The England Men’s Angling Team travelled to Llandudno, Wales to take part in the FIPS-M 35th Men’s World Shore Angling Championship from 20th – 27th October. This extremely competitive World Championship ended with a hard-fought silver medal for the England Men’s team.
England finished sixteenth out of the eighteen participating countries on day 1, but despite catching plenty of whiting, were the only team not to catch any high value dogfish and finished with 16-day points which was a disappointing start.
Despite this seemingly impossible position, the team, consisting of World number 1 Saul Page, Darren Newland and Richard Yates, also both in the top 4 World Rankings, Gareth Griffiths and new cap Ian Dancey, battled back impressively to win the last three days. This was an unbelievable performance under the circumstances and the England warriors finished on 19 points and only one point away from the gold medal.
The team was also eagerly backed up by reserve Julian Shambrook, Bill Lindfield (assistant manager), Ian Golds (manager) and Malcolm Stote who, despite not being part of the official team, selflessly gave up his valuable time and travelled almost 300 miles each way to help out. This was a wonderful team effort by all.
Top 4 team results;
1st Portugal – Gold
2nd England – Silver
3rd Spain – Bronze
4th Wales
Top 4 individual results;
1st Ruud Van Noord (Netherlands)
2nd Richard Gormley (Ireland)
3rd Antonio Milheirao (Portugal)
4th Benito Vantorre (Belgium)
Ian Golds, proud team manager stated “Individually, Saul Page finished 7th, Darren Newland 10th, Richard Yates 20th, Gareth Griffiths 21st and Ian Dancey 41st out of the 90 top class anglers at the event. England also caught the most fish, 395 and accumulated the most fish points 9282, so really did put on a world class display. The performance by each angler was considered by many of the other teams to have been outstanding, especially after the disappointing first match. They never let their heads drop and showed true British bulldog spirit and it was an honour to have managed this team of battlers. Thank you one and all. A huge congratulations to the new World Champions Portugal and bronze medal winners Spain, wonderful achievements on foreign beaches.”
“I would like to thank team supporters Anyfish Anywhere, ASSO, Bassboots and Tronix pro, the WSFA, the wonderfully helpful local council and the many volunteers /stewards who made this Championship such an amazing event. From the stunning opening ceremony and banquet, great location and excellent fishing to the brilliant awards ceremony, this really was spectacular and one to be highly thought of by every nation for many years to come.”
The Angling Trust would like to offer their sincere congratulations to England Men’s Shore Team on such a fantastic achievement.
On behalf of the Angling Trust, Team England and all the many anglers who have followed the team’s progress over the years, everyone would like to thank Ian Golds, England Manager for all his dedication and commitment and for bringing his wealth of expertise to this role. Ian is sadly retiring from his role as Team England Manager and will be missed from the International circuit. Ian has been a true ambassador for Team England and sea angling for many years and everyone would like to wish him all the very best.
