THE Oxford Club League, which organised a host of mainly indoor sports, owed its existence to a woman ‘gatecrasher’.

She caused consternation when she turned up as a member of a hitherto all-male bar billiards team.

At a meeting of the bar billiards league, it was suggested a separate club league should be formed for men and women.

The Oxford Club League was formed in 1946, but it was not until 1957 that a formal decision was made to allow women to play.

The league offered bar billiards, darts, shove-halfpenny, cribbage, dominoes, Aunt Sally and angling and attracted teams from numerous clubs in the city.

Memory Lane this week

By 1971, it was decided to suspend the league when only five teams entered and it was not revived, ending 25 years of activity.