A WELL-LOVED, self-confessed sports fanatic had a dying wish granted by having a bowls tournament named in his honour.

Bill Bolton passed away in July and club-mates at Roe Lee Bowling Club paid their respects in the way he would have wanted - by battling it out for the W Bolton Memorial Trophy.

And after a good turn out at the Blackburn club, the event now promises to become an annual event so that Bill's name will be remembered long into the future.

The inaugural winner of the event was John Gouldsborough who beat Bob Sloan 21-8 in the final.

The event was staged over two days with the opening rounds played on Wednesday with the semi finals and finals were played two days later.

And on a day of some fine bowls the club's veteran players, Gouldsborough booked his final place with a win against Walter Thompson while Sloan made the final thanks to a victory against Jimmy Turner.

While the scoreline suggested otherwise, the final encounter was a close affair but Gouldsborough showed all his experience to pull away to win.

A total of 20 players took part in the event which was always the wish of Bill once he had passed away.

Jim Hartley who helped organise the event said it was just what he would have wanted.

He said: "Bill was a very keen sportsman and I should know because I used to play football against him. He always said that this was his wish and I am so pleased so many people turned up to support the event."

He added: "Bill was a regular member of the club and he will be sadly missed but not forgotten. Even when he was ill and could no longer play he used to come down whenever he could do watch the action."

Jim said that the action on the final day was very impressive but was a glad the decision was made to hold the event over two days.

He said: "None of us our getting younger and some of the bowlers are well into their 80s. So walking around all day can take be quite tiring. So we held the first and second round matches one day and the semis and final two days later. It seemed to work and considering how warm it was it proved to be a very good idea." Bill turned to bowls after a long illustrious career in local amateur football. He played to a high standard with Mullards early on in his career before being 'poached' by Blackburn West where he teamed up with his wife's six brothers and needed a player who could play inside left.

He was also a keen cricketer and remained involved in the game after he stopped playing and would act as linesman at football matches or 12th man while playing cricket.

However once the legs packed in, Bill refused to pack up and instead turned his attentions to his new love of bowls.

During the last 18 months, Bill was too ill to play but whenever possible he would go down to the club to see his friends in action.

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