'Shameful' catches on the Trent.

AFTER the 'shameful' weights in last weekend's European Championships on the Trent, angling bosses will seek financial help from the Government to construct a purpose-built complex worthy of staging international events in future years.

Because of several reasons, the organising National Federation of Anglers had no option but to use Nottingham's Trent Embankment for the 21-nation event despite fears of meagre weights. The fears were well-grounded. There were 84 dry nets over the weekend and dozens more fishermen who managed only ounces.

All this threw something of a cloud over England's anglers who managed to do what England's footballers singularly failed to achieve .. become Euro 2000 champions.

'Pretty well everyone praised the organisation and the facilities at the venue,' said NFA spokesman Rodney Coldron, 'but it was shameful that so many anglers, who had spent hundreds of pounds getting there returned home without catching a single fish.

'The original sponsors pulled out at a very late hour and Preston Innovations stepped in to save us. But we were committed to the Trent by that stage and we knew it would be hard so early in the season.'

He added: 'It simply must not happen again and we will be approaching Sport England to ask for substantial cash backing in our aim to build a national centre.'

where we would have control over fish stocks and facilities. A site somewhere in the Midlands with its extensive road, rail and air networks, would appear to be the most logical location.'

Redditch-based Mark Downes, the England junior team manager, said: 'We have proved again that we can run world-class events like clockwork but we can't control the state of a river.

'The Trent is simply too clean these days for big bags of fish to be caught. It was a great shame that the Holme Pierrepont rowing course was not available but that would need to be comprehensively re-stocked, too.

'I believe we will be pitching for the women's world championships in 2003 and one venue which might fit the criteria is Edgbaston reservoir. It couldn't accommodate the full-blown men's championship but it could cope with 16 ladies teams and the youths event might also be suitable.'

Senior angler Ray Rowley, of Bartley Green, came close to writing his name into the specimen record books when he landed a bostin' barbel weighing in at 16lb 2oz on the BAA's Avon water at Welford.