Noise row leads to league split

Table Tennis

OLDHAM Table Tennis Club has quit the Oldham and District Table Tennis League after a row in which their young players were accused of being “too noisy.”

After claims they were threatened with expulsion from the league, members voted overwhelmingly to resign and for the club to form its own breakaway league.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of Oldham Table Tennis Club, the biggest in Greater Manchester, at which it was claimed that one girl was so upset by the situation that she didn’t want to carry on playing the sport.

Dave Griffith, chairman and head coach of the club, said: “The league complained that our players were too noisy and that our girls were encouraging their team-mates by clapping and shouting, though they were adhering to the rules and sportsmanship.

“They told us that if the noise was not reduced there was a possibility the team would be kicked out of the league.”

Mr Griffith said he felt the league ought to have been more supportive of the youngsters, who finished runners-up in division four of the open-age league.

He said: “It is the first time the Oldham Table Tennis League has ever had an all-girls team, and one so young. Their ages were nine, 10, 14 and 15 - and some of the comments received from the older generation towards them was disgusting.

“We have juniors in Oldham playing at the highest level and they ought to have been encouraged and not ridiculed.

“The girls were happy not to play in the league again and one girl in particular didn’t want to continue playing at all after this incident.

“As far as I am concerned this is not encouraging the development of table tennis, especially when there is a shortage of female representation in our sport.”

The fallout from the resignation is that Mr Griffith has helped form a new league - the Oldham Table Tennis Club League which will start in October and which has already become affiliated to both the English Table Tennis Association and Lancashire Table Tennis Association.

He has attracted teams from Wythenshawe, Bolton and Ashton and there will be a new format as teams will comprise two as opposed to three players.

It is hoped to form two divisions in the seniors and a further two for the juniors.

John Foster, secretary of the Oldham Table Tennis League, denied vehemently that OTTC had been threatened at any time with expulsion.

But he admitted that there had been noise-related issues, claiming that opposing players received “verbal abuse” and a “hostile reception” when they played at Radclyffe Athletics Centre.

Mr Foster said: “We decided that all juniors teams in the league should play every game at home to help with the problem of late finishes and having to travel home afterwards.

“It was something which caused grumbles as some teams would at times go six or seven weeks without a home fixture.


OTTC played its matches on Friday evenings at Radclyffe, where there was judo and other activities on the same night so there was a lot of surrounding noise which irritated a lot of people.

“In addition to that we received complaints about the behaviour of Oldham players in terms of verbal abuse and the hostile reception given to visiting players.

“Apart from applauding their own players when they won a point, they would also do likewise if an opponent made a mistake, which we considered unsporting.

“We deemed it outside the spirit of the game and it is fair to say we had a major disagreement when we raised the matter with Dave Griffith.”

Mr Foster also disagreed that the Oldham and District Table Tennis League was not supportive, pointing out they gave £198 to OTTC in the season just finished to help them enter three teams in national leagues.