Carmel CC

Website: New Victoria CC

Early development – Blowick Wesleyan CC
Although New Victoria Cricket Club were officially founded in 1952 the early roots of the Southport club can be traced back to the beginning of the last century.

The Victoria Methodist Church in Sussex Road was the base for a team which used the name Blowick Wesleyan CC and began to play friendlies in 1902.

They joined the Southport League in 1903 and had two teams which played at a ground on Norwood Avenue. They were not included in the League for 1909 but at least nine of their players reappeared under the name of Blowick in 1910, playing at Ash Lane (Haig Avenue).

Some of the younger players had graduated from the Blowick School team of 1901. This club played its last match on 31st August 1911, when it defeated Derby Road by 26 runs to finish as runners up in Division Two.

There were junior matches played by the church in 1914 but it was not until three years after the First World War finished that a senior team was restarted.

Blowick Wesleyan CC was reformed in 1921 and played two friendly matches against Southbank Road Wesleyans.

The Warrington family were founder members, along with Arthur Mawdsley. George and Arthur Warrington were to play for the club through to the Victoria Methodist era of the 1940's. Only E.Dutton survived from 1912 which is not surprising given the death toll during the war.

In 1922 the club joined the Southport and District Amateur Cricket League and with the exception of 1938 (no ground) and the World War Two years, its successors have been members ever since.

In 1930 Blowick Wesleyan won the Division Three Championship and in 1933 they changed their name to Blowick Methodist CC to conform to changes within the Methodist Church.

Through this period they played on a variety of grounds beginning at Fisher Drive and ending at Scarisbrick New Road in 1937. They could not find a ground for 1938 and did not play during 1939-1945 while many players were conscripted for war and matches not played.

Name change - birth of New Victoria CC
After World War Two Harold Stevenson, a sunday school teacher at the church and photographer for the Southport Visitor newspaper, helped to get the club going again.

At a late stage it was decided to change the name to Victoria Methodists and they began again in 1946, firstly on Princes Park and from 1947 on Meols Cop Park.

In 1952 Bob Metcalfe arranged the name change to New Victoria, after a disagreement with the church over holding raffles to raise funds.

Home games were still played on Meols Cop Park but in 1953 the club moved to Crossens Recreation Ground were we have remained ever since.

A Second XI was started, playing friendly matches, in 1953 and a Junior team was set up in 1956 and were founder members of the Junior League in 1961.

The First XI gained promotion in 1958 after being runners up in Division Two with Rufford and the Second XI were eventually allowed into the League in 1961.

In 1967 the Second XI were Division Three Champions and in 1989 a double was achieved with the First XI winning Division Three and the Second XI Division Five. 1995 saw the First XI win Division Three and another double was clinched in 1999 when the First XI and Second XI won Divisions Three and Five respectively.

Taking the club forward - Junior and beach cricket
The junior section of the club has fluctuated over the years but it began again in 1993 and has run continuously ever since.

In the current decade it has been developed to cater for age groups from Under-9 through to U11, U13, U15 and U18. In 2005 the U11 side achieved a Junior League and Cup double, going on to reach the Lancashire U11 Cup quarter-finals.

Lancashire Cricket Board and ECB Clubmark status has also been achieved by New Victoria reflecting a lot of the good work they have done in helping to develop young players.

New Victoria also organised an innovative Beach Cricket tournament on Southport beach in 2008 which they will host again in August 2009.

Overseas tours - Harry Thompson strikes again..
New Victoria wicketkeeper Owen Jamieson was reading Harry Thompson's excellent 'Penguins Stopped Play' while on holiday in Varna, Bulgaria and the book led to a chance conversation about the game with the manageress of the hotel he was staying at.

To cut a long story short, Jamieson persuaded his New Victoria team-mates to head out to Sofia in 2007 to take on the Bulgaria National Team at the National Sports Academy in Varna.

The match led to a strong relationship between New Victoria and the Bulgarian Cricket Federation with the Southport club helping Bulgaria improve their facilities and equipment.

New Victoria returned to face Bulgaria in 2008 on a second tour in which they also faced Romania in Bucharest.

The club's third tour saw them head to Hajske to face the Slovakia National Team - who took part in the inaugural Carmel EuroTwenty20 last year - and also play games in Vienna, Austria. Click here for the club's dedicated tour site.