Brightly coloured nail varnish is appearing around the domino tables in south London. In 2021 a new domino team was created, Diamonds, comprising some 30 women drawn from five south London domino clubs. Their members, who range in ages from their twenties to their sixties, wear baby pink polo shirts with their nicknames on their backs; they are, we believe, the only ladies domino team in the country. A new generation of domino players is emerging.

Nadine (‘Sexy Deen’) Lovelace, who is 43, and Captain, Alicia (‘Queen Bee’) Grizzle, who is 39, are the drivers behind the Diamonds. Diamonds are both having fun and giving the local men’s teams a run for their money. Fresh from victory over Croydon, they took on Bradfield Domino Club in The Golden Anchor pub in Peckham in February. Alas, on this occasion, Diamonds lost but they were to go on to defeat the WASP domino club in Clapham a few weeks later…but that’s another story!

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