Brief History of Portsmouth Badminton Club
In the early 1960s badminton was thriving in the Portsmouth area. In Portsmouth there were thirteen leagues plus a Churches league, with another three leagues in Havant. Milton Congregational Badminton Club was one of the many clubs who played in the Churches League using the courts in the local church halls. This club combined with Nomadic Badminton Club, which had teams in the Portsmouth Leagues to form Milton Nomadic Badminton Club, [MNBC].
By the mid 1970s MNBC had three club nights each week; Tuesday and Wednesday evenings were in Drayton Road school, playing on one court. This court was on the upper floor of the school with a lovely sprung wooden floor. Harry was the caretaker and it wasn’t unknown for matches to last until after midnight, quite how MNBC managed to persuade Harry to let the club play so late in the evening was all down to the personal skills of the Club Chairman, Paul Flynn. Drayton Road School has since been demolished. Friday evenings were at Springfield School in Cosham where there were three courts followed by a drink in Uncle Tom’s cabin on Havant Road, this has also been demolished.
For a while MNBC played on Thursday nights in a purple walled sports hall just off the Eastern Road, this site is now part of Portsmouth College.
Club Membership in 1983-84
Back Row from L to R: Miles Eden, Mark Webb, Derek McNaulty, Colin Todd, Gavin Jenkins, John Wright, Stuart Duff.
Middle Row from L to R: Sue Page, Margaret Faber, Marj Hilton, Margaret Bowen, John Anderson, Graham Dale, Ray Hilton, Paul Flynn.
Front Row from L to R: Pam Stevens, Debbie Webb, Gill Herriott, Pam Duff, Jill Wright, Cathy Baker, Christine Plowman, Wendy Evans.
The season of 1983-84 was unbelievably successful for Milton Nomadic:
- Winners of the Inter County Knockout competition
- Winners of the Havant Knockout competition
- Winners of the Churches Knockout competition
- Winners of the King Cup
- Winners of the Portsmouth League Division 1
- Winners of the Portsmouth League Division 2
- Winners of the Havant League Division 1
- Winners of the Churches League Division 1
Club Membership in 2005-06
Back Row: Paul Flynn, Liam Groves, ?, Nicola Angold, Andrew Gudgeon, Kay Gudgeon, Pauline Somerville, Laura Gardner, Alan Gorringe, ?, Kelly Holdway, Mark Mottershaw, Mark Mays, Mike Weatherston, Helen Saunders, Graham Dale, ?, Debbie Webb, ?, ?.
Front row: ?, Cathy Baker, James Weatherston, Richard Angold, Damian Gannon, Steve Saunders
In September 2005 MNBC held an open day supported by Badminton England. Kelly Holdway was the club’s coach and Kelly invited a number of Hampshire’s top players to take part in the event.
Club Membership in 2013-14 (36)
Back Row from L to R: Ken Spratt, Richard Angold, Michael Dunne, Andy Wilkinson, Alex Eames, Chris Phillips, Jake Welch, Andy Wells, Graham Dale, Terry Seldon.
Middle Row from L to R: Tom Searle, Geoff Ellis, Alasdair Forbes, Paul Wright, Andrew Wright, Mike Weatherston, Julian Atkins, Phil Hebblethwaite, Baiju Kurian, Le Hai.
Front Row from L to R: Chris Dugan, Matthew Ellis, Holly Phillips, Vicky Gordine, Paul Flynn, Paula Bray, Julie Ellis, Rob Bradley, John Ware.
Club Membership in 2016-17 (27)
Back Row from L to R: Oscar Chiu, Mark Jackson, Tom Beaumont, Jwel Miah, Phil Hebblethwaite, Des Brewster, Andrew Wright, Graham Dale.
Front Row from L to R: Tom Searle, Chris Dugan, Qian Yue Tan, Vicky Gordine, Richard Angold, Rob Bradley.
League Results for 2016-17 Season
Southampton Mixed ~ Division One Champions
Portsmouth Mixed ~ Division 1 Winners
Portsmouth Ladies ~ Division 1 Winners
Portsmouth Mens 1 ~ Runners-up
Portsmouth Mens 2 ~ Relegated
Portsmouth Mens 3 ~ Mid-table
Club Membership in 2017-18 (26)
Back Row from L to R: Mike Weatherston, Chris Dugan, Kate Weatherston, Kate Lutman, Geoff Ellis, Phil Hebblethwaite, Tom Searle, Tom Beaumont, Mark Jackson.
Front Row from L to R: Kay Gudgeon, Matthew Ellis, Richard Angold, Julie Ellis, Vicky Gordine, Rob Bradley.
League Results for 2017-18 Season
Portsmouth Ladies ~ Division 1 Winners
Portsmouth Men’s 1 ~ Runners-up
Portsmouth Men’s 2 ~ Runners-up
Southampton Mixed ~ Relegated
Club Membership in 2018-19 (28)
Back Row from L to R: Paul Flynn, Shraddah Bhatt, Adam Keer, Tom Searle, Pritesh Bhatt, Chris Dugan, Richard Foord, Richard Angold.
Front Row from L to R: Abi Taylor, Stephanie Ma, Paula Dale, Alice Leung, Paula Bray, Kay Gudgeon.
League Results for 2018-19 Season
Portsmouth Ladies ~ Division 1 Champions for the fourth season in succession, well done ladies
Portsmouth Men’s 1 ~ 3rd in Division 1
Portsmouth Men’s 2 ~ 5th in Division 2
Southampton Mixed ~ 3rd in Division 1
