2012/13 Club Reports
Read on to find out the clubs' views on the 2012/13 season...
Aldenham
U21 Plate runners-up OA Carl Rennie and brother Andrew; Fancy Dress Fives Aldenham-style; Aldenham Tournament winners Graham Pulsford and Rubel Malik with Club President Martin Lindsay; Players at the Aldenham Tournament
The Aldenham Fives Club has once again maintained a consistent Tuesday night turnout helped by the addition of current schoolboys from Aldenham School.
Rarely does the club fail to fill at least three courts with it’s own players or during regular friendly non-league matches against the Brigands, Lancing and North Oxford.
Throughout the year, we ran our six-weekly ladder; a competition that was well attended on every occasion. This year, Graham Pulsford was the overall winner with four victories and Carl Rennie and Josh Rose winning one each.
AFC continues to play throughout the summer so if you fancy a game, just turn up at Aldenham at 7.30pm on any Tuesday – we’ll be there.
Phil Lyndon
STOP PRESS: The Aldenham Tournament was won this year by Graham Pulsford and Rubel Malik.
Bateman Badgers
The Badgers - plus guests - in Provence
This season has seen the Bateman Badgers take on the Summer Superleague, the courts of Provence and celebrate the emergence of new Ladies N/national Champions: Charlotta Cooley and Karen Hird. It really has been a memorable season for us and we’d like to thank all those who have supported us, with particular thanks to Nigel Cox, Nick Bunyan and the Boy Badgers.
Highlights from our fixture list include a draw against Team Westway: Badgers Karen Hird and Elli Hullis won the first pair match 12-5, 12-4, whilst second pair Badgers Natalie Lilienthal and Sarah Greasley lost 2-12, 2-12. We then had a fantastic fixture against the Brigands, despite a loss for the Badgers: Elli Hullis and Emily Scoones lost 7-12, 5-12 and Karen Hird and Natalie Lilienthal lost 9-12, 8-12, 3-12. As ever we were delighted to meet Lancing for a sociable and enjoyable fixture: Charlotta Cooley and Sarah Greasley lost 5-12, 9-12, 7-12 and Natalie Lilienthal and Mandie Barnes lost 3-12, 7-12, 9-12.
Roll on next season!
Annabel Griffiths
Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted's three wise monkeys; U25 winner OB Andrew Joyce with partner Laurie Brock; Midland Tournament winners Ant Theodossi and Jeremy O'Neill; The Berkhamsted squad
Yet another season has been and gone, in the blink of an eye. Once again the OBEFC has continued to expand and grow in both strength and numbers, and we hope this will continue for years to come.
The OBEFC had a great start to the season with many of its members representing the victorious "Dossi Desperados" in their closely fought summer super league title win.
Following the victorious return of the league 1 side to the top flight last season, it was always going to be a tough season to follow. All things considered the side put in a very respectable and hard fought performance, with what some were describing as a young and upcoming squad. In the end, unfortunately, we succumbed to the power and prowess of the Old Millhillians.
The respectable 5th place from the league 2 side clearly showed the growth and development within the club with 30 different members representing the side; 15 of those are current pupils of Berkhamsted school. This clearly emphasises that all the hard work of the coaching staff Anthony Theodossi, Douglas Foster and George Campbell is not going to waste. We now need to ensure that we keep hold of this talent, and can nurture it into a challenging Barber cup squad for the future.
There were too many outstanding individual performances from OBEFC members to mention them all in detail but here are some of the best: A.Theodossi & J.O'Neill winning the Midlands, K.Kuenburg & J.O'Neill losing in the final of the Northern Festival, D.Foster & J.O'Neill reaching the quarter-finals of the Londons and D.Foster & A.Leighton losing in the final of the Turnbull. It was also a great season for Berkhamsted coach George Campbell, who won the London tournament with Peter Dunbar and reached the finals of the Northern and Kinnaird beofre going on to win the EFA Player of the Year award.
Jeremy O'Neill
Brigands
The Brigands continued to attract locals to the Fives courts at Charterhouse School. We meet on a Wednesday night from 7.00pm and fill about three courts from September to April each year. Fives is followed by a meal or a drink at the Stag at Eashing, Surrey.
Matches were played against Charterhouse School twice a year and against Cranleigh School at Cranleigh on the first Tuesday of each month maintaining our close links with both schools.
Other friendly matches are against Aldenham Club, North Oxford, Old Carthusians and the Bateman Badgers. The Bourne trophy is our internal end of season competition and this year the format was changed following a review by our new Treasurer. It attracted 12 pairs with Paul Martin gaining maximum points to overcome all competition. The end of season dinner was also a big success with about 35 players, wives and girlfriends.
Martin Powell
Cambridge University
The new Cambridge courts; The CUEFC Varsity Match squad; Universities and U21 winners Jamie Abbott and Robert Wilson
Our Varsity match is the highlight of the season and I'm very happy to say that we managed to regain the title of Varsity Champions this year. Winning 3-0 in the Penguins (2nd Team) without even losing a set was great, crushing victory, followed up with a 2-1 won victory in the Blues, with the blip being a nail biting 3-2 loss in the 2nd pair match. The fantastic achievements of the four players who learned to play fives from scratch this year is our crowning glory, especially with none of them dropping a set! The Ladies Varsity was unfortunately quite the opposite, losing 6-0. Our Ladies squad is very much one in recovery and hopefully we shall be able to challenge Oxford more keenly next with our shiny new facilities at the Cambridge Sports Centre.
However we should not forget the fantastic achievements we also made during the year. We had a packed fixture list of 17 matches, playing almost every weekend for Michaelmas and Lent terms. Whilst also squeezing in the coaching of 4 new players alongside normal practices on our single court. We have had notable successes this season: winning the Universities Tournament and the U21s Tournament (Abbott & Wilson). At the EFA Tournament (a team tournament) we placed 5th of seven teams. For the Kinnaird Cup we entered two pairs, with Abbott & Wilson doing fantastically well again to progress to the quarters having managed to beat a seeded pair on the way. We also had a strong showing throughout the season, consistently winning matches during the season against top school pairings such as Eton, St. Olaves and Berkhamsted.
One of the most important long running themes of our club has been the efforts to increase the number of Eton Fives courts, this has come in the form of the 2 courts at the Gonville & Caius College sports ground on Barton Road. The second project are the 3 courts being built at the new Cambridge Sports Centre in west Cambridge.
We have spent a lot of time trying to convince Gonville & Caius College to approve the renovation of the two courts on their premises. There has been a lot of toing and froing by the college, and things at the moment have stalled somewhat but we still hold out hope that we will be able to play there eventually.
Lastly, with a building of the Eton Fives courts in the University Sports Centre, Rodney Knight has a put a tremendous amount of effort into securing us 3 courts, a loan and a promising future for the club. The members of the team have been coming up with possible ways to help raise money and our plan is to have a 24 hour Eton Fives match at the Magdalene Court in June.
Shaneil Patel
Cambridge University Ladies
Dossi Dish winner Elana Osen; The CULEFC Varsity Match squad; The Cambridge team at the Black Cup
No report received
Jesters
This year we managed to win slightly more matches than last. However, and possibly more importantly, the depth and strength of the club continues to improve. I would like to thank those Jesters who this year, more than ever, appear to have embraced the 'brand' of Fives that we can offer. I personally continue to find the social and sporting Jester events ever more enjoyable. The club's fixture list for 2013-14 now extends to 34 matches. We have trimmed a couple of fixtures but continue to add where appropriate. We hope that this provides a good opportunity for Jesters to participate at many levels and in multiple locations. I would stress that the fixture list is flexible and we are always keen to embrace new matches, with the proviso that there is an efficient match manager willing to help.
The new season brings in particular one new significant opportunity that I for one have been waiting for my whole playing career. This is of course the building and completion of the new courts at Cambridge. Not wanting to run the risk of builders' notorious tardiness, the Jester match vs. Cambridge University is fixed for January 26th 2014. I would like to thank the Jesters Committee for supporting this cause and to congratulate those involved at the EFA in achieving such a feat.
Alex Illingworth & Ronald Pattison
Lancing Old Boys
London Tournament winner George Campbell with partner Peter Dunbar; The Lancing Richard Barber Cup team; Midland Tournament Festival winner OL Rosie Scott with partner Gareth Hoskins; EFA Player of the Year George Campbell
The Lancing Club had its most encouraging season for many years. A number of new younger players have started to play for the club and some former players are finding their way back to London and taking up the game again. That has meant that we fulfilled easily our fixture list of 23 matches and the percentage of our regular players who are Lancing former pupils has increased remarkably. The match managers are now finding it a lot easier to get sides and this has encouraged us to increase the number of fixtures to 30 for the 2013/2014 season.
We finished the season with a mid-table place in League Three . Our priority is that players of all standards take part in the matches, so we are happy with this result. We have 3 or 4 players who play regularly in the higher leagues for other clubs and we are not yet at the point when we could raise enough players of the requisite standard to compete in higher leagues, but that point may be not too far away. We are delighted that a number of ladies play regularly.
We were eliminated in the Barber Cup by a strong Old Salopians side who made the trip down to Lancing. One of the matches was very close, going to five games and one of the other matches was closer than may appear from the score in games. We had our best side out that day and we are hopeful that we will be able to progress further in the forthcoming season, as one or two high-calibre players are expected to return to London and play.
OL Rosie Scott had a successful season, winning the Festival competition at the Midland Tournament and also the Mixed Universities competition, representing London Law Schools.
Perhaps the highlight of our season was the tremendous achievement of a club member, George Campbell, in reaching the final of the Kinnaird Cup, a feat not achieved by an OL in living memory. George has truly set high standards and provided inspiration for us all.
We are always looking for new members. You do not need to be an OL to play for us. If you would like to play for our club, please contact Richard Black or Nigel Cox.
Richard Black
North Oxford
The NOEFC Division 2 winning team; Over 50s winners Chris Davies and Chris Lloyd; The NOEFC EFA Trophy team; U25 winners Karen Hird and Emily Scoones;
Club President Andy Bishop; the North Oxford team do Rugby, Eton and Winchester Fives all in one day; Midland Tournament Festival winners Gareth Hoskins and Rosie Scott; EFA Young Player of the Year Karen Hird
This has been another enjoyable season for North Oxford. There have been successes to savour on and off court with the club retaining the Division 2 title in fine style and individual triumphs for the Chrises Lloyd and Davies in the Over 50s, for Gareth Hoskins and Rosie Scott in the Midland Festival and Karen Hird in just about everything she played in, including the Under 25s with Emily Scoones. Karen then went on to finish the season with a bang, claiming her first ever n/national ladies title and winning the EFA Young Player of the Year award. North Oxford came third in the team of the year category.
These were all highlights of the season, but there were many other great moments, not least the inaugural three code challenge undertaken in December, with 17 players plus a posse of spectators enjoying a fantastic day playing Rugby Fives at Rugby, Eton Fives at Eton and Winchester Fives at Winchester. All of the other old favourites were also in place - the summer barbecue, the start of season curry, the ever popular cross code match against the Marlborough Town club and the "unusual courts" fixture against the Old Edwardians, which this year took us down to Lancing College (thanks to Andrew Betts for his hospitality and giving up an afternoon to watch us huff and puff around his Fives courts!).
The league win was based around the usual core of the aging/aged (you know who you are!), but the good news is that we also have some young talent coming through. Carl Rennie is developing into a fine player and was a key part of the league triumph; Old Summerfieldian Jack Parham made a good impression in his first few NOEFC matches and two sons of NOEFC members - Dan Byam Shaw and Charlie Fairbanks-Smith - are also threatening to eclipse their fathers before too long. It was good to see Charlie sporting his NOEFC top at the Schools' Championships in Shrewsbury! The Sale brothers also made a mid-season (re-)appearance and with Tom Cox, Tom Faber and Jeremy Hindle all turning out, the Old Summerfieldian contingent is all present and correct. It is easy to forget with everything else going on that the club was started by Summer Fields M-i-C Andy Bishop, who is still a core playing member, and is still based around the Monday evening practices at Summer Fields. We are extremely grateful to Andy and the school for allowing us to use the courts and are always keen to include as many SF old boys as possible in our matches.
The other area of expansion for NOEFC this year has been in ladies Fives. With experienced players such as Karen Hird, Mandie Barnes, Rosie Scott and Emily Scoones in the ranks already, the close links the club now has with the all-conquering Oxford University ladies team have seen the Summer Fields courts regularly graced this year by the likes of Connie Mantle, Izzy Watts, Harriet Asquith and Harriet Allan. The biggest compliment I can pay to them is that even the most cynical of old lags among the Monday night regulars now doesn't think twice about playing on the same court as any of the girls - they know that the standard is going to be so high that a good game is guaranteed every time. With several of the girls leaving Oxford next year and therefore no longer available to the University team, a North Oxford team in next season's Richard Black Cup could be a possibility.
Thanks are due to my right hand man and chief club sponsor Spencer Chapman plus everyone who has turned out for us this year (42 people in total!). Let's hope the 2013/14 season is just as good.
Gareth Hoskins
Old Carthusians
Over 60s Champions OC Ronald Pattison with partner Tony Walters; OC Fergus Imrie, captain of OUEFC and U21 Plate winner with Jack Flowers
The 2012/13 Fives Season will not go down as one of the Club’s greatest years. However, there are more Fives-playing OCs currently at University – notably Fergus Imrie as this year’s Captain of the Oxford University Eton Fives team – than for many a year, and we are also fortified by the current strong players at Charterhouse School, thanks to the MIC John Troy. My thanks in the meantime to those regular players who played for the Club throughout the season. Watch this space!
Ronald Pattison
Old Cholmeleians
OC Grant Williams winning the Veterans with Mike Hughes and the Aberconway Cup with son Guy; U25 finalists Aroop and Abhishek Bhattacharya
No report received
Old Citizens
Old Citizen EFA Award winners Gordon Stringer (Lifetime Achievement) and John Reynolds (Special Contribution to Fives); Action and players at the Adams Cup
One of our number (longtime former OCEFC and EFA hon sec Gordon Stringer) was given a lifetime-achievement award, another (club captain John Reynolds) got a special-contribution-to-fives-gong at the same event, yet another (last year's CLSfives boss Sam Packer) won a half-blue at Oxford and collectively we came third in the second division and avoided the wooden spoon in the third division. So we've had a good year.
All this is on top of the fact that the Old Citizens have a player in the top five of the n/national rankings – although we probably don't want to make too much of this because it says more about the quirkiness of the rankings system than about the current abilities of the player involved (the increasingly delapidated John Reynolds).
The tribute paid to Gordon by EFA president Richard Barber deserves a wider audience, so here are some highlights:
"For over two decades from the mid-50s to the mid-70s he was Mr Eton Fives – the organis/national genius of the game who was behind, in front and alongside almost everything that happened in it during those years. He was Hon Sec of the EFA, organised each year an enormous entry in the Kinnaird, knew practically every fives player and every fives court in the world, a tireless Jester, and above all the driving spirit behind his old school fives club whose fixture list he virtually single-handedly expanded to nearly one hundred fixtures in one season. He organised matches against every school in the land, and took his team to Nigeria and to the Continent where he initiated the Zuoz and Zurich tours."
Meanwhile, we've been ticking over with our club evenings on Thursdays at our adopted home, Highgate, and have held two tournaments for our silverware - the venerable Adams Cup (founded in the 1920s, this was competed for by 16 players and won by Les Jacobs and John Gee-Grant) and its younger sibling the Wood Plate (which was donated in the 1970s, held this year as a season opener and won by Jonny Powell and Nick Gill). We've even held a very cheerful black tie dinner at the Royal Society of Medicine (pre-prandial champagne courtesy of the absent Spencer Chapman).
The club has also mounted a trip abroad - this year to Geneva. OCEFC representatives Martin East, Alex Kasterine, John Reynolds and John Robinson took part in the Geneva Intern/national Fives Tournament in early June.
John Reynolds
Old Edwardians
The Edwardian Richard Barber Cup team; The Old Edwardians take on North Oxford at Lancing
This has been a quiet year for the Old Edwardians. We once again entered the Barber Cup, losing an enjoyable close contest to a young Westminster side and most pleasingly entered a young side ourselves in the Richard Barber Cup, which featured both of the KES Chief Master's sons. Old hands Pete Scholey and Courtney also flew the Old Edwardian flag in the annual "unusual courts" fixture against Noth Oxford, which this year took us down to Lancing.
Ed Johnson
Old Emanuels
OE Anthony Theodossi wins his own trophy at the Mixed
No report received
Old Etonians
OE Jamie Abbott, winner of the Universities and U21 tournaments, with partner Robert Wilson; The Etonian squad at the Richard Barber Cup
No report received
Old Harrovians 
London Tournament winner Peter Dunbar with partner George Campbell; Northern Tournament and Kinnaird Cup winner Tom Dunbar with partner Seb Cooley
No report received
Old Ipswichians
The OI EFA Trophy team; OIs at the Northern Tournament; Northern Tournament Plate winners Tom and Tim Fletcher; The OI Richard Barber Cup squad
The Ipswichian Black Cup team; Graves Cup finalists; Graves Cup winners Tim Fletcher and Sam Clark; The Graves Cup dinner
Played 21 Won 8 Lost 12 drew 1
But it’s never really about the results! It’s about getting there in the right way....
Another enjoyable season for the OI fives club but the first without a single appearance from Mike Fenn (I am reliably informed it is the first time not on court in a year since he was 15 – don’t dare ask how long that is!).
Another first where the school managed to beat the OI club in what was a tight match but with a twinge of disappointment for the OI club - First time since the 1960s. Suppose that’s what happens when there is an award winning coach at the school.
The Graves Cup was its usual excellent affair being won by Tim Fletcher and Sam Clarke in a tough final against Steve Burnell and James Gray. Several off-court injuries through Saturday and a significant amount of Portuguese grape juice led to a slightly weakened second day. Even so Seb Cooley and George Frettingham made off with the plate.
The Barber Cup and EFA Trophy this year are best forgotten, however a significant contingent made it down to the Northern Tournament with notable performances from Tony Stubbs and Sam Clarke in the Festival. The “grudge” match between the Fletcher brothers, Dave Leach and Will Gibbons was won 2-1 by the Fletchers allowing them to the cruise to victory in the main plate final. This one could be a rivalry to match Nadal/Federer!
Peter Boughton and Simon Woolfries once again proved they are young at heart making the final of the over 50s but were overpowered by Davies and Lloyd.
League position for the year was a solid 8th – hoping to improve that in the coming season - with good wins over the Stoics, Carthusians and Westminsters. As always a huge shout out for all of the friends of the OIs who always provide additional fire-power for the league side.
Next season’s motto – more of the same – but better!
Let’s hope there are a few more upbeat firsts next year....
Tom Fletcher
Old Millhillians
League Division 1 Champions; EFA Team of the Year award winners
This was the best season in the club’s history. The first team won Division 1 and the second team missed out on winning Division 2 by just half a point. One of the key factors in our success was the return of Ian Hutcheson which made us much more competitive at first pair in Division One and had a knock-on effect on pairs two and three. Many congratulations to the other key players involved – Vishal Bhimjiyani, Justin Lefort, Joe Coakley, Olly Sander, Jitesh Patel and Sunil Tailor. The club continues to grow with the addition of both Millhillian and QEB boys to the playing roster and the return of Will Hughes and Ed Winfield from University who both made valuable contributions to our success in Division One. The squad’s strength is such that both Captain and Secretary are struggling to get a competitive game. Whilst winning the Division One Trophy was the highlight of the year, the EFA awards dinner resulted in two memorable awards with the club winning “Club of the Year” and Steve Plummer winning “Coach of the Year”. Steve’s reward is just recognition for the energy and dedication he has shown over the last 20 years running Fives at Mill Hill. His contribution to the club has been invaluable in introducing schoolboy players to the OMs in the sixth form who then play for us during their Gap Year and return to play in the league after they have been to University. Thank you also to Andrew Summers and Paul Bowden who established the club and put it on such a firm footing. A dedicated group of James Hutcheson, Chris Vincent, Olly Sander, as well as the school’s current first pair (who weren’t drinking), were present to witness Plums receive his award and celebrate with him with the pints of port on offer at Davy’s wine bar. The year can officially be declared a success now that we have found the Club of the Year trophy. Planning and training is already underway for the double next year.
Chris Vincent
Old Olavians
Mixed Champions Seb and Charlotta Cooley; Ladies Champion Charlotta Cooley with partner Karen Hird; Northern Tournament and Kinnaird Cup winner Seb Cooley with partner Tom Dunbar; The Olavian Richard Barber Cup winning squad
No report received
Old R/reptonians
What a torrid year! After a respectable 4th place last season, this season culminated in a resounding crash back to earth - finishing in last place.
Despite winning two matches, the penalty points for pairs conceded did not bode well for the Old R/reptonians, hence the rather dismal position.
However, the season was not lost. The emergence of two, new members to the Old R/reptonians squad (Alex Rowley and Sebastian Moore) bolstered our numbers to a respectable seven Old Boys within the squad. Not bad going when we were at one point, down to one.
The standard of Fives this season, has as ever been improving and though I am loathe to say our Fives temperament is diminishing, I think it fair to say that our position reflects the time that players can regularly dedicate to the game. Saying that, we are honoured as always to have the helping hand of the Old Stoics with whom we share a very happy and productive co-existence.
Thanks as always must go to Mike Skjott, and also Jurgen Hutter, who will unfortunately not be on the Fives Court so much next year.
So for next year, one hopes that the standard of Fives will improve, the Old Boys will continue to be interested in playing for the team, but most importantly we actually get a team out for matches.
With interest in Fives at the school fading fast, it is most important that the Old Boys keep the flag flying for Fives at R/repton.
Sam Basu
Old Salopians
Over 60s Champion Tony Walters with partner Ronald Pattison; Veterans winner Mike Hughes with partner Grant Williams; The EFA Trophy winning Old Salopian team
No report received
Old Stoics
No report received
Old Westminsters
U25 Winner Laurie Brock with partner Andrew Joyce; Universities Tournament Plate winners Sam Williams and Adam Robinow
The league season ended successfully with two away wins against both Olavian teams in Division 1. In the first, a spate of holidays/injuries/prior engagements, coupled with a clash with a Division 2 match for the second team meant that, despite the match being re-arranged twice, we were forced to concede a pair (to our shame!). However, Callum Brock and Riki Houlden won comfortably at second while Laurie Brock and guest Robert Wilson won at first to give us a 2-1 win.
In the second match, a relatively inexperienced team of Wilson, Sam Williams, James Alster, Riki Houlden, Callum Brock and Will Illingworth triumphed 3-0 without dropping a set.
The above match is a fitting tribute to this season - although a spate of injuries to key players such as Harry de Quetteville and Giles Coren left us unable to reach the heights of last year in league 1 (we finished fourth), the success story of this year has been the emergence and development of a group of young players who have absolutely shone and shown that this team has a bright future indeed.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the OWs run in the Barber Cup, which saw an incredibly young team (with 5 of the 6 players under 22) record an away victory against the Old Edwardians before only narrowly losing 2-1 to second seeds the Old Salopians in the quarter finals. As well as Ed Rose and Laurie Brock, those involved in the campaign were Sam Williams, Callum Brock, Riki Houlden, James Alster and Fred Tomlinson.
Special mention is due to schoolboys James and Riki, who have performed superbly in their first season in Division 1 - Riki in particular having featured in 5 league matches and won three of them. James and Riki also went on to win the Kinnaird pepperpot trophy and reached the quarter-finals of the n/national schools (equalling the school's best ever result at the championships), before losing to eventual finalists Shrewsbury.
OW2s season ended better than it started and they finished joint ninth in Division 2. After staring relegation in the face mid-season, match-manager Freddie Krespi pulled out all the stops to deliver a (satisfying) 3-0 whitewash of the Old Carthusians thus dragging the team off the foot of the table and avoiding the drop. Stalwarts Krespi, Shawcross and Illingworth put in most of the court-time this year while new signing Ed Miles showed great promise in his first season back playing. Special mention is due to John Sanderson whose timely return to top form saw him end the season undefeated.
Despite a bit of a CRB/security bust-up on the gate which resulted in the Headmaster having to intervene (those over 50s eh?!) this year's Very Old Westminsters vs Very Old Ipswichians match was again a Very Enjoyable Affair with the final result being declared a draw. We are pleased to report Trevor and Jim on the gate now have a complete list of CRB checked members hanging by their door!
Chris Watts
Old Wulfrunians
Old Wulfrunians at the Northern Tournament
The greatest challenge to any club is to continue to grow and evolve which I believe the Old Wulfs have achieved tremendously this year. Record Old Wulf participation in the Midlands, Northerns, Vets and Kinnaird tournament have meant that increased tournament exposure has done even more to improve and expand the group.
Yet again the final year schoolboys have provided tremendous support to the club this year. Tom Husselbee featured prominently with a run to the Aberconway Cup semi-finals with father Andy. Matt Pritchard paired up with coach Mark Yates to get to the quarter-finals of the extremely competitive Turnbull Trophy. As a duo, this school first pair represented the club admirably in the EFA semi-finals proving a great match for the vastly more experienced Monday Knights pair. These guys coupled with Tom Weston and Ben Hart will form the future of Old Wulfrunian Fives.
The highlight of the season had to be the Alan Barber Cup semi-final appearance - the first since 1992 when the Old Wulfrunians claimed the trophy for the only time. It was always going to be a tough ask, but Phil Bullock and Andy Husselbee registered a superb victory in the 2-1 defeat to the all-conquering Olavians.
The recent competitive appearance of Andy Stephenson, who paired with Andy Husselbee to prove a stern test to all in the Veterans tournament further underlines how the Old Wulfs are extending their reach into warmly inviting all former schoolboys (however old you are!) and all Fives players interested into joining us for a game on Thursday evenings or representing the club at the myriad of tournaments. The hard work of Mark Yates and Greg Hammond ensures that the opportunities for Fives at Wolverhampton are plentiful.
I look forward to seeing many of you on our courts soon.
Sid Simmons
Old Zuozers
The Benny Oei Cup; Players at the Geneva Tournament; Geneva winners Renato Buechi and Kevin Michaelsen
Fives is flourishing in Switzerland - in all three areas where we currently have Eton Fives courts.
In Geneva we play on Sundays throughout the summer and hold an intern/national tournament each May or June; in Zurich we play in our rooved courts all year - and we have just appointed a new keeper of Fives, the recent school-leaver (and, briefly, Fives and cricket coach at R/rydal Penrhos) Renato Buechi, who takes over from the long-serving Daniel Haering; and in Zuoz itself coaches from England continue to improve the standard of the game. It is in Zuoz, in September, that we will be holding a celebration of 50 years of Zurich Fives.
This year the Geneva Fives Tournament was played the first weekend of June for a new cup dedicated to our late friend Benny Oei (1924-2012) – the previous one was awarded to Seb Cooley for winning the tournament multiple times.
We had the honour and great pleasure of welcoming John Reynolds and Seb Cooley who came from England together with Old Cholmeleian John Robinson. Two of their old friends were also present: Old Citizens Martin East, who travelled from Bonn, and Alex Kasterine who lives in the Lake Geneva Region. (The presence of these exotic guests was some compensation for the last-minute weather-related decision of a 14-strong group from the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz to cancel their trip.)
The Zuoz Fives Club Zurich was represented by Dieter Büchi, together with his sons Felix and Renato (Fives Keeper in Zurich) and Kevin Michaelsen: for these three young players it was not their first Geneva Fives Tournament participation as they came over when they were still students in Zuoz.
The rest of the 16-strong tournament entry was more local – including Alex de Senger, Florian Gautier, Jan Porr and myself – but you can imagine whom we all expected to be winners come Sunday evening!
We soon discovered that the recent graduates from Zuoz did not drive all the way from Zurich just to say hello to us … in fact Renato and Kevin drove back to the German part of Switzerland with the Benny Oei cup in their luggage. Runners-up were Seb Cooley and the Dutchman Roland Knapp, third came John Reynolds together with Erkki Tammivuori, from Finland, a veteran of this tournament.
As usual we had great fun, we were all pleased to see our friends, to play our favourite game: John and Seb gave us much-appreciated advice on how to improve our positioning on court and we very much appreciated, as usual, their presence, their fair play, their kindness and the British humour.
At the traditional Saturday night dinner we were delighted to listen to several speeches: John, Seb, Renato, Erkki and Rüdiger were applauded for their words and each intervention was a good opportunity to drink to their health with a good glass of wine. The mineral water bottles were left in the Fives courts for the next morning.
We would be delighted to welcome visitors from England, for Fives during the summer (there is an hotel just by the courts) or for next year's Geneva Fives Tournament, to be held on May 31st and June 1st. It will be another great weekend.
Filippo Variola
Oxford University
The OUEFC Varsity Match squad; U21 Plate winners Fergus Imrie and Jack Flowers
This season has been a very exciting season for the Oxford University men’s side. After losing the entirety of the Varsity squad from last year, there was a great influx of new players. We sent pairs to all of the major championships, the highlights being Fergus Imrie and Alex Poole (Brookes) reaching the final of the Universities Tournament and Jack Flowers and Fergus Imrie winning the U21 Championships Plate competition.
The Varsity match fell on the Saturday of 8th week, giving a few logistical problems for several members of the team, but we were able to get a strong team out. Unfortunately we lost the Blues match 2-1 and the Peppers’ match 3-0. With a lot of the team still in Oxford next year, next year should see the team build on the successes of this year.
Fergus Imrie
Oxford University Ladies
University Tournament winners Connie Mantle and Izzy Watts; The OULEFC Varsity Match squad; The OULEFC team relax at Eton
This has been another excellent season for the Oxford University Ladies. We started the year off well with our top pair - Connie Mantle and Izzy Watts - securing victory at the Universities tournament. Regular coaching sessions with Gareth Hoskins helped bring in new players and provide coaching for all levels of players in order to improve everyone’s overall game.
The Under 21s saw some solid performances but it was at the Ladies N/nationals where the practising began to pay off, with Oxford dominating the tournament with three pairs reaching the quarter-finals - Connie Mantle and Alice Walker, Harriet Asquith and Harriet Allan and Julia Toynton and Scarlett Maguire. Connie and Alice went on to reach the semis, losing to the eventual winners This was Oxford's best team performance at the n/nationals ever, building on growing success in pervious years.
We continued with our weekly coaching sessions up to Varsity in order to improve on certain areas highlighted in the n/nationals. The coaching once again paid off, and for the second year in a row Oxford Ladies whitewashed Cambridge in all 6 pairs, with none of the pairs dropping a single game. This was a fantastic result and one thoroughly deserved with the hard work put in by all members of the team against a decent Cambridge side. The top three pairs then went on to beat the Oxford men's second six in a post-Varsity challenge match. Next year will be a test as several members of the team are leaving Oxford, but a nucleus of strong players remains and with some new talent coming in the future looks bright.
Izzy Watts
Westway
As avid readers will know these reports are excruciating to read and even more so to write.
In my last attempt I casually wrote that Westway as a club has little history. Well I am very pleased to report that we now have a little more. Nothing to get the flags and bunting up about but something to leave you with the warm feeling that ambling about on the Court trying to smack a ball around in the dying embers of the evening does bring some glint of recognition.
After last year’s Division 3 success we managed to shanghai the Adonis of the Fives World, Howard Wiseman, into letting us meld our talents with that of Olavians 3 to form Westway Olavians. He then named himself in Div 1 so we couldn’t pull the dirty on a few Div 2 teams. Eat that, Shelley!
The year as it turns out was pretty good. True we only came second in Division 3 but in true Westway style we managed to get some tart comments put our way, only losing our grip on the mythical cup in the final game of the season.
In Division 2 we hovered near the top but could only manage 3rd place. Manage is understating it really as we had some fabulous performances. Ryan Perrie, Pete Cohen, Ed Hewens pretty much swept other teams off their courts. We had some great first time performances and on one occasion we managed to garner the human embrace of Mike Skjott and a kind smile. Who needs trophies!
Old Millhillians didn’t fancy two teams in Div 1 and North Oxfordobviously feel very comfortable in Div 2 so we got the promotion band handed to us. Like fools we accepted and are even now putting many mercenaries into protective custody so they can smash into the top tier like rabid dogs.
Once more Team Westway will do their damndest to upset the apple cart and generally cause mayhem but as we usually buy the drinks and provide the entertainment it sounds like a fair deal to me.
We were able to field pairs in all the major tournaments and exceptionally in the Veterans Cup dominated the entries. Yep, no happy ending. There must be a rule change for that.
Meanwhile we still totter about on Mondays and Thursdays on pay and play nights. There is mature banter, teenage angst and bad lighting; all are welcome after braving the queue to pay. Occasionally Russian novelists will also queue though Westway assure me once their payment systems can be made to work this will become increasingly rarer.
There, the end. If you haven’t nodded off you’re now free to read the very next club report. What other sport could offer this?
Freddie Rowe
Windsor & Eton
The W&E captain prepares to do battle
WEFC had a highly successful season by their standards, zero penalty points and all league games completed. In addition there were a number of friendly games of different standards against a variety of opponents, ranging from the challenging and exhausting to the casual and social. The prime difference between the games being the proportion of enthusiasm displayed on court and in the pub afterwards.
With a limited pool of players it is always difficult to ensure a full side for matches but if memory serves we turned out a full team for all of our league games, and the club were certainly represented in all of the main individual competitions during the season. We can claim to have avoided the relegation zone, albeit that there is nowhere much to go below Division 3... but with a couple of new recruits we are looking forward to next season and perhaps challenging for promotion. In the past 20-odd years WEFC have topped the lower division a few times but have always declined promotion on the basis that it is the enjoyment of the game that is the most important factor, but who knows, with a couple more players we might go for it!
Special thanks to Mandie Barnes in particular this season for stepping up and taking on the role of unpaid assistant secretary/organiser, and if you live West of London and fancy the odd game on a Tuesday evening at Eton, get in touch with her or with me, we would be glad to see you.
Nick Bunyan
Wycombe
Wycombe enjoyed a good season of consolidation with many younger players continuing to develop well. Teams were entered for the first time in the EFA Trophy and the Richard Black Cup and these competitions were much enjoyed.
Special mention must go to Karen Hird who with her partner Charlotta Cooley, won the Ladies’ Championship for the first time and to Francesca Turnbull who, with her partner Fiona Barnes, won the Plate A at the Ladies Championship and with her brother Nathan, the Plate C at the Kinnaird Festival competition.
Our weekly sessions take place on Sunday afternoons from 2.30 to 4.30 and operate from early September until the middle of July. We are always glad to see new faces so if you would like to know more please contact Richard Black or Paul Bowden.
Paul Bowden