British and World Marbles Championship
The British and World Marbles Championship is a marbles knock-out tournament that takes place annually on Good Friday and dates back to 1588. It is held at the Greyhound public house in Tinsley Green, West Sussex. Teams of six players participate to win the title and a silver trophy. The event is open to anyone of any age or nationality. Over the years, players from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Wales and the United States have participated alongside English teams.
History
The tournament dates back to 1588 during the reign of Elizabeth I, when marbles was chosen as the deciding game of a legendary sporting encounter between two young suitors, Giles and Hodge, over the hand of a Tinsley Green milk maiden named Joan. Every popular sport of the day was played in an Olympic style contest lasting one week. Hodge had been victorious at singlestick, backsword, quarter staff, cudgel play, wrestling and cock throwing, while Giles was successful in winning the archery, cricket-a-wicket, tilting at quintain, Turk's head, stoolball and tipcat. With the score level at 6–6, Good Friday was the date chosen for the final event. Marbles was chosen by the girl to be the deciding game, and Giles defeated Hodge.Rules, marble "jargon" and tactics
The championships are organized by the British Marbles Board of Control and the version of marbles played is "Ring Taw", known in the United States as "Ringer" and in Germany as "Englisches Ringspiel". Forty-nine target marbles are grouped closely together in 6 foot diameter raised concrete ring covered with sand, each of the target marbles being a coloured glass or ceramic sphere having a diameter of approximately 12mm.Two teams of six players of any age, gender or skill level, take turns using the tip of the finger to aim and project the "tolley", a larger marble, which is a glass or ceramic sphere of 18mm diameter, deploying top spin, back spin and side spin, to drive other marbles out of the ring.
A player's knuckle must be touching the ground when shooting, known as "knuckling down". Moving the tolley closer to the target marbles, known as "cabbaging", is forbidden - as is any other advantageous movement of a players shooting hand during shooting. These would constitute a foul known as "fudging". Any intentional or persistent contact between a player's clothing and a marble or tolley while it is motion would be a foul called "blocking". No score results from a foul shot. A foul shot ends the turn of the offending player, though the score achieved in that turn stands. Any player who makes three foul shots during a game is eliminated from that game. The first team to knock out 25 marbles from the ring is the winner.
Historical time-line
- 1588 – Giles defeated Hodge at marbles to claim his prize of the hand of a local young maiden of Tinsley Green.
- 1888 – Sam Spooner wins the title on the 300th year of the event
- 1932 – The Black Horse from Hookwood, were the first winners of the modern event.
- 1935 – 6 foot concrete ring used for the first time
- 1942–1945 – No tournaments took place due to World War II.
- March 1951 – The coldest recorded conditions for tournament when the Tinsley Green Tigers beat the Arundel Mullets in the final.
- April 1962 – Glass marbles were used for the first time in place of older clay marbles.
- March 1970 – Controversially the BMBC banned women from the main tournament because of the wearing of mini-skirts.
- April 1973 – Len Smith of the Toucon Terribles wins a record 12th individual title
- March 1975 – Snow had to swept from the ring in temperatures of −2deg C. The "Terribles" win a record 19th title.
- April 1977 – The tournament was moved to the Crawley Leisure Centre for one single time.
- April 1987 – A Trophy was introduced for "the women's best individual player" and won by Jackie Hodge.
- 1989 and 1991 – Highest number of teams ever entered, 28 teams of six totalling 168 players competing.
- March 1992 – The TennKy Sharpshooters from Tennessee and Kentucky are the first overseas team to win the trophy.
- April 2000 – Team USA won the international Fen Cup with a team made up almost entirely of shooters under the age of 18.
- April 2002 – Saxonia Globe Snippers become the first German team to win the tournament.
- September 2008 the Greyhound Pub, in Tinsley Green closed, only re-opening shortly before the next tournament.
- April 2010 – Jen McGowan sets the standard for the ladies with a twelfth individual title.
- March 2013 – Crawley-based Black Dog Boozers win the tournament for a 13th time, just 6 off the record of 19 set in 1975.
- March 2018 – The Johnson Jets set the record for being runners up 11 times, having won the tournament just twice.
- April 2019 – 1st MC Erzgebirge's victory means German teams have won the tournament on eleven occasions.
- April 2019 – Black Dog Boozers reach the final a 20th time, equalling the achievement by Telcon/Toucon Terribles.
- 2020 – The event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Championship results (1932 onwards)
Roll of honour
| Multiple Winners : Telcon/Toucon Terribles 19, Black Dog Boozers 13, Tinsley Green/ Tigers 8, 1st MC Erzgebirge 7, Yorkshire Meds 4, Saxonia Globe Snippers 4, Copthorne Sharpshooters 3, Bow Street Fudgers 3, Crawley Busmen 2, Copthorne Spitfires 2, Handcross Rebels 2, Moonshiners 2, Johnson Jets 2. |
| Multiple Finalists : Telcon/Toucon Terribles 20, Black Dog Boozers 20, Tinsley Green/ Tigers 14, Johnson Jets 13, 1st MC Erzgebirge 10, Handcross 49ers 9, Bow Street Fudgers 8, Handcross Rebels 7, Crawley Busmen 5, Yorkshire Meds 5, Arundel Mullets 4, Barrel Scrapers 4, Copthorne Sharpshooters 4, Copthorne Spitfires 4, Moonshiners 4, Saxonia Globe Snippers 4, Pernod Rams 3, Old Comrades 2. |
| Individual multiple Champions : Len Smith 12, Chris Pampel 7, Darren Ray 6, Wee Willie Wright 5, Alan Smith 5, Paddy Graham 5, Harry Langridge 4, Barry Ray 4, Simon Monahan 4, Colin Gardner 3, Paul Smith 3, 2, Halim Tata 2, Cyril Wilcock 2, F.S.'Champ' Harding 2, Fred Rowe 2. |
| Individual Lady Champions : Jen McGowan 12, Alison Reimer 10, Leila Kara 4, Eve Vine 2, Jackie Staples 2, Susi Joswich 1, Gabi Mühlisch 1. |
Celebrity involvement
- 1947 – Laurel and Hardy – Comedy double act
- 1948 – Jack Warner – English film and television actor
- 1964 – Jackie Rae – Television presenter
- 1974 – Tricia Ingrams – TV news presenter
- 1976 – Dave Allen – Irish comedian
- 1980–2000s ?? – Chris Tarrant – TV & Radio presenter
- 1980–2000s ?? – Tom Watt – Actor and Radio sports journalist
- 2009 – Rory McGrath – Comedian and writer and captain on They Think It's All Over
- 2009 – Paddy McGuinness – Comedian and TV presenter of Take Me Out
- 2015 – Henning Wehn –
Other Marbles Championships