Page 1 - Front Cover

Battlefield Winners by Club

Wem U.S.C. Castlefields Club Won Run-up
Chester Road
St. Georges Battlefield 4 5
Crescent* Castlefields 13 14
Sir John Bayley 0 Chester Road 3 3
Severnside 2 Hadley U.S.C. Crescent* 8 3
64 Meole Brace Hadley U.S.C. 3 1
8 Meole Brace 5 2
10 N.A.L.G.O.* 5 3
12 Old Shrewsbury 8 7
14 Severnside 5 7
Sir John Bayley 4 2
Old Shrewsbury St. Georges 3 6
Wem U.S.C. 3 2
N.A.L.G.O.*
* N.A.L.G.O. changed to Crescent in the the early 50’s

Dominant Clubs

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Castlefields take the crown for having more merit winners more than
any other club at 8 (with a total of 13 wins between them) – A Thomas, Jeremy Braddick,
Cyril Clift, Tony Poole, Tony Gibbons, Alan Mayhew, Callum Wraight and Richard Goddard all
taking the trophy back to the club – RW Owen, RS Thomas, Tony Dowley, Glyn Herbert and
Keith Wall all just dipped short of adding to this tally by losing in merit finals. Five of these
winners can be seen in the team photo below from 1981.
Joint first in terms of total wins comes in the form of the one-man army Dick Meyrick
whose individual achievements elevate Crescent / N.A.L.G.O to the second most successful
club, also at 13 successes (disclaimer: not entirely fair … WM Howells also took the trophy
there in 1952 and 1957). Ignoring the impact of individual brilliance and just looking at number
of distinct winners shows Castlefields still at the top of the pile.
Third prize goes to Old
Shrewsbury, who dominated the
first half of the 20th century with
8 champions and 7 runners up.
Cynical observers may point out
that of the first 34 merit finals, only
7 were held away from either Old
Shrewsbury or their neighbours
from over the hedge, Severnside!
Geographically, Shrewsbury have
shown clear dominance of the
competition - though St Georges,
Hadley, Chester Road, Wem USC
and SJB can all claim their fair
share of Merit success since its
1913 inception.

by CASTLEFIELDS - MAY 1981
LIAM STEVENS
Back Row: Richie Goddard, John Nash, Lee Clarke, Martin Codd, Pete Walker,
Terry Sambrook, Cyril Clift.

Front Row: Tony Poole, Gary Walker, Paul Williams, Alan Mayhew,
Tony Gibbons