Charterhouse Win First Title For 76 Years

Charterhouse Win First Title For 76 Years

02/02/26: Charterhouse ended a 76 year wait for a school trophy with a convincing win in the Vargas Salver at Aldenham yesterday.

M Burton-Brown & JWH May (brother of Peter) won the Open at the 1950 National Schools' Championships. Since then, the Charterhouse School Fives trophy cabinet has stood bare...until yesterday. The Vargas Salver - the three pair U18 "second tier" team competition - might not quite have the same cachet, but after 76 years it was long overdue and also well-earned, the Charterhouse team coming out on top against strong challenges from QEB, Repton, hosts Aldenham and Ipswich.

Ipswich were in fact the defending champions, but their top team had moved into the top tier Williams Cup competition this year and they were represented by just two relatively inexperienced pairs this time round. While never outclassed, they were never quite able to clinch a win in any of their matches (played up to 15) despite reaching double figures on several occasions.

Thie left the other four sides to fight it out for the trophy in a round robin format with each team playing the others across three pairs in a single game up to 15, with each game worth a point to the final total. All four teams played some terrific Fives and the matches were all hardfought from start to finish, but the Charterhouse sextet looked the most settled and match-hardened and they certainly had the best strength in depth, with the other teams always struggling to find a winning formula across all three pairs.

Going into the final round, Charterhouse just needed to win one of the three pairs against Repton to take the title and although Repton's first pair inflicted a first defeat of the day on the Charterhouse team, the other two pairs were safely won to ensure victory, while at the same time QEB won 2-1 in a very tight encounter with Aldenham to draw level with Repton on 7 points and claim second place by virtue of a head to head win.

This was a terrific competition, showing that thriving Fives departments and good quality play are not the sole preserve of the "top" Fives schools, with every single one of the participants perfectly balancing competition with sportsmanship, a tribute to both them and their coaches.

My thanks go to Aldenham School for hosting the competition, to Advanta Wealth for their continued sponsorship, to Dale & Krystyna Vargas for presenting the prizes and to all those who took part and made it such an enjoyable afternoon.

1. Charterhouse 11 points

2. QE Barnet 7 points

3. Repton 7 points

4. Aldenham 5 points

5. Ipswich 0 points

Round One

Charterhouse beat Ipswich 3-0 (15-3, 15-7, w/o)

Repton beat Aldenham 2-1 (15-9, 4-15, 15-7)

Round Two

Charterhouse beat Aldenham 3-0 (15-4, 15-4, 15-6)

QEB beat Ipswich 3-0 (15-5, 15-11, w/o)

Round Three