NABBA Britain 2007

With more competitors than ever before, around 150, the Britain is surging ahead like a randy sailor trying to get ashore before his mates grab the tastiest girls in the dockside pub. Southport has never been so busy, with people cramming every space in the theatre, as well as the supplement stalls in the adjoining Floral Hall. Amongst the trade stands were CNP Professional manned by Chris and Baze, Peak Body with John and Kim Citrone, and Giles Thomas promoting the new UK-Muscle brand. As ever, many hopes were dashed as surprise entries like Scots invader Andy Polhill grabbed trophies that had looked destined to fall into other hands. As they say, never count your chickens till they get served up in Nandos.

Over 40s

1st: Robbie McRobbie (Scotland): A monumental, wide and powerful looking physique. It’s just as well they don’t let the Seniors compete for the Overall Mr. Britain, because Robbie would have put the fear of God into every one of the height class winners. It can’t be just because it’s well past their bedtimes, surely? I know a lot of Seniors stay up till gone 9pm. Will Robbie make a welcome stab at the Universe this year?
2nd: Ian Buckley (South East): The ultimate hard man. His only challenger in the hardness stakes is, of course, Brian Connolly. So who should be right next to him in the comparisons?
3rd: Brian Connolly (North West): Known throughout the sport for his incredible glutes, hamstrings and back detail, he doesn’t seem to have an ounce of fat on him, or a drop of water. Not even as much water as I put in my gin.
4th: Andrew Binch (Midlands): What a back! Plus great shoulders, pectorals and a nice sweep to his quads.
5th: Alan Sheldon (North East): He’s dropped a couple of places since his well deserved third last year.
6th: Barry Smith (North West): Barry seems to be cracking that old condition problem of his. One of the best looking physiques around.
Also competing were: Kevin Welch (North); Stan Dewhurst (North West) – good shape, with a broad back; Carl Stevens (North West); John Wales (Midlands) – an outstanding competitor, rock hard and massive; John Topliff (North); Robert Turner (Scotland); Mickey McKay (Midlands); and David White – strong chest development.

Over 50s

1st: Graham Park (Scotland): A truly outstanding physique, with masses of separations and muscle detail all over, including his lower back, glutes and hamstrings. His upper body has a superb v-shape which sets him apart from the average competitor.
2nd: Sam Metcalfe (Scotland): Also very tight looking and hard, with a generally pleasing structure. Well delineated chest, hamstrings and delts.
3rd: Vince D’Allesandro (Midlands): Always one of the best looking physiques in any contest, he was much sharper this time than at the qualifier, with sharp lines in his legs, chest and delts. His shoulders and back have a lot of width, and his chest and abdominals are amazing.
4th: John Fengaras (South East): Ripped to the max, making every muscle detail stand out just like in an anatomy diagram.
5th: Malcolm Sherratt (Midlands): Plenty of muscle size where it counts, loads of cuts in his legs, and heavy abdominals.
6th: Ronnie King (North West): Big and well proportioned, with a massive back and monster guns.
Also competing were: David Willis (North) – great proportions, with some gigantic calves; and Robert Young (Midlands).

Juniors

1st: Nathan De Asha (North West): A very classy physique that deserved this coveted title, before he moves up to the men’s classes and starts to trample on a few egos. Good muscle bellies, highly developed legs, arms, chest and abs.
2nd: Mark Henderson (North West): A powerful type of body, with muscular, full-looking chest, arms and quads…Could go places.
3rd: Stephen Coats (North West): Hard and athletic looking with great quads, chest and abs.
4th: Jamie Harris (West): Fantastic outer leg sweep and monster calves.
5th: Ben Johnson (North West): This guy has loads of potential if he keeps at it. Masses of hard lean muscle.
6th: Paul Faichwey (North): Good proportions and hard looking most muscular pose, with quads to match.
Other notable Juniors were: Lee Moore (Scotland); Nathan Robinson (North West); Kearan Gartenfeld (Midlands); James Day (Midlands); Daryl Archer (Midlands); Jamie Sotrmont (West); Ben Gibbon (Wales); and Harry Ainslie (North). A great line-up of young hopefuls who all still have natural growing potential to become the future monsters of NABBA. Why pay thousands for artificial growth hormone, when your body is still churning it out for free?

Toned Figure

1st: Jane Tingle (North West): A graceful figure, combining athletic lines with undeniable femininity.
2nd: Natalie Wood (North West): A pleasantly curvaceous figure which proved to be very popular with the audience.
3rd: Victoria Goodall (North West): Lithe and well-toned, her fluffy bikini top was a pleasant distraction.
4th: Andrea Felstead (North East)
5th: Lynn Carmichael
6th: Kirsten Cameron (Scotland)
Also competing were the following lovelies: Sharon Sanderson (NW); Justine Lehmann (Wales); Nicola Thomas (Midlands); Jean Richards (Wales); Alicia Carrera (North East); Marissa Byford (North); Hayley Tait (North East); Sharon Crawford-Sproates (North); and Laura Irvin (Scotland)

Trained Figure C2

1st: Tina Moore (South East): Sharp, muscular and fit looking.
2nd: Cheryl Steele (North West): Impossible condition and a beautiful shape.
3rd: Andi Black (Northern Ireland): Superb abs, and ultra-low fat level allows her beautiful figure to shine out.
4th: Louise Thornton (North East): Tight looking figure – very fit.
5th: Pip Charlton (Scotland): Super abdominals and upper body taper.
6th: Katie Jones (Wales): Very sharp condition.
Completing the class were some outstanding figures: Tara Richards (West); Arleen Guven (Scotland); Carol Taylor (South East); Elaine Thorpe (North); Gina Ford; and Anita Kenyon.

Trained Figure C1

1st: Malika Zitouni (Northern Ireland): So many plus points I hardly know where to start. Her glutes must be the envy of every girl in the sport. In addition, Malika knows how to display her figure in a professional way.
2nd: Becky Williamson (North East): Beautiful legs, trim mid section and well shaped glutes.
3rd: Helen Thwaites (North): Again, loads of plus points and impossibly difficult for the judges to separate Helen and Becky.
4th: Janey Brooks (Midlands): Splendid abdominal section.
5th: Joanner Sperring (West): Amazing glutes.
6th: Lela Docherty: Nice and athletic, very trim mid section and hips.
7th: Eleni Kastanias (North West)

Novices

1st: Paul Mason (North East): Size plus quality always wins, in the final analysis.
2nd: William Thomson (Scotland): Sharp condition, and full muscle groups, with perfect balance.
3rd: Daniel Dutch (North West): A mass monster who’s going to shoulder his way to the top. Quads the size of a whole roast sheep and arms to match!
4th: Dave Lomax (North West): Some massive quads here, too.
5th: Michael Croot (West): A great upper body. Interesting posing routine.
6th: Rob Clapham (North East): A superb shape and ample muscle mass.
Other notable competitors in this class: Jay Elhasham (North West); Martin Flett (North); Geoffrey Wherry (West); Paul La Piazza (South East); Andrew Wilson (North); Julian Vinor (Wales) – strong v-shaped upper body; Lee Dickens (Midlands) – rock hard muscle and plenty of it; Ab Badaoui (South East); Cec Clovis (North West) – a muscle monster waiting in the wings…Rather impatiently; John Reid (Scotland) – a sharp and nicely proportioned physique; and Mick Simpson (North) – a solid looking washboard stomach.

Class 4

1st: Nana Ofosu Manu (North East): Perfect symmetry gives him the edge over much heavier men.
2nd: Wayne Robertson (North): Again, not a massive guy, but good classic lines and condition. Totally unbelievable detail in both his legs and upper body. There wouldn’t be enough fat on his body to butter a Ritz cracker.
3rd: Simon Edwards (Midlands): Now we’re talking sheer muscle mass and no nonsense. His condition let him down, however.
4th: Simon Horsell (Wales): A superb showing for Simon. Good and sharp.
5th: Stephen Lloyd (Midlands): Another one of the muscle mass boys. Not a pretty physique, in some people’s book, but difficult to touch in a most muscular posedown.
6th: Stevie Wright (North): Deep chest and abs, heavy delts and generally masses of quality muscle.
Other short class competitors which stood out: Sean Ryan (Scotland); David Gardine (Scotland); Adrian Birchall (North West); Paul Scarborough (West) – looking very solid with powerful looking legs and calves; Darren Poole (Wales) – with an incredible v-shape taper; Ian Malone (North West) – who was shredded; Ian Chambers (North West) – boasting an extra tight mid section; and not forgetting Chris Pike (North East) – whose name is also on the list.

Class 3

1st: Andy Polhill (Scotland): It was a surprise to see Andy back after so long! I remember photographing him backstage in about 1990 for H&S, the mag I owned back then. He hasn’t aged at all, but his physique has become even more massive and mature looking. His ultra wide upper body is perfectly matched with powerful legs and calves.
2nd: Justin Trollope (Wales): This was easily the best year for Class 3 in a long time, and Justin can definitely match Andy Polhill, body part for body part.
3rd: Gary Halliwell (North West): Making it a splendid top three, Halliwell has enough quality to turn the tables on the top two in the future.
4th: Shaun Watson (North West): One of our top competitors currently, in very sharp condition as usual.
5th: Bruce McCall (North): A very dramatic looking physique.
6th: Jim Pettigrew (Scotland): Ripped and massive, with a great most muscular pose.
Other competitors: Alistaire Pritchard (West); Peter Lukovicky (South East); Michael Liddle (North); Robbie Bell (Scotland).

Class 2

1st: Jon Bridge (North West): Was this going to be Jon’s year? It certainly looked like it, and we were nearly right. He got his class anyway, but what would happen later in the day? His routine and sheer stage presence are more than enough to get the judges on his side, as well as the audience. As ever those mighty arms of his did the talking. But, of course, Jon isn’t just a pair of biceps! He’s strong in every muscle group, and his hard condition let those sinews prove his point to the entire audience.
2nd: Dave Fox (Northern Ireland): This Irish giant was big enough to take on the whole of England, single handedly, and very nearly walked off with the trophy Jon had already found a place for in his gym. Monster arms, chest and quads, and all in perfect balance.
3rd: Brian Flockhart (North): Hard and sharp, his glutes and hams proved how solid he was. His back is one of the muscular wonders of the world, but we can’t ignore his guns, quads and traps either…
4th: Gary Wilson (Scotland): Great condition and muscle size, good strong quads.
5th: Darren Smith (North West): Ripped to shreds, showing every muscle separation.
6th: David Bell (North): Amazing quads and calves and a very small waist, giving him a dramatic v-shape.
Other top contenders were: Neale Cranwell (South East) – a great physique, but not as hardened as some of those tough Northern boys this time (check out our feature on Neal in this issue!); David Hancox (North West); Steve Ottewell (West).

Class 1

1st: Steve Baker (North): One of the favourites for the Overall Britain this year and for obvious reasons. Lean but massive, with stand-out chest, shoulders, arms and quads.
2nd: Matthew Hill (South East): Great hard condition with plenty of muscle detail. Strong chest, abs and triceps.
3rd: Ken Prescott (North West): Very lean, with a tight mid section and good lines in his legs.
4th: Lukas Gabris (South East): A classy looking physique with superb proportions, a wide back and chunky calves.
5th: Bev Parkinson (Scotland): A wide back and impressive chest.
6th: Damian Atherton (North West): A wonderful v-shape.
The other outstanding tall competitors were: Adrian Sutcliffe (West); Ian Simpson (North); Scott Heaton (North East); Derek Morton (North East); Gil Havenhand (North East); Michael Stockell (North) – I noticed this powerhouse of a physique as soon as he walked on stage at the start. Massive guns and quads, maybe just needs tightening up a bit to start winning; and Dan Jumaa (South East) – One of the best put-together physiques around. A rather disappointing result for him, and I can only think he got lost amongst the crowd of heavyweights in this class, and not really considered properly.

Overall Miss Figure

This was between Tina Moore of Class 2 and Malika Zitouni of Class 1, with Malika switching on the charm offensive to maximum power, and the judges were powerless to do anything but give her the decision! Well done, young lady. I always enjoy hearing big Dave Fox shouting for you as you do the comparisons. If only we all had such encouragement.

Overall Mr. Britain

The major excitement of the day was seeing the class winners fight it out for the coveted big ’un. Nana Manu, Andy Polhill, Jon Bridge and Steven Baker marched on stage and presented us with the old dilemmas. How do you compare such different physiques? The sheer class and beauty of lightweight Nana Manu with a monster like Steven Baker for example? After all, this isn’t a “biggest arms” contest, where a tape-measure would decide the winner, it’s a lot more than that. Taking those two extremes out of the picture, it was a choice between Jon Bridge and Andy Polhill, and I would definitely not want to be the one to make that decision! When the judges came down in favour of Polhill and before the trophy headed north of the border, I was determined to make sure we got Andy for a magazine photo shoot. I lay in wait outside the backstage entry and was prepared to resort to anything short of a rugby tackle to get him signed up. I needn’t have worried because he’s a very agreeable guy and we’ll be doing the pictures in July. So keep reading the mag for our first set of photos of the new Mr. Britain!