Red Lion, Rothwell, Northants

There are two hotbeds of the Northamptonshire Table Skittles game in Rothwell. The all conquering Conservative Club, where you throw under the steely gaze of the Iron Lady herself, and the sturdy stone edifice of the Red Lion Hotel, both of which are located in the heart of this attractive Northamptonshire village.

Year in, year out, it's the 'A' team at the Connie Club who are the ones to beat, regularly winning both the League, Beer Leg, and a good few of the Knockout cups. The Red Lion 'A' team are pretty handy with a set of cheeses too, but as can be seen below, the 'B' team, who are relatively new to the league, are currently entrusted with the venerable Phipps-NBC Summer Skittles League Wooden Spoon. It's a fact of league play that someone has to have this piece of wood each year, indeed my local the Red Lion in Middleton (currently closed), had a wooden spoon over the bar for a short time, as well as a small selection of more honourable trophies.

Some of the trophies from the Friday Winter League can be seen in an image from the Market Harborough Mail which I've linked to here. I'm pleased to say that the Mail still regularly features the league tables and end of season presentations for Skittles, as well as for several other pub games including Cribbage and Darts:

Teams bag the Benels booty at league prizegiving - Sport - Harborough Mail