Tuesday night was one of the most exciting days of the global, annual squash calendar - no, it's not the World Championships final, or another Asal ban... it was the start of the North West Counties Squash League season for the 1st Division!

We are proud to have the longest running and biggest squash league in the World with over 240 teams from 75 clubs playing in 18 divisions - and this year boasts some of the most impressive 1st Division squads we've seen for decades. Competing this year we have dozens of World top ranked players including Joel Makin, Adrian Waller, Patrick Rooney, George Parker, Emyr Evans, Owain Taylor, Emily Whitlock, Hollie Naughton, Jonah Bryant, Rui Soares, Nick Wall, Charlie Lee, Simon Herbert, Finn Withington, Sam Todd, Mostafa El Sirty, a host of young Australian and NZ talents lead by the Chilese brothers, and also actual living legends... James Willstrop and Nick Matthew!

With 11 teams competing for the coveted champions trophy, it's sure to be an epic season ahead.

Warrington, champions for the last 7 years, sat out this week while the other 10 teams went into battle. Most players raring to go after training brutally hard all summer, a few slightly rusty from their summer vacations, but all mad keen and giddy with excitement for what is the pinnacle of their sporting lives...

The notable match-up of week 1 was between last years runners-up Cheetham Hill (who have strengthened their squad this season with the addition of World No.32 Nick Wall), who were hosted by Grove Park - the "Mr Consistent" of the NWCSL top division and have finished inside the top 4 for the last 2 decades, gaining several titles along the way.

Most matches on paper looked pretty 50/50. The No.1 match-up saw Emyr Evans, fresh from his weekend exploits reaching the final of the Welsh Championships, vs Finn Withington, confident after his victory against World No.60, Rui Soares last week. No.2's - league newcomer Will Salter vs Jordan Hardwick who was invaluable for "The Hill" last season. No.3 had "South African local boy" Luke McFarland, who loves a cross-court nick vs CH captain and coach Josh Taylor. No.4's had NWCSL stalwart Ky Hibberd vs the fit Irishman, Stephen Hearst. And lastly, Manchester Council legend Yawar vs the ever erratic but dangerous Carlton Oldham.

The match ended in a very "tiiiiiight" 3-2 win for Cheetham Hill. The top 3 strings were all straight-forward-ish after some impressive performances - Finn beat Emyr convincingly, Will made an outstanding debut to claim a 3-0 win, and Josh tamed the wild lion Luke. The tie really hinged on the no.4's and 5's. 57 year-old Yawar proved he's still "got it" as he showed the benefits of being a "Steady Eddy" as Carlton would go from outrageous winner to 3 tins far too often. Yawar claimed a close 3-1 win for Grove Park. Stephen Heart showed his superior fitness against the ever tricky Ky Hibberd, as he pushed himself to the limits to a massive 3-2 win, which essentially won the match for his team.

Elsewhere Liverpool beat league newcomers City Of Manchester 3-2, with their bottom order prevailing. Liverpool were without their two "Big Dogs", George Parker and Lwamba Chilese, but reinforced well with ladies World No.19 Hollie Naughton.

Wrexham won 4-1 as they had their strongest top order Welsh line-up of Owain Taylor and Rhys Evans, which proved too strong for Alderley Edge's top two, Kiwi Elijah Thomas and Lee-On-Solent's Toby Ponting. Wigan gained 18 points against Bowdon, with NZ's 19-year-old Mason Smales winning on his debut for the "pizza-loving Wiganites". As an oldie myself, it was nice to see Pete "The Badger" Billson turning back the clock to notch up a win for Bowdon at No.2 string, so it wasn't all "plain sailing" for The Wiganers.

The last match of the evening was a Northern derby with their first and second teams playing one another. The Northern are the only club to have two teams represented in Division 1, and perhaps unsurprisingly, the 1st team won 4-1. The only "upset" came when Welsh World No.120, Elliot Morris Devred gained the sole win for the 2nd team by dominating Michael Andrews for a 3-0 win at No.1.

So, week 1 finishes with Wrexham flying high at the top of the table on 19 points - incredibly exciting times in North Wales! Unfortunately for Wrexham though, they travel to title contenders Cheetham Hill next week. The other notable fixture sees Warrington enter the fray when they travel to The Northern for their first match of the 2023/24 campaign. However, the Northern can field the extremely powerful 21-year-old Egyptian, World No.22 Mostafa El Sirty - so stay tuned folkes.....

 Andy Whipp