Nottinghamshire village sides shun national cup
by Alan Rowley, 25th April 2003

Nottinghamshire village sides have shunned this season's National Village Championship with a paltry three clubs standing their ground. A disappointing nine teams entered the Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire regional group, of which five were from the county.

With over 500 teams taking part nationwide, the Nottinghamshire contingent was down to just three before the first round even got close. Papplewick & Linby and Everton both withdrew, leaving just Lowdham, Gotham and Plumtree representing the county. The competition is open to teams representing rural communities of less than 3000 who compete in group stages organised on a countrywide basis. A prestigious final at Lord's awaits, so it is difficult to believe why so few Nottinghamshire teams have shown an interest.

Gotham are the first team in the county to play when they travel to Skellingthorpe, a small village just outside Lincoln, in round two. This ought to be a formality for the visitors.

In round three, Lowdham entertain North Thoresby from just south of Grimsby. The Nottinghamshire side ought to progress as their opponents finished in the bottom half of the Lincolnshire County League Division 5 in 2002.

The winners of this game travel to Woodhall Spa. Spa, members of the South Lincs and Border League, finished bottom of division one last season, but maintain their place in the same division in 2003. If Lowdham overcome North Thoresby, they would need to be at their best to progress further.

Believe it or not, Plumtree have byes right up to the regional semi-finals where they meet the winners of the Skellingthorpe v Gotham clash. An all-Nottinghamshire semi seems on the cards here.

The farcical regional group draw is as follows:

Round one (27th April)

Round two (11th May)

Round three (25th May)

Regional semi-finals (8th June)

29. Woodhall Spa v Lowdham or North Thoresby
30. Plumtree v Skellingthorpe or Gotham

Regional Final (22nd June)

31. Winners of match 29 v Winners of match 30

The winners of the regional final will go on to meet the winners of the Derbyshire regional group in the first round of the National competition. This match will be a home fixture for the Nottinghamshire / Lincolnshire winners and will take place on July 6th. The final will be held at Lord's on Sunday September 7th.