06/03/2024
🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨
Firstly I apologise for the length of this communication, but it’s contents I hope merits this.
After an incredibly successful season including a top half finish in the Division 1 National on the Gloucester Canal, a similar result in the Commercial National at Lindholm, winning the Kent winter league at our fist time of trying, resulting in the the team fishing the Angling Trust Winter League Final against the very finest teams in the country at the end of February. It is with a heavy heart and not without much deliberation that we have decided to disband as a match group.
The loss of our long term sponsorship with Browning a relationship spanning some 30 years, along with an ever reducing calendar of team events in the Essex area has been a big contributor to this difficult decision.
Team matches of any real pedigree these days involve driving many miles at great expense to the midlands or further north which is a real prohibitor to attracting and retaining new talent to the ranks, this is made all the more difficult with the vast number of individual events diluting the pool of available anglers.
Clearly when a team has been going for as long as what Wickford has there are far too many people to thank for their support over the years and no doubt I will be missing many out, not intentionally by any means so I apologise in advance.
Our biggest thanks has to go to Browning a wonderful sponsor who gave so much to the sport as well as an iconic brand, such a loss to the industry but thank you to all those wonderful employees who invested both time, energy and money into all their representing teams.
Thank you to all those who have represented the Browning Wickford match group over the years, evolving originally from Wickford Angling Centre. It would be great if some of those past to present anglers could share some of the many wonderful memories of the match group in the comments section.
Thank you to the stalwarts of the group who have supported the team for many years both on the bank and behind the scenes, the likes of Frank Thomas, Peter Thomas, Peter Steward, Steve Joy, Terry Edwards, Wayne Candy, Simon Hodder, Bob Davis, Simon Colclough, Danny Grimsey, Jason Collins and Keith Gooderham.
Thank you to the anglers who made our last year a memorable one such as Clive Nada, Rob Blackburn, Paul Hyde, Paul Grant, Alec Roberts, Tim Bruce, Ben Bray, Lewis Bray, Gary McClair, and Mark Brown.
Our final thanks goes to Dean Tennant for his tireless efforts as captain for the last few season’s, his drive and dedication setting us up as a competitive team providing a structure and organisation. Dean is not only a fantastic angler in his own right contributing some amazing results for the team but his leadership skill’s have been a huge benefit to the team.
Tight Lines - (Browning) Team Wickford
