Brixton Immortals celebrate, honour the past and look to the future

Brixton Immortals Dominoes club chair Mark Douglas, team captain Nadine Lovelace and Donald Douglas
Pictured: (l-r) club chair Mark Douglas, team captain Nadine Lovelace and Donald Douglas

Brixton’s most successful sports club, The Brixton Immortals celebrated their triumphant season last year in the Anglo Caribbean Dominoes League (ACDL) and looked forward to new high points this year at an awards ceremony and dinner at the club’s Coldharbour Road headquarters recently.

Not only home to Brixton’s most successful sporting venture, the club is also a centre for the local community and its building hosts the Brixton Soup Kitchen and Lawyers in the Soup Kitchen.

The Immortals topped the ACDL last year – winning every match they played.

They celebrated much more than this at their event. Founder members of the club were honoured and one of them, Lloyd Leon MBE, Lambeth’s first Black mayor, recalled the efforts to establish the club in the aftermath of the 1981 riots in Brixton.

Lloyd Leon, MBE, a founder of the Brixton dominoes club and the first Black mayor of Lambeth tells the story of its foundation in the aftermath of the 1981 Brixton riots
Lloyd Leon, MBE, a founder of the Brixton dominoes club and the first Black mayor of Lambeth tells the story of its foundation in the aftermath of the 1981 Brixton riots

As the Immortals name signifies, the club has a long history and is planning for an even longer future.

Born out of the 1981 riots and the Scarman report into them, the club is now planning to help to turn the negative of youth violence and the issues associated with it into positive involvement.

Immortals vice-chair Mervin Stewart, who is also vice-chair of the UK national dominoes league, said the club was looking at after-school programmes and outings.

The club is determined that the skill and joy of playing dominoes is brought to a new generation.

USA-UK fist bump

The Brixton Immortals will host a UK vs USA match and welcome party to launch an international domino series in May. The USA team will be at the club’s venue on Coldharbour lane, SW9 8RP on 23 May.