Northern Bridge League
The Northern Bridge League is a teams-of-eight competition between county bridge associations, mostly in the north of England. Regular participants in recent years have been Cumbria, Lancashire, LIncolnshire, Manchester, Merseyside & Cheshire, Westmorland and Yorkshire. In some years, teams from Scotland, north Wales and other English counties have also taken part. There are three divisions: A, B and C, with the C division intended for players of ‘good club standard’ and B and A for each county’s strongest players.
Since the pandemic, the competition has been played online using RealBridge. There are four match days, usually Saturdays in the summer and early autumn months. On each match day there is a round robin of matches in each division, and the scores are aggregated to give an overall winner of each division for the season as a whole.
The NBL has its own website and results pages, which can be accessed using the links on the right.
The 2024 season of the Northern Bridge League
The match days in 2024 will be Saturdays 13th July, 17th August, 14th September and 19th October. We will post here a short report on the outcome of all of these matches.
Day 1 – Yorkshire teams lead all three divisions of the NBL
Yorkshire teams dominated the first round of matches, played on 13th July, in the 2024 season of the Northern Bridge League.
Only four teams entered the A division, with Manchester notable for their absence. Yorkshire won all their matches, scoring 49 victory points out of a possible 60, and were 24 clear of their closest rivals, LIncolnshire. The team was Dave Robinson & Tony Sowter, Frank Dixon & Paul Brereton, Alan Jarvis & Tom Copeland, and Brian Senior & Sandra Penfold.
Yorkshire entered two teams in the B division, along with six other counties. Yorkshire’s B2 team lead the way with 94 victory points, six ahead of B1 on 88, with Lancashire third on 74. The B2 team comprised Bernard Burns & Paul Below, Ian Johns & John O’Sullivan, Daryl Kayes & Chris Boyes and Bob Marchbank & Terry Read. The players in the B1 team were Nichola Cockerill-Smith & Richard Pike, David Lewis & Colin Fallows, Ian Cook & Dennis Haines, and Catherine Thompson & Lesley Bridson.
Yorlshre also entered two of the six teams in the C division. The C1 team were first with 84, well clear of Yorkshire C2 on 62 and Merseyside & Cheshire on 58. The C1 team comprised David Beresford & Ian Guy, Matt Brash & Robin Ashdown, Richard Hilton & Pauline Cooper,and David Butler & Bob Brown.. The players in the C2 team were Ian Johnson & Carol Heron, Peter Carson & Gill Copeland, Bill Barraclugh & David Duckworth, and Judith Biles & Tish Hpokins.
Match day 2 – Yorkshire teams extend lead in all three divisions
In the second round of matches in the Northern Bridge League, played on RealBridge on 17th August,Yorkshire continued their dominance of all three divisions.
In the A division, Yorkshire lost narrowly to Merseyside & Cheshire, but beat Lincolnshire and Lancashire convincingly, to win the round by 4 victory points. The team was David Waxman & Keith Joules, Tom Cohen & Phil Morrison, Frank Dixon & Paul Brereton and Alan Brosgill & Robin Jepson.
Yorkshire 2 took the honours in the B division. They finished on 94 victory points with Yorkshire 1 on 90, five points clear of third placed Cumbria. The Yorkshire 2 players were Bernard Burns & Paul Below, Chris Child & Terry Read, Ian Johns & John O Sullivan,and Catherine Thomson & Lesley Bridson. Yorkshire 1 was represented by Nichola Cockerill-Smith & Richard Pike, Ian Cook & Dennis Haines, Rod Hose & David Adams,and David Lewis & Colin Fallows.
It was a similar story in the C division. Here Yorkshire 1 were first on 70 victory points and Yorkshire 2 second on 64, with Lancashire 10 points adrift in third. The Yorkshire 1 team was Carole Kelly & Christina Powne, Rob Cave & Mike Hopkins, Glyn Foley & Keith Cornish, and Robert Woolham & Simon Woolham. Yorkshire 2 comprised Pauline Cooper & Matt Brash, Andy Lewis & Bob Brown, Bill Barraclough & David Duckworth,and Gill Copeland & Peter Carson.
NBL match day 3 ‐ Yorks win B and C divisions. second in A.
The third round of matches in the 2024 season of the Northern Bridge League was played online on RealBridge on Saturday 14th September.
It was a close contest between three teams in the B division, where Yorkshire B1 were the winners by five victory points over Westmorland, with Yorkshire B2 a further point behind in third. Yorkshire C1 also led the way in the C division three points ahead of Cumbria, with Yorkshire C2 in fourth place. The A division was again a battle between Merseyside & Cheshire and Yorkshire, with the Merseysiders this time coming out on top by eight points.
In the tables of cumulative scores over the season as a whole, Yorkshire A still have a healthy lead of 21 points over Merseyside & Cheshire. In the B division Yorkshire B2 narrowly lead B1 by just 4 points, with third placed Westmorland a long way behind. In the C division Yorkshire C1 have a probably unassailable lead of 45 points over C2, and Cumbria are 12 more points adrift in third.
The Yorkshire teams in the third round of matches were ‐ A,Tom Cohen & Phil Morrison, Paul Brereton & Frank Dixon, Tom Gisborne & Sandy Davies, and Tony Sowter & Dave Robinson. B1 ‐ Dennis Haines & Ian Cook, Ian Johns & John O’Sullivan, Bob Marchbank & Terry Read, and David Lewis & Colin Fallows. B2 ‐ Chris Boyes & Daryl Kayes, David Butler & Bob Brown, David Adams & Robert Woolham, and David Beresford & Ian Guy. C1 ‐ Julie & Ian Grant, Richard Hilton & Pauline Cooper, Mike Hopkins & Rob Cave, and Judith Biles & Peter Baxter. C2 ‐ Terry Childs & David Wilson, Carol Heron & Ian Johnson, Bill Barraclough & David Duckworth, and Ron & Lesley Millet.
The final round of matches will take place on Saturday 18th October, with Yorkshire teams in pole position to win all three divisions.
NBL match day 4 ‐ Yorks teams clinch A, B and C divisions.
The fourth round of matches in the 2024 season of the Northern Bridge League was played online on RealBridge on Saturday 19th October.
In the A division, Merseyside & Cheshire won the final round robin, including a 14-6 win in the head to head match against Yorkshire. Yorkshire were second, defeating LIncolnshire narrowly and Lancashire more comfortably.
In the B division, Manchester and Scotland were the leading teams in the fourth round. Yorkshire 2 were third and Yorkshire 1 were well below par in fifth place.
In the C division Merseyside & Cheshire took the honours with Lancashire second, Yorkshire 1 third and Yorkshire 2 fourth.
In all three divisions Yorkshire teams started the final matches with such large leads it would have been a major upset for any to have been overtaken. So it proved. In the A division Yorkshire’s victory margin over Merseyside & Cheshire was 11 victory points. In the B Division, Yorkshire 2 finished 18 points clear of Yorkshire 1 and 6 ahead of Manchester. In the C division Yorkshire 1 had 36 points to spare ahead of Merseyside & Cheshire, the Mersysiders however overtaking Yorkshire 2 who finished third.
Though the results of the final round of matches were a little disappointing, over the four match days the Yorkshire teams played consistently well and their victories were well deserved.
Yorkshire A, B2 and C1 will be eligible to play in the finals of the National Inter-Counties League taking place next summer. Congratulations to all and thanks to the players for supporting the competition and to the selectors for their hard work in ensuring the county fielded five highly competitive teams on all four match days.
The Yorkshire teams on match day 4 were
A ‐ Paul Brereton & Frank Dixon, Sandra Penfold & Brian Senior, Geoff Kenyon & Carole Kelly, and Tom Gisborne & Sandy Davies. B1 ‐ Dennis Haines & Ian Cook, Paul Below & Bernard Burns, David Adams & Rod Hose, and David Lewis & Gill Copeland. B2 ‐ Chris Boyes & Daryl Kayes, David Beresford & Ian Guy, Bob Marchbank & Terry Read, and Ian Johns & John O’Sullivan. C1 ‐ Simon Woolham & Robert Woolham, Richard Hilton & Pauline Cooper, Glyn Foley & Peter Camm, and Julie & Ian Grant. C2 ‐ Mike Hopkins & Robert Cave, Carol Heron & Ian Johnson, Don Haines & Alan Stone, and David Wilson & Terry Childs.
This page was last updated on 3rd November 2024.
