A HEREFORD badminton club are celebrating after carrying off the Division One title in the Wyedean League.

Phoenix Badminton Club were playing in the league’s top-flight for the first time this season and have gone through the campaign unbeaten.

The league features teams from across Herefordshire and the Forest of Dean and Phoenix, who only joined the competition in the basement section three seasons ago, have moved through the divisions, winning titles and never tasting defeat.

They have yet to be beaten in a Wyedean League match.

This season, the squad of Richard Sheffield (captain), Jethro Tull, Matt James, Gina Bentham, Cathy Hurst, Gemma Powell won the title with a game to spare.

But the club have not just concentrated their efforts on the Wyedean League.

The squad of Nigel Holder (captain), Sheffield, Chris Collins, Steve Kean and Tull also won the Herefordshire Badminton Association Men’s Division.

Father and son Richard and Jay Sheffield formed Phoenix in 2008.

“The club was formed in an attempt to revitalise Hereford badminton and keep the county’s top players in Herefordshire,” said Jay. “The aim was to form a high quality forward-thinking club, bringing through players at a highly-competitive standard.”

The club became the first badminton club to gain a sponsorship deal and their tie-in with Hurst Carpentry Ltd enabled all of the team to be supplied with kit.

“This was something simple in many other sports but not considered the norm in badminton at the time,” said Jay.

In their five-year existence, the club have already attained an impressive trophy count, winning every league competition it is possible to enter in the county including the Mixed Doubles Divisions One and Two, the Men’s Doubles Division twice, as well as Wydean Divisions One, Two and Three.

Over a long career, Richard Sheffield has won the Herefordshire player-of-the-year six times but others have also carried off individual awards with Jay Sheffield, Matt James, Anita Pritchard and Gemma Powell all winning Wyedean’s Most Valuable Player prize.

The club meets every Monday night from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at Wydenbach Sport Centre in Weobley.

Contact Jay Sheffield on jaysheffield@hotmail.co.uk or 07867 122434 for details or visit the website phoenix badmintonclub.com