Tribute to a fine player and true gentleman

Stan Boston

BOWLS: OLDHAM’S crown green bowling fraternity is mourning the death of one of its most influential figures of the last 50 years.

Stan Boston, who won virtually everything the game had to offer in the Oldham area, died in the early hours of yesterday at the age of 82.

As well as dominating the sport, he also put plenty back into bowls as an administrator.

And, as a three-times champion in the competition, he was instrumental in reviving the prestigious Oldham Evening Chronicle Handicap following the death in the early 1990s of Chronicle sports editor and event organiser Donald Taylor. He was also a close friend of late Athletic legend Bobby Johnston, who shared Stan’s passion for bowls.

Stan, who lived in Fir Lane, Royton, won many individual and pairs prizes in the various leagues in Oldham and was still participating in the Veterans’ League last year.

But poor health meant he was unable to play this season and he eventually lost his battle against illness.

Very much a team player, Stan was a member of the hugely-successful Chadderton Cot side which dominated local and county bowls in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

A regular for the Lancashire team in the 1950s and 60s, he was also a member of the Coalshaw Park side which ruled the Oldham Parks League, and latterly represented Hollinwood Institute and Crompton.

Stan was also a valued official in the Chadderton League.

At the time of his death, he was one of two honorary vice-presidents, having been a member of the executive committee for almost 40 years during which he served the league as secretary, chairman and president.

Along with Eric Thornley and Bob Nisbet, he approached the Chronicle with a view to running this newspaper’s competition — then known as the Green Final Handicap — following a blank year in 1992.

Competition chairman Keith McHugh said: “It is poignant that, on the eve of this year’s competition, Stan should pass away.

“Without his input, influence and help, I have no doubt the competition would have been lost to local bowls.

“Stan was a fine player, but he always wanted to put something back into the sport he loved.

“Like many, many others in bowls, I shall remember him as a true gentlemen and friend.”