When Horsham Spinners won the Veterans’ British Clubs League Premier Division title earlier this month, it capped a remarkable run of continued success.
It was the fifth year in a row that the team had won a division title, each time climbing a step of the pyramid from Division Four to Premier.
The equivalent of a National League football team becoming Premier Division champions within five years (although not as unlikely as that scenario), it’s an achievement as the team has strengthened and taken each new level by storm.
Founded for the 2021/22 season, Spinners started out in the (then) bottom fourth division and have since worked their way through the tiers:
The personnel have changed over the years as they move up the divisions, but Oleh Biletskyi has managed the team for the past three seasons and team founder Rory Scott has played from Division 4 through to Division 1.
Pat McCloughan competed in Divisions 4, 3 and 2 and Michael George competed in Divisions 4 and 3. Others contributing were Shaun Bibby (4), Kevin Gray (4), Rodney McKirgan (3), Matt Hartwell (3), Ray Jordan (1) and Marius Cieminski (1).
The winning team in the Premier Division (Global University Systems Horsham Spinners to give them their full title) was Jacek Koziarski, Roman Doryn (first weekend only), Biletskyi and Mircea Neagu.
Rory Scott said: “When I started with the new team in Division 4 the aim was always to reach Division 1 or even the Premier Division as I had played in Division 1 before and done quite well.
“I played for another club, so I had no control over which team I played for, and I wanted to start my own team so I could have control, and I also wanted to play for my own club.
“Initially I tried to get players good enough to win in Division 4, but not so good that they wouldn’t mind playing so low. As we moved up the divisions I had to strengthen the team to keep winning.
“Last season, when we played in Division 1 and won, I decided I wanted to go all out and win the Premier League, so I asked all the top players I could. Most were either not interested or wanted too much money to play.”
“I managed to find a sponsor (GUS) who agreed to pay for the team and kit, as well as some expenses for an international player. I kept Oleh from the previous two seasons and added a few more.
“The first year was by far the closest. We had two draws against Newton Abbot and only won by one point. The second year we won easily. The third year we ended up winning by six points and last year by seven points – but it wasn’t clear we would do this every time until the second weekend.”
“It was also mixed this year, as we were 2-1 down and won 4-2 in two games, which could have changed the outcome.”
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