Tom Hanlon & Hugh McGann

Nick Fitzgibbon  & Adam Mesbur

Micheal O'Briain & Padraig O'Briain

NPC - David Jackson

Peter Crouch & Neil Rosen
Gary Hyett & Alan Mould
Brian Senior & Geoffrey Wolfarth
NPC - John Williams

Diane Greenwood & Martin Devlin

Rex Anderson & David Greenwood

Robert Plunkett & Paul Tranmer
NPC - John Lavery

D Walker & Malcolm Cuthbertson

Ken Baxter & Elizabeth McGowan

Les Steel & J McGeorge.
NPC - Jack Paterson

Peter Goodman & Adam Dunn
Tim Rees & Filip Kurbalija
John Salisbury & Mike Tedd
NPC: Paul Denning

SCOTLAND

James McGeorge & Les Steel

James McGeorge – or Bif as he is usually known – has represented Scotland on five previous occasions. He is also a prolific winner in domestic tournaments. He works as an Accountant and enjoys watching sport and reading.

Les Steel has played for Scotland on 53 occasions. Among his many bridge successes have been victories in the Crockfords Cup (twice) and the Scottish cup four times. He also played for Great Britain . Les is now retired and describes himself as a “Gentleman Farmer”.

Malcolm Cuthbertson & David Walker

Malcolm Cuthbertson has played in the Camrose on 26 occasions, 18 of these with Andrew McIntosh and the other eight with John Mathieson. He has twice been in the winning team. Malcolm also finished in 12 th place in the World Pairs Championship having led after the first day. He has won the Scottish Grand Master Pairs (twice) with David as well as the Winter Foursomes. Away from bridge Malcolm works as a business analyst for an Edinburgh based Pensions Company.

David Walker has played in 20 Camrose matches and has also been in the Camrose winning team. He has twice been a semi-finalist in the Gold Cup including last month when his team lost by just 1imp. David has also won the Scottish Cup and the Winter Foursomes (twice). He also played in the European Championships in Tenerife . Away from bridge David teaches Maths and is also a low handicap golfer.

Liz McGowan & Ken Baxter

Liz McGowan has impressive bridge C.V. She has played in six Camrose matches and 20 Lady Milne series. Internationally Liz has played for Scotland in the European Open Championships, twice in the European Women's Championships as well as in two Women's Olympiads. Prior to the Home Unions becoming independent she was a member of the winning GB Women's in the 1997 and 1999 European Championships. She also won Silver medals in the 1990 and 1994 Olympiads. Liz is the bridge correspondent for the Scotsman newspaper.

Ken Baxter has played 15 times in the Camrose. He is both a Camrose winner and a Gold Cup winner. He too has played for Scotland at the European Open Championships in Malmo earlier this year. Ken has also represented Scotland twice in the European Senior Championships and twice in the Senior Olympiad. Ken is now retired.

Jack Paterson (NPC)

Jack has recently captained the Scottish teams in Malmo and Istanbul in addition to two Camrose matches last season. A retired actuary, Jack is secretary of the Open Selection Committee and over the past 35 years he has played for Scotland on numerous occasions.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Diane Greenwood & Martin Devlin

Diane Greenwood has previously played in the Camrose with her husband David. She has also represented Ireland in the European Ladies Championships most recently this year in Malmo . Diane and David coach our Junior Teams.

Martin Devlin previously played in the Camrose over 30 years ago with Rex Anderson. Martin is currently working in Scotland as a computer consultant. He travels home regularly to play bridge with Diane with whom he recently won the N. Ireland Pairs Championship.

Rex Anderson & David Greenwood

Rex Anderson is Northern Ireland 's most capped player with over 80 caps. Rex has played with David for some years. They have also represented Ireland in the European Championships. Rex lives and works as a solicitor in Coleraine.

David Greenwood has also represented his native England in the Camrose before moving to Northern Ireland . He is also a past winner of the Gold Cup. David is an Independent Financial Advisor who lives with his wife Diane in County Antrim .

Robert Plunkett & Paul Tranmer

Robert Plunkett has a large number of Camrose caps all earned playing with his current partner Paul Tranmer. Robert spends a lot of his free time building and repairing computers. He is a retired Civil servant.

Paul Tranmer is another of English recruits who is originally from Hull . However, he has lived in Northern Ireland for 20 year and is Project Manager working for the Health service.

John Lavery (NPC)

John has played in the Camrose on six occasions and has captained the team previously. He is the Manager for PayPoint in Northern Ireland . He is also a keen follower of National Hunt Racing.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Tom Hanlon & Hugh McGann

Tom Hanlon is originally from Mullingar in Co. Westmeath and works as an Insurance Broker in Dublin . He has represented the Republic in many European and World Championships. Playing with Hugh he won the Silver Medal in Junior Pairs at the 1993 EEC Championships in Montechoro. He has played with Hugh all over the world, in the Cavendish in the US , in Australia and in Japan . Tom also played with Adam, Nick, John Carroll and Tommy Garvey in the recent Istanbul Olympiad where they finished in 5 th place.

Hugh McGann is a medical doctor who works in St. James Hospital in Leeds . He began his international career playing with Derek O'Gorman in the Geneva World Pairs. From Fermoy in County Cork , he is the ideal ambassador for Irish Bridge in the UK and beyond. He is now a regular squad member on the Hackett team playing in major events all over the world.

Adam Mesbur & Nick FitzGibbon

Adam Mesbur , married to Noelette with two young teenagers (one of each), is Head of Derivatives Trading with IIB Bank in Dublin . He has had a long standing partnership with Nick stretching back to before 1974. Playing with Nick, Adam won a Silver medal in the Junior European Championships in 1974. The Great Britain team – including Barnet Shenkin – finished in third place. They also finished third in the European Teams in Lausanne in 1979 and were runners-up in the 1980 Common Market Pairs.

Nick FitzGibbon is one of only six Grand Masters in Irish bridge. His international bridge career predates his partnership with Adam in that he played in the Irish Open Team in the Miami Olympiad in 1972 finishing in 12 th position. He has played in seven European Championships, six Olympiads and three World Pairs / Rosenblum Teams. His life revolves round the pony-riding career of his daughter Nicola and his duties as transport driver.

Micheal O'Briain & Padraig O'Briain

Micheal and Padraig O'Briain are brothers from a prominent bridge family. Micheal is Finance Director and Actuary with Hibernian Life and Pensions. His international bridge career also began in 1972 when he played with Padraig in the Junior European Championships. He has had a long standing international career with Donal Garvey although he has been playing with Padraig at international level this season. Golf is Micheal's other sporting interest.

Padraig is a systems analyst who began his international bridge career with Micheal and has played in many internationals with Tomas Roche, Thomas MacCormac and most recently with Peter Pigot in the 2004 European Championships in Malmo .

David Jackson (NPC)

Dr. David Jackson works as a statistician. It is extremely difficult to get him to the bridge table on a Saturday for that very reason but when he does his fast paced action leaves everyone gasping in awe. He is a good friend of Eric Kokish whom he has met at many events around the world. Eric has passed on his coaching / captaincy skills to Dave, so even although this is his first Camrose captaincy, he ain't no pushover.

WALES

Mike Tedd & John Salisbury

Mike started his bridge career in Cambridge and London . He moved to Aberystwyth in the seventies and played for Wales then, including a memorable trouncing of England . Unable to juggle bridge with career and family demands, he stopped playing entirely for almost 20 years. With early retirement from the University, where he was Professor of Computer Science, he has recently returned to serious bridge. Mike's bidding methods have antique value.

John made his Camrose debut in 1974, and was part of a Welsh team that played against Patrick Jourdain in Caledonian colours. It is not widely known that John was playing a Camrose match across the country when his eldest daughter Ruth born. Before this season John's last Camrose appearance was in 1990, after which he gave up due to family commitments. This is John's 28th Camrose match and his second comeback to Camrose Bridge , with a third partner, having previously played with Jessie Newton & Robert Upton. Mike & John played as part of the Welsh team for the European Championships in Malmo .

Tim Rees & Filip Kurbalija

Tim and Filip have been the anchor pair of the Welsh team for the last couple of years. They were part of the Welsh team that won the Silver Medal in the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002. Tim & Filip also played in the Salsomaggiore when Wales beat Italy 22-8. Both players have a distinguished domestic record—Tim currently leads the English Gold Point list, and Filip leads the Welsh Gold point list.

Tim works at the transport research laboratory, offering advice on how to minimise traffic jams. Away from the bridge table Tim can be seen umpiring hockey matches.

Filip is an accountant and long-time Notts. Forest supporter who can confidently say his wedding day to Diane was the happiest day of his life— Brian Clough sent them a telegram.

Peter Goodman & Adam Dunn

Adam Dunn has had 7 Camrose appearances for Wales , all with Peter. Peter previously had 32 matches with other partners. They were in the Wales team that won the silver medal at the inaugural Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championship three years ago, and represented Wales at the Olympiad in Turkey .

Peter has a family firm in Cardiff making kitchen furniture and is a free-lance computer consultant. He lives in Chepstow. Adam works for a head-hunting firm in London and is known for seldom being in the right place at the right time, unless it is the bar after a bridge session.

Paul Denning (NPC)

Paul is a computer engineer at British Energy who has played 14 Camrose matches for Wales ; the last 13 were 22 years after his debut in 1978. Paul has been a regular member of the Welsh team for the last four years in partnership with Adrian Thomas , and played in Malmo last summer. This year has re-entered the squad with his original partner Patrick Shields. Paul plays tennis to keep fit.

ENGLAND

Peter Crouch & Neil Rosen

Peter Crouch is 43 year old Chartered Accountant (yawn) from Surrey . He is married to Sara and they have two children, Ellie, who is 7 and Paul aged 6. Peter has previously played Camrose matches with John Hobson and Steve Lodge. Like a number of Peter's partners they found the experience enough to induce them to retire early from the game. Peter's says his main enjoyment in bridge is to watch his partners' suffering as they try to remember his over complicated systems.

Peter has won the Gold Cup twice, the Camrose Trials on a number of occasions and the Farnborough Mixed Pairs with his wife.

Neil Rosen is married to Anne; herself an English Ladies International. They have two young children – Nicola aged 7 and Andrew aged 2. They live in North London where Neil owns and manages two full-time bridge clubs; The Acol and the Ace of Clubs.

Neil has won many of Britain 's leading events including the English Camrose Trials several times as well as the Gold Cup and the Spring Foursomes each on two occasions. He has also won the now defunct Premier League. He enjoyed relative success in this year's trials with a fairly new partner, Peter Crouch, together with two long-standing close friends, Catherine Draper and Jeremy Willans. Neil has played in six previous Camrose matches – being successful on each occasion.

Alan Mould & Gary Hyett

Alan Mould is a manager in a further education college. He previously partnered Anil Ruia, with whom he reached the Gold Cup final in 1985, and Howard Melbourne with whom he made his Camrose debut in 1995 against Wales . Alan acted as coach to the England Women's Team in the European Championships of 2001 and 2002 (one Gold, one Bronze) and the last two Venice Cups, and was NPC of the England team in the McConnell Cup in 2002. He captained the team again in the European Championships and World Teams Olympiad in 2004, a bronze medal in the latter atoning somewhat for the disappointment of failing to qualify for the Venice Cup. He has also written on the game.

Gary Hyett is a programmer working for a firm specialising in motorway signalling software. His previous partners included Michael Knight and Willy Crook, with whom he played against Scotland in a Camrose match in 1988.

Gary and Alan formed a partnership more than ten years ago, and reached the Gold Cup final in 1996, winning it in 1997 and 1999, and reaching the final again a month ago. They played in the British Open team in the European Championships in 1999. They have both played eight Camrose matches, seven of them in partnership, and so far have only one loss. This is their fifth appearance together against Northern Ireland .

Brian Senior & Geoffrey Wolfarth

Brian Senior has played a total of twenty-three Camrose matches, having played for England with Steve Ray for two seasons prior to a move to Northern Ireland , for whom he played for four seasons with Hastings Campbell. He recalls fondly being part of one of only two Northern Ireland teams ever to beat England in a Camrose match. Since his return to England he has won further Camrose caps in partnership with Robert Sheehan, including an impressive demolition of… Northern Ireland . He has also played for Ireland in major championships and for Great Britain in the EEC championships and has won open bridge events on every continent except Antarctica .

Brian is a full time bridge professional and journalist, he is a regular bulletin editor at world and zonal championships (and indeed the EBU Summer Congress at Brighton ); he is also current editor and publisher of the Official World Championship book each year.

Geoffrey Wolfarth lives in Hove with his wife Ros and their pussycat Smudge. He commutes daily to central London where he works as a solicitor. Apart from a love of Bridge he is a great cricket follower. He also is an enthusiastic war-gamer and has his own room with custom built table which can keep him happy for hours and hours.

Geoffrey was at Cambridge reading Classics and the law. Whilst there, his primary interest was chess. He was, however, a very popular member of Cambridge University Bridge Club, not because of his bridge playing abilities but because he owned a car and was happy to be the team chauffeur when required.

As a young man Geoffrey set himself three goals. The first two he accomplished in the 1990's. One was to circumnavigate the world in one trip. The other was to watch the English cricket team play in Australia . The third goal was to represent his country at something and his inclusion in the England Camrose team now means that he must find another goal. (His wife can supply some goals if he runs out of ideas)

Bridge wise, his major achievements to date have been winning the Premier Life Master pairs for the last two seasons and in 2003 to play in the quarter finals of the main teams' event in the first European Open Championships held in Menton.

John Williams (NPC)

John has had two 20-year careers, first in theatre management, and then as Secretary of the EBU.

Following his retirement in 1998, he is now a part-time Assessor for the Foundation for Sport and the Arts. A Grand Master and now a Vice-President of the EBU, he has captained England teams on many occasions in both the Camrose Trophy and the Lady Milne, and this is his second appointment against Scotland , and one of many against Northern Ireland in the Camrose.

John was the first captain of an England Open team in European or World competition, following devolution of the BBL. On that occasion, in Maastricht 2000 , England achieved fourth place in the World Teams Olympiad. He has gone on to captain the England Open team in two successive European Championships - in Tenerife 2001 and Salsomaggiore 2002. On the latter occasion England missed qualification for the Bermuda Bowl by an agonisingly small margin.