EDITORIAL

The May Bulletin is by tradition the results Bulletin. The August Bulletin heralds a new season - it is the programme Bulletin; its appearance reminds all partnerships to sharpen up their game and prepare for battles to come. We hope that the programme contained as shown will give everyone a chance to play in some event. County Bridge was started to give players a slightly tougher test of their ability - we hope that in the League, in the Teams and it the traditional Pairs Events, the battles will be fought keenly - and with no quarter sought or given - but above all let's hope that it can be said of all those who win: "Congratulations to then, although we lost out to them, they were a pleasure to do battle with". If at the end of the day this can't be said, then County Bridge has failed in its object to provide tough but enjoyable competition. It is now up to you all to see that sufficient take part to make the events go with a swing, and that when you play you play with the highest degree of sportsmanship.

COUNTY EVENTS FOR THE 1977/78 SEASON

THE COUNTY TEAMS OF FOUR LEAGUE
This event is the backbone event of the County programme. Teams of Four match play does more than anything else to improve your bridge; luck is cut to a minimum; when your team mates return to imp the score, the naked truth of the errors of your ways stares you in the face. You can't take it! Then your Bridge won't improve. The Third Division now provides opposition of only modest ability; enter here and try to reach the top. This year the League has a new Secretary. Entries please to Arthur Bloxham - 9, The Meadows, Salt, Near Stafford. Tel: Sandon 434. Those who played, last year please let Arthur know as early as you can that you will take your place next year. New entries before August 31st, please.

THE STAFFS. CUP
This event gives you a chance to play against really strong oppositional. But all bar the semi-finalists will get a second chance; all who enter and fail, to get to the semi-final will go into the repecharge which this Year will be played as a multiple Teams of Four event OR, if there are sufficient entries, a Swiss Teams event.
ENTRY £6.00 per team. This includes entry 50p per player and table money for two sessions. ENTRIES to The Secretary, 40 Sandbach Road, South Alsager, Stoke-on-Trent, to reach him before Tuesday, 11th. October. The draw for the first round takes place at the Coronation Cup event played at Wolverhampton B.C. on Sunday, 16th October.

THE CORONATION CUP
Teams for this will this year be invited by the County Captain.

THE SECOND TEAM PAIRS TRIALS SERIES EVENT
Would all the leading players in the County please make a special effort play in this event (even if you do not really want to be selected to play for the County in Sunday Dawes fixtures). Alan Monckton made this special point in a letter to the Editor last year: "The developing players will not be able to improve their game unless they get the opportunity to play against the strongest opposition the County can provide, and the gap between the ability of the first team squad and second team squad will not be closed." First team squad please note; and ex-first team squad players too. The first session takes place on Wednesday 28th September. No entry - turn up to play. It is still a directive to the County Captain that second team places should as far as possible go to players who turn out to play in this event - the leading pairs to have preference of selection.

THE NEWCASTLE COUNTY PAIRS EVENT AND INTER-CLUB EVENT
This is a series event. YOU DON'T HAVE TO ENTER. Just come along and play. A special plea to Alsager and Stafford bridge Clubs: please turnout two official pairs to ensure a good battle in the event. 1st Session: Friday, 19th September.

THE TRADITIONAL COUNTY EVENTS <br>Entry to all these events will be by placing your name on the entry sheet that will be posted on your Club noticeboard. This sheet will be closed on the Thursday night nine days previous to the Sunday and posted to the Secretary so that it arrives with him on the Monday before the event.

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

After managing to get my report in the last Bulletin onto the back page, I have been promised promotion to at least page three in this issue (no photographs forthcoming).

Your County Secretary asks the various Officials of the Committee to write their reports and hand them in promptly for the next Bulletin. Unfortunately, in the closed bridge season, it is extremely difficult to find interesting copy. Chairmen seem to fill their reports extolling members to enter County competitions and praising the many who work hard for the County. May we take it that I endorse both of these points.

One event seems to have been dropped from the calendar and that is, the County Swiss Teams. Personally I found this event most enjoyable and perhaps it can revived. ** Recently I went with a team to Moseley Bridge Club in Birmingham to a Swiss Teams. We played average bridge and finished somewhere in the middle. However, the event was well worth the entrance fee of two pounds per head. We dined on turkey sandwiches, cheese sandwiches, pork pie, sausage rolls, salad rolls, chicken legs followed by gigantic fresh cream cakes. After devouring these delicacies, which even our table found difficult to dispose of (and our two lady team members can eat a bit, as anyone who knows them can testify), we were served an enormous helping of strawberries and fresh cream. The bridge may have only been mediocre but the tea was magnificent. Surely if a bridge club can promote such an entertaining event, we, as a County, can do likewise.
(** EDITOR'S FOOTNOTE: Oh Jim! Yet another one who didn't read his May Bulletin. Note Sunday 22nd January. We try, you see.)

May I give a bit of advice to all Staffordshire County Members? Don't complain in the forthcoming bridge year. I have complained, justifiably I feel, several times - each time your County Secretary gets me on to a sub­committee to do something about it. Be warned - complainers will probably be enlisted.

Your Committee is still of the belief that a central venue for County events is essential. With the improvements that are taking place at Stafford, I am sure that we have the ideal centre for our Bridge.

Once again, any criticisms, complaints or any ideas, please drop me a line or 'phone. If I can help, I will.

Enjoy your Bridge.

Jim Riley, Foxcroft Close, Chase town, WS7 8ST Tel: Burntwood 6895

FROM THE SECRETARY'S DESK

A new season is about to start. The Committee have worked hard to plan a programme that will make this season are enjoyable one: they have worked hard, to improve the playing conditions. Now it is up to you to make the County season ahead a. successful one. Some pertinent reminders on how to do this:-

1. Enter as many of the events as you can;
2. Try and persuade as many of your Club mates as you can to form teams to play in the League.
3. Our ambition is to have four divisions of the League ; we so nearly did last year - let's do it this year;
4. Support the 2nd Teams Trial event; help us to build up a strong, second team squad;
5. Let's have sufficient entries to the Staffs. Cup so that the repecharge can be played as a Swiss Teams Event; If you enter an event - PLEASE, OH PLEASE, DO NOT FAIL TO LET THE SECRETARY KNOW; IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO PLAY - DON'T JUST NOT TURN UP. It means all the tables and boards and movement cards have to be set out again. It might mean that the movement has to be improvised on the day. All this can be very harrowing to the tournament director: all. this can be time consuming and therefore frustrating to those waiting to play. Ayway, it is damn bad manners.
6. Play to win; that makes for excitement and improved Bridge - but above all, play with good manners: that makes for enjoyment all round.

Finally, a word about THE CORONATION CUP. I need to have exactly 8 teams from our County to join with the seven teams sent by our neighbouring Counties. This year the County Captain bas been given the task of inviting these eight teams to play. If you want to play, let him know. Top flight players of Staffordshire please turn out to play if asked. It is rude to our visitors if we do not turn out our best teams to play against them. The event will again be run for us by Peter Tottenham at his Wolverhampton B.C. This ensures that the event will have superb management and tournament direction.

JOHN HUDSON

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE BULLETIN

Your Bulletin will be collected by your Club representative - your Club is the one entered on the E.B.U. subscription form. He will try to hand it to you personally : failing this he will leave it in the Club room. From this issue, onward, none will be posted. You can request to have your Bulletin posted. Write to the Secretary and ask that you be put on his mailing list. For this service you must send with the request 4 x 10p stamps.

CAPTAIN'S REPORT
Report not to hand.

TREASURER'S REPORT

As members will appreciate, this period of the year represents the slack season for competitions anal thus there is little to report on the financial side. Since the Balance Sheet presented to the A.G.M., the cash balance is made up as follows:

Negotiations with the EBU are proceeding with a view to recovering the County's share of the subscriptions but, as at the date of going to press, no money has been forthcoming. A progress report will he given in the next Bulletin.

MASTER POINTS SECRETARY'S REPORT

I took over as M. P. Secretary in September 1976, knowing nothing of M. P's and very little about the County Bridge scene. Now, 11 different competitions, 30,000 local points and 500 certificates later I know a little more - but there's still plenty to learn!

The two biggest problems are obtaining the results, i.e. getting suffic­ient information quickly, and the distribution of the points once I've written them. Barbara Johnson (from whom I took over) solved the second problem for me by passing on her method: sort the L.P. certificates into Clubs and get the appropriate Club representative to sign for them. In this way your County rep. accepts responsibility for final delivery. The first problem I am better equipped to tackle this year -knowledge gained over the last year will enable me to know who to pester when!

The only disappointment is the low number of entries to the various competitions. Remember, the larger the entry the more points I can write. So indulge me and play more County Bridge!

E.B.U. REPRESENTATIVE'S REPORT

As you all know, I have only been actively interested in and associated with County Bridge for three years. During that time I have gradually learned how little support Counties get from the central organising body, the E.B.U. and I am disappointed and disillusioned by this attitude.

On Wednesday 13th July I travelled to London to attend a meeting of the E.B.U. General Council as the delegate representing Staffordshire. The meeting lasted 4 ¾ hours, during four of which the meeting discussed trivialities at great length, and when matters of substance were debated, it was obvious that the Executive had in most cases decided the issue before it got to the Council. I came away feeling, as had Charles Edwards before I took his place, that it had all been a waste of my time and your money, and that was the reason Charles had given for not attending. I therefore give notice that I too will not attend again unless a group of Staffordshire members particularly request that I do, in order to raise some point under Any Other Business.

I once again failed to get the Tournament Committee to even consider the status of inter-County matches with regard to the allocation of master points. I have sadly to express the opinion that the Executive of the E.B.U. are totally disinterested with anything to do with Counties. They only appear to be interested in national events sponsored directly by them, events from which to derive an income for central funds. To instance - it was baldly announced that Rothmans were to direct at which centres heats were to take place and the final was to be in London. The heat in our area is to held in Birmingham on 21/22nd January (to be confirmed). We, and no doubt other Counties, have tried to arrange our County programmes so as not to clash with national events, and now this new event is on the calendar and the Counties affected have had no prior warning. Moreover it is it is another event pushed into the calendar to compete with our own Three Counties Congress at Droitwich, held every year the first weekend in the year. Could not the Secretary and Committee of the Droitwich Congress been consulted? Could they not have been offered the heat? Thus keeping the calendar less congested. That might have been good for local Bridge - but "Aunty" would not collect. And further, to make sure of your defection from our Swiss Teams event arranged for that Sunday, Rothmans are to have a ration of "GREEN POINTS" to dangle before your eyes. (So much for their advice to us to make our County events more attractive). Give us "GREEN POINTS" for our County matches for a start and see. In the words of one of the EBU staff "Let's face it Mr Hudson who wants to play in Dawes matches?" - Green points Madam and I'll show you. Or better still, don't deface green points at all - create an intermediate point for all major and Congress events and leave GREENS only for the WINNERS of national events (or should I say finalists). But above all don't degrade our County matches by refusing them the same Master Point Awards as your Swiss Teams and early rounds of your National Knock-Out Teams Events.

To conclude, let me state my beliefs in County sport. I believe in and enjoy inter-County rivalry: I believe County matches stimulate BridgeWebs, and I think they provide the best stepping stone for new talent to progress to the International scene. The central Executive of other sports actually sponsor and arrange Inter-County Leagues and Inter-County championships. Our Counties are not only left to organize their own, but are actually damaged by the central administration when they do. The EBU alone can hand out ranking points; and they choose to degrade the status of our County matches to below the early rounds of their nationally sponsored events. Am I right in concluding that they don't really want Counties as part of the Bridge scene? I'll give them a chance to reply in the November Bulletin.