Isle of Wight Petanque

History

Since the first Piste was officially opened at the Falcon Hotel in Ryde by the then Mayor of Medina on October 14th 1978, the number of teams playing in the Summer triples league grew from 6 to a maximum of 56 in just 18 years.

The first completed league was played in 1979 between August and October and was contested by Falcon A, Falcon B, The Propellor, The Royal Sandrock Inn, The Travellers Joy and Ventnor Rugby Club.

Although there are rumblings of a league which was abandoned earlier in 1979 there is little evidence to support this at the present time and the winners trophy, the Whitbread Cup, was presented to the Travellers Joy at the first presentation evening at the Swainston Hotel and Country Club on April 11th 1980.


The Isle of Wight Leagues

Three league competitions are now run by the Isle of Wight Petanque League. The Brickfields Winter league takes place between January and March with a maximum of 24 teams consisting of between 6 and 12 players playing three pairs and two triples legs per match on Tuesday evenings.

The Summer Triples league, as its name suggests, takes place between April and August and is contested by 3 teams of 3 in each Wednesday evening match by all clubs with floodlit terrains.

To finish off the league season the Robert Godbold league takes place for teams of 6, playing 3 pairs legs during each match in August and September, again on Wednesday evenings. This competition is completed with a finals day when the top 16 contest mini leagues and then knockout sections to produce winners of a Main and Plate trophy.