. They are fully accessible with a ramped entrance, wet and dry disabled changing facilities and pool hoist/graduated steps for easy entrance… Read more »

Alan Ball Starts at Blackpool Football Club at 17

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Alan James Ball MBE (12 May 1945 – 25 April 2007) was an English professional football player and manager. Often regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, he won the 1966 World Cup with England and played for various clubs, scoring more than 180 league goals in a career spanning 22 years. After retiring as a player, he had a 15-year career as a manager which included spells in the top flight of English football with Portsmouth, Southampton and Manchester City. He was inducted in the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003. Ball started his professional… Read more »

Stanley Park’s Gift to Skaters, Skateboarders and BMX Fans

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Skaters, skateboarders and BMX fans turned out in force to celebrate the opening of a 4,000 sq m new skate park in Blackpool in May of 2022. The new facility, packed with stairs, ledges, rails, curbs, quarter pipes as well as a mini ramp to test riders’ skills, was the brainchild of two local skateboarders, Simon Bennet and Big Woody, who founded the Stanley Park Skate Park Development Group to convert a run-down area of Stanley Park into an attraction that will bring people in from across the county. They had the support of Blackpool Council and the Friends of… Read more »