Founded by Jules Smith, with some input from Ian Tarr, the concept of a league was thought too risky because of the prevailing employment situation, and the likelihood of players leaving in mid-season.
A ladder was seen as the obvious solution. Players were allotted weekly fixtures to combat the stagnation found in many informal ladders.
Two prizes were on offer: one for the player at the top when the twenty-eight week period was completed, and the other (dubbed the Merit Award) for the player recording the highest percentage of victories through the season.
Starting positions at week 1 were decided by a computation based on results from the two previous knock-outs, with new players randomly drawn into the last few positions. For the record, those starting positions were:
1- John Chidgey; 2- Jon Jones; 3- Colin Watkeys; 4- Roger Thomas; 5- Martin Press; 6- Loraine Moore; 7- Jules Smith; 8- Ron Henderson; 9- Tim Yeandle; 10- Mike Morse; 11- Ian Tarr; 12- Andy Stephens; 13- Steve Lonsdale; 14- Sally Hulin; 15- Richard Harman; 16- Mike Harvey; 17- Nick Randall; 18- Martyn Palmer; 19- Pat Read; 20- Chris Lloyd; 21- Keith Lloyd; 22- Steve Bowthorpe; 23- Graham Osborn; 24- John Ryan; 25- Andrea Watkins.
During the twenty-eight week season, some players dropped out of the Ladder, while others joined. While the starting line-up was 25-strong, 25 were also in the final list (although not the same 25). They were:
1- IAN TARR; 2- Loraine Moore; 3- Mike Morse; 4- Jon Jones; 5- Steve Lonsdale; 6- Ron Henderson; 7- John Ryan; 8- Colin Watkeys; 9- John Chidgey; 10- Roger Thomas; 11- Martin Press; 12- Graham Osborn; 13- Chris Lloyd; 14- Jules Smith; 15- Nick Walker; 16- Tim Yeandle; 17- Mike Harvey; 18- Martyn Palmer; 19- Stuart Fraser; 20- Julian Morris; 21- Richard Harman; 22- Pat Read; 23- Pete Campbell; 24- Nick Randall; 25- Noel Massey.
Thus IAN TARR won the prize for being in pole position at the season's end. The Merit Award, of course, had a very different order, with JOHN RYAN taking the prize:
1- JOHN RYAN; 2- Ian Tarr; 3- Steve Lonsdale; 4- Mike Morse; 5- Graham Osborn; 6- Chris Lloyd; 7- Keith Lloyd; 8- Loraine Moore; 9- Ron Henderson; 10- Martyn Palmer; 11- Colin Watkeys; 12- Jon Jones; 13- Andy Stephens; 14- Mike Harvey; 15- John Chidgey; 16- Roger Thomas; 17- Richard Harman; 18- Tim Yeandle; 19- Jules Smith; 20- Nick Randall.
The following players also took part, but failed to complete enough matches (16) to qualify for Merit Award classification:
Pat Read, Martin Press, Nick Walker, Stuart Fraser, Andrea Watkins, Pete Campbell, Sally Hulin, Julian Morris, Noel Massey, Steve Bowthorpe.