Welcome to the 2012 "Match This" news page. Here you will find all the latest news, press releases and developments as and when they happen in the run-up to the event.
18/01/12 - Maver Mega "Match This" No Longer Winner Takes All!!!
Phil Briscoe, Maver (UK) Managing Director, will, again, guarantee the winner of this year's Mega "Match This" final a minimum of £50,000. In addition to this however, Phil has announced that, providing ticket sales for this year's event allow, the competition will also aim to pay out second and third placed anglers meaning the competition for this year is no longer a "winner takes all" event. It is our intention to pay second place £5,000 and third place £3,000 on the day (subject to change).
Phil comments: "We have taken on board all comments following the 2011 final, but soon came across the same constructive criticism from a broad range of anglers who were of the opinion that this year's competition would be even better if a structured payout was implemented. In light of this general consensus, we at Maver feel it only fair to respond to this request and provide yet more incentive for anglers to enter this prestigious event in 2012. By offering anglers a greater opportunity to walk away from this year's final with a considerable financial reward, we hope the competition will appeal to more anglers and ensure the event is even bigger and better this year".
21/12/11 - Team Event Joins "Match This" Final
Further to November's announcement of the Larford Lakes winter league series, please be advised that there have been a number of fundamental changes to the format of the competition ahead of the first match taking place on 14th January, 2012.
A minimum of 10 / maximum of 20 teams of four will compete for a winner's prize of £1,000 (subject to change) over six rounds with standings being calculated on a cumulative points system. The competition will also pay out (again subject to the event being fully supported) the runner's-up team and, subject to numbers, third place also.
As an added incentive, the event will now see teams automatically qualify for day two of the 2012 Maver Mega "Match This" weekend extravaganza, and take part in the team event on Sunday 2nd September competing for a winning team prize of £3,000 and impressive team trophy! The competition will also pay out an additional £2,000 to second place and £1,000 to third placed teams respectively. Entry fee on the day will be £120 per team.
Entry fee per team for the deciding winter league equates to £120 at £30 per angler plus an additional £20 pools per man each round. There will also be an optional "Super Pools" each round of £5 per man. Winning and second placed teams from each round receive a cash prize (subject to change). In addition, there will be a potential individual winner's kitty each round of up to £400 (if the "Super Pools" is fully subscribed by the maximum of 20 teams equalling 80 anglers).
For a full listing of fixtures and additional information, please be sure to visit the Larford Lakes website.
Events from the 2011 Maver Mega "Match This" final are due to be released on a bespoke feature length DVD early in the New Year. The DVD covers the Gala evening that took place at the Stourport Manor Hotel on the eve of the final, the £5,000 runner's-up final event and, of course, the £50,000 "Match This" Grand Final where Andy Power received his life changing winnings and was crowned the first ever "Match This" champion.
Packed with plenty of fish catching action and featuring arguably the UK's best match anglers, see how events unfolded on the day and how the £50,000 winner takes all prize was won.
Witness how angling history was made at Maver Larford Lakes on Saturday 20th August, 2011.
Presented by Maver MD, Phil Briscoe
02/12/11 - Keith Arthur Questions Maver "Match This" Qualifiers
In this week's Angling Times, Keith Arthur has levelled criticism at the 2012 Maver Mega "Match This" campaign by claiming the scheduled qualifier events have been arranged in such a way so as to ensure they clash with next year's Fishomania qualifiers. In a series of comments made by Keith, which have left Maver (UK) Ltd confused and bewildered, he states that:
Keith then goes on to say "Match This dates were then announced and they did what it says on the tin - they matched this with regard to ten of the Saturday's. Whether this is to test the strength of the older event, Fish O', or not is hard to say, but if the conditions for the £100,000 double-up are the same as in 2011, that is the sales of every ticket, I don't think it's the best way forward".
Event manager, Ben Hughes, responded by commenting:
The Maver Mega "Match This" competition was introduced last year in an attempt to raise the overall profile of our sport and to provide anglers with another prestigious event within the match fishing calendar. The key word in this statement is "another", and not "replacement" event.
Fishing as a sport is, and arguably always has been, lacking an event that is comparable to other high profile events staged by sports such as snooker and darts. There are currently an estimated three million anglers in the UK, but only a very small percentage of these compete at top level and have the opportunity to win life changing sums of money. Competitive fishing, therefore, has only been exploited and enjoyed to its maximum by a very lucky and select few. However, "Match This" bucks this trend and gives people from all walks of life equal opportunity to take part in an event where the winner walks away with a minimum £50,000
It saddens and frustrates me, therefore, to learn that Keith Arthur, whom many view as an ambassador for the sport, criticise the dates booked for the qualifiers and, consequently, call into question the underlying morality of its organisation.
Maver "Match This" as with any other high profile large scale event, relies heavily on the fisheries that have been selected and want to be used for the competition having dates within a given period available. These dates have to work for both the fishery and, in the main, cannot be cherry-picked.
Fish O' Mania dates were released earlier than ever this year, meaning the potential for date clashes was inevitable and, to a large extent, unavoidable - especially given the two competitions there are no viewer than forty qualifiers taking place over the same three month period. In order to generate the £100,000 prize we so desperately want to present to the winner of next year's competition, we need to be confident that the venues selected are capable of generating the numbers. In order to do this, like Fish O' Mania, we need to utilise the most popular venues in the country.
Dates selected for next year's "Match This" qualifier rounds have been dictated one hundred per cent by participating fisheries. Maver has never set out to challenge or "test" Fish O' Mania and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the competition on its success to date. Although ten of the dates "'clash", with the exception of a single qualifier, "Match This" and Fish O' Mania qualifiers will be taking place at opposite ends of the country and will, therefore, not infringe on attendances for either as suggested.
It must be noted at this stage that there are an ever-increasing number of competitions that are being withdrawn from the match fishing calendar because they are viewed as not being economically viable, ie, the Angling Times Winter League, the Angling Times / Maver Pairs (which, incidentally, Maver continued with without the support of the AT), not to mention various team events. I would argue, therefore, that there has never been a greater need for high profile events than now!
Maver "Match This" was not introduced to better Fish O' Mania. I suppose given the sums of money involved and the following that both competitions have enjoyed ("Match This" more recently) anglers were naturally going to compare the two. Instead of being sceptical, we should embrace the by-product of our own success - healthy competition.
You too can contribute to this discussion should you wish to by taking part within the "2012 Mega Match This AT Article - Unfair Competition???" thread now Live on the Match Fishing Scene forum.