Simple Match Fishing Forum

I used really enjoy reading the articles about the team – predominantly on the cut circuit – in MF 20 odd years ago – really detailed and informative they were  


Who can remember the team members from the ‘early’ 80’s



All I can come up with at the mo are Rob Hewson, Polly and Kevin Folwell



And what are they (excl Polly) up to today



(KF fished and either framed or won his section in last years MDs team of 4)

just thinking............


Was it Image Black Horse


or am I imagining things - it is a Fri afternoon

Yeah,
Well remember them.
There was a lad named Bird used to fish for them. Honestly no pun is intended here but I think he used to go with Polly.

Not sure of the original title but there is a Fox Match Black Horse (Northampton area) today which although a reicarnation still has the original roots.

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum (although I know a few of you from on the bank).
I particularly like the look of the all our yesterdays section .... although it looks like I've missed most of the good action on that one already!!

Anyway - rather than posting a separate thread in All Our yesterdays - I thought that I'd resurrect this thread from 3 years ago!

I'll start with a history lesson!
Black Horse match group were originally mainly from the Luton and Dunstable area and fished the Chiltern division of the winter league and various local leagues (Ian Smith canal league, Luton canal league etc). Believe it or not they were an all round team with decent river and lake anglers, although best known for squatt fishing on the cut.  In fact such luminaries as Ian Heaps, Simon Nickless and Bezza spent time with Black Horse!
The Image part of the name came from the first sponsors (Image reprographics company).


The articles you remember in Match Fishing were written by Rob Hewison in the late 80s and early 90s.  One of them even featured a half page photo of me with a net of carp from Biggin lake near Oundle!

At about the same time the tackle company was founded by Mark Bird and Mark Pollard - although it foundered a few years later.  And they took over the sponsorship, along with a camera company from Bedford.

After getting pipped by Milton Keynes for the winter league in 1991, the squad decided that it was getting too big and needed to refocus.  The name was changed to Team Image (I'll take credit for the name thanks ) and thinned down to 14 people for the 92/93 season - which covered all of the bases for canals and rivers that circuit.  In that first season Team Image won the div 6 on the lanky and qualified for the winter league semi on the Nene at Orton .... finishing just out of the qualifiers for the final.

The next season they qualified for the final from a semi on the Grand Union (I remember Kevin Folwell drawing next to Bobby Smithers that day  ).  3 more anglers joined that season to take the squad to 17.  Chris V will remember that year because there was an almighty stink over Image pipping Team Robbo's for the Chiltern League.  The last round was on the GUC at Fenny Stratford and two Image anglers had pegged it out, then sat off the end of the match length and fished.  It was in the days when you weren't allowed to fish the venue after the preceding sunday.  If I remember rightly Kenfish from MFS was the league organiser in those days.

So down to names.

pre-Team Image
as well as the 3 famous ones above I can remember
Paul Coombes
Chris Mears
Alan Whittington
Chris Pollard (Polly's Brother)
Dave Sayce (won a Leeds-Livepool national)
Ken Cavendish
Dave Moss (still Luton AC manager afaik)
Andy Waterhouse - andy made front page of AT in the 80s for surviving a pole to power line encounter!!  Last saw him 5 odd years ago at kempston.  I think he's fishing club matches on puddles these days.
Paul Chadwick - my mentor.  Found god, stopped fishing.
Pat Mills
Nigel Bass (still see Bassy occasionally on Great Ouse matches)
Alan Markham
Graham Smith had gone to Trev's by the time Team Image was formed.


Post those first couple of years of Team Image they nicked a few from Milton Keynes
Colin Heath
Gary Page (Base)
John Ingram
Gareth Kilty

Another name I remember from the later years was Paul Marsiglio, who I think runs matches at Stanbrough Lake now.


Anyway - down to that early 90's Team Image squad
You've already got
Mark Bird (Captain) - last I heard Birdy had emigrated to Denmark and was no Longer fishing.  I used to fish matches with his dad at Radwell on the G. Ouse.  Sadly Dick passed away a few years ago now.
Mark Pollard - needs no introduction
Rob Hewison - Sensas Mark One these days.  Saw him at March last November, bit greyer than he used to be!
Kevin Folwell - last I heard with Drennan Oxford.

the others were
Richard Carden - (Vice Captain) moved to Hong Kong for work
Lee Newson - I think Belsen still fishes for Garbo Black Horse.
Graham West - same as Lee, although last time I saw Graham he's fishing a lot less than he used to.
John Haseler - from Aylesbury way.  No idea what he's doing now.
Mark Rudd - travelled with John. Again no idea.  2 gingers in the same team
Myles Phillips - merchant of doom.  would see Myles once a year in the Wolverton tackle shop when I was working in MK (until last year).  Think he mainly pleasure fishes these days  Still a pessimist but a top notch angler.  He won that div 6 on the Lanky.
Jeb Attwood - turned to the dark side and only went to Willow / gold valley. Did well there but I no longer follow the results so don't know if he is still fishing.
Kev Withington - went to Essex County.  I think he gave up fishing and takes his son golfing now.  ChrisV would know for sure.
Tad Jones - travelled with Kev in those days, no idea what he's doing now.

Oh - and me!  I left in 94 as my commitment had dropped.  I fish the midlands river circuit mostly these days (Avon, Trent, Severn, Wye).  Still catching a few.

In the second year of Team Image the 3 additions were
Mark Sawyer - testing poles on puddles last time I looked ::)
Kevin Heath from Banbury - saw him in the pub about 5 years ago, no longer fishing.
Gary Page from Luton - had been in Black Horse and was a very good canal angler. No idea what he's doing now.


Hope that's of some interest to a few - and maybe someone can fill in the blanks??

I work with Myles at what was the Electricity board. Your right about his fishing, not sure about the rest though.

Gary Page( not Base) fishes for us at GOT Baits. Certainly a class angler.

So Gary's another who's gone to the dark side eh keith?? I think he had a spell at Oakwood as well.

I googled Jeb, and he's still doing the stuff ..... 2nd at Larford back in April. He was always a good big fish angler. Jeb won the day I had my first ever frame (2nd) in a big open (100 peg +) on the Great Ouse back in 1986 ... it was all chub on the waggler in those days (happy ones).

Arch - last couple of times I saw Myles he was driving an e.on Landy .....
Do you know Ian Patrick as well? He used to work for the lecky board and knew Myles. Fishes Barford all the time now on the Avon.

The lad who won the div 6 national on the lanky must have drawn on a few toughest venue in the country by a mile !

Arch - last couple of times I saw Myles he was driving an e.on Landy .....
Do you know Ian Patrick as well?  He used to work for the lecky board and knew Myles.  Fishes Barford all the time now on the Avon.

Yep thats correct. Next time you see Myles he'll be in a white Landy. We've been taken over by Western Power.

Ian Patrick i don't know. Myles is a Linesman, same as me. Maybe Ian is a Jointer or Fitter, lesser beings you see.

Dodge - he did draw on a few, seem to remember him having about 11lb (maybe less).

We had Mark Addy to coach us on it ..... never having fished raw joker before!!
Actually caught loads of fish in practice .... little dumpy roach and bitterling. I thoroughly enjoyed it (especially whopping Polly's a**e off the next peg) but the established canal heads were picked and I was but merely a river angler! So I got the job of picking up and transporting all the joker for the match. From some chap in Burntwood (??) near Burton. It was that good bait that Lee Newson nearly got disqualified for using feed worm (it was the year that joker was allowed but bloodworm barred).

Dodge - he did draw on a few, seem to remember him having about 11lb (maybe less).

We had Mark Addy to coach us on it ..... never having fished raw joker before!!
Actually caught loads of fish in practice .... little dumpy roach and bitterling.  I thoroughly enjoyed it (especially whopping Polly's a**e off the next peg)  but the established canal heads were picked and I was but merely a river angler!  So I got the job of picking up and transporting all the joker for the match.  From some chap in Burntwood (??) near Burton.  It was that good bait that Lee Newson nearly got disqualified for using feed worm (it was the year that joker was allowed but bloodworm barred).

Nice one

Very tough but fair venue the lanky canal ....... most young uns want to catch easy carp nowadays and walk no more than 10 yards to their peg..... just about sums where match angling is sadly.

Nice thread , enjoyed everyones posts

Nice thread , enjoyed everyones posts

Me too Dodge

Thanks for the history lesson NoCarpPlease and for taking the time to pen it

Regards the Lanky ......

I once weighed 28lb of skimmers in a 70 pegger on there and only came 2nd ! never been lucky me ::)

you forget to mention you still come smack my wobbly cheeks at small heath Alex......hope you well on the mend mate

well that's true mr Teepot ..... pretty much the only canal venue I go to these days, and really enjoy the Small Heth matches .... too many boats on the GUC down Northampton and MK these days.
I did learn a little about fishing the squatt from those Image boys

Gary Page (Base)

Just a thought, - wasn't that Gary Jones? Or maybe I have old timers setting in

No Bill - you're right! Better memory than me!

No Bill - you're right! Better memory than me!

We fished the Ian Smith canal league at one time, Izaak Walton (Stafford) AA.

I think Base used to run some matches at MK.

following on the story from No Carp Please, can`t really remember what happened to Team Image in the nineties, they were still going around 1997 as they fished the Oxford winter league for a couple of years. I think they called it a day soon after, as Polly had already left to join Essex County and the remaining anglers just drifted apart. There was some connection with Mark Hoye and Kevin Stack who seemed to own Image angling products and Future fishing tackle. Polly worked for them for a while as a rep.
The current Team Image squad was formed around 2001 by former members of Trevs Browning, (who had disbanded in 2000 after getting fed up with the travelling to Oxford, summer and winter).
Some of the founder "new" team image anglers were Graham Dack, Johnny Weeden, Mark Hoye, Graham Smith, Lee Newson and Graham West. They had a couple of good hits in their first few years, winning a winter league semi on the K & A, finishing 3rd in the winter league final on the Nene and also coming 2nd in a canal national in the midlands.

I joined in 2004 and have been team captain for about the last 4 years. Many of the original "new" team image anglers have left, such as:
Dacky
Graham Smith
Jimmy Wilson
Billy Reynolds
Alan Reynolds
William Reynolds
Andy Gregory
Graham West
Lee Newson

However we have also recruited some top class replacements such as Gary Miller, Andy Mead, Steve Tyler, Simon Colclough, Danny Grimsey and Chris V to name just a few. Also got some up and coming youngsters, so we`re hopeful for the future.

Unfortunately team fishing looks to be a dying art due to a number of factors, however we`re still fishing and enjoying ourselves competing in the national, winter league, southern canal league and king of the fens league.

I just wish I could get our anglers to practise!

Nice post Mullarkey