2025/26 Club Reports
Read on to find out the clubs' views on their 2025/26 seasons. Missing reports will hopefully be added shortly...
Aldenham
Aldenham Tournament; 52 weeks; Veterans tournament and winners
For 2025 we achieved the extraordinary milestone of playing on every Tuesday throughout the year - braving weather from a chilly 2-degrees in the winter to a sweltering 34 degrees in the high summer!
Aside from playing regularly our ladder competition is a bi-monthly event that fills four to five courts. Each winner is awarded the Phil Marsh Trophy which they retain until the next ladder competition. Last year Andrew Rennie reigned supreme and was only ‘bested’ twice; once by Darshan Patel and once, staggeringly, by Phil Lyndon! These evenings are rounded off with a meal at the Akash Indian Restaurant which is always well attended by players and ex-players alike!
Our numbers increased throughout the year and, with a combination of returning players, Simon Randall and Elana Osen, and new players, David Ingram and Jamie Lai, we now have a goodly number of players with a healthy variation of playing styles and abilities. We now boast players from Aldenham, Berkhamsted, Eton, Highgate, Westminster and Wolverhampton.
All players, regardless of standard or background, are welcome to join our Tuesday evening practices. You are guaranteed a warm welcome and a post fives visit to our adopted local hostelry – the Three Compasses.
The courts have been upgraded by the School. The new lighting is a huge improvement and the more robust ‘netting’ between all courts an appreciated bonus. These are some of the best courts in the country!
Phil Lyndon
Brigands
Silver Salver winners; Brigands v Charterhouse
No report received yet
Bunch of Fives
World Fives Day inventiveness!
The so-called ‘Chinese Curse’ - May you live in exciting times! - has been skilfully avoided by the Bunch of Fives this year. We may truthfully say that nothing much has disturbed our comfortable routine of playing at 11am every Thursday at Iffley Road sports centre (newcomers always warmly welcome).
As in previous years, our losses due to age, ill health and grandchildren duties have been balanced by newcomers, notably David Cooper from Reading who is well-known in other parts of the Eton Fives world. He has added his gentle and patient teaching skills to those we have long enjoyed from Stefan Nowinski. As a result, we can make the startling claim that all of us have improved.
Our solitary excitement was a complicated celebration of World Fives Day when we played a new variant of our own design called Five Worlds Fives. This naturally has many rules, several of them possibly contradictory, but essentially consists of the usual game supplemented by:
1. Dislodging five coloured Number 5 balloons ideally in a specific order (the Worlds)
2. Then bringing down the end of a rope of bunting in the server’s corner of the top step.
3. And finally hitting the 5 badge on the buttress (either on its front or from behind by rebound) at which the point the game is declared Won and the sparkler lit.
It was very enjoyable and our posters publicising the event attracted a local schoolteacher whose pupils were using other parts of the sports centre. They may now try Fives and we’ve given them the details of both the EFA and our friends at North Oxford club. As always, we continue to try to attract new players by every possible means.
Martin Wainwright
Cambridge Chroniclers
The Cambridge Chroniclers are still present and kicking, and even expanding! We have had the ranks swelling with some experienced players coming to the area and some returning to the game. Meaning we have a solid core together of a range of skills. We even flirted with an EFA Trophy team this year, but we had some key players poached into other teams! But next year we aim be there as the new kids on the block and see where we can get!
The Cambridge University sports centre is still one of the premiere locations for playing fives - upstairs and indoors means fives all year round play in a temperate environment, and there is a chance to see your national champ if you are lucky!
If you are near or around Cambridge then please do come down on a Wednesday evening or get in contact with
Hopefully another year where we continue to grow slowly and steadily.
Simon Cass
Cambridge University
Varsity Match squad; World Fives Day
Women's Team
CUEFC has had another great year both developing returning players and teaching enthusiastic new players their fives! The women's side has consisted of a small but committed contingent this term, with new players making an immediate impact across tournaments and fixtures. A well contested women's unis tournament saw the team take 2nd and 3rd place, producing an exciting match between the two pairs that ended 12-11. A successful alumni fixture saw the return of recent graduates from the club return to share the expertise. Finally, the annual varsity match saw further success with 3rd and 4th pair wins and some brilliant fives played all round. Our players are currently continuing to enjoy fives through the summer months at the Cambridge town club and at sessions on the outdoor Magdalene court to prepare for year of fives ahead. The team has built successfully this year and are excited to make Cambridge's place in fives known at upcoming tournaments.
Anna Fitzpatrick
Men's Team
The CUEFC men's side has had an excellent year maintaining a healthy player count and excellent vibes at training. Whilst at the top end we have continued our recent traditional lack of success at major tournaments like the Unis our incredible crop of new players claimed victory in the Varsity second team match by two wins to one, managing to both rack up our first Varsity match wins in some time and also providing hope for maybe taking the whole thing soon!
Alex Davies
Jesters
No report received yet
Lancing
Ladies Championships runners-up; Turnbull Trophy; OLs at Charterhouse
Prior to the season commencing the OLs formed a new league team with the Old Citizens, known as Lancing Citizens , who would have run North Oxford 3 close in the league table had it not been for point deductions when unable to field pairs. Thanks to OLs Ed Habershon, Doug Foster, George Linfield, Henry Steele,Matt Davis and JB Garway Templeman for turning out for the league team over the season.
Aside from that the first friendly for a while saw the OLs take on the Brigands at Charterhouse at the end of October, with a close fought 2-1 victory to the OLs.
In November, The OLs took on a very strong Old Millhillian team in the Barber cup and despite some close fought games lost 0-3, but did not disgrace themselves.
Our standard bearers of Alex Abrahams and Ashley Lumbard continue to play at the highest levels and congratulations/ commiserations to Ashley for being runner up again for the 13th time in the Ladies final.
At Lancing, Matt Davis is still providing coaching and ensuring an adult club plays regularly at the school. Hopefully a trickle of new OLs will come out from the school in the not too distant future.
Matthew Beard
Newbury
Kinnaird Festival; Midlands Tournament action; Veterans Tournament
It was another thoroughly enjoyable season for Newbury, with a mixture of fine wins, narrow defeats and, most importantly, a healthy turnout of players willing to don the gloves and venture onto courts both near and far. A second-place finish in Division 3 - just behind the formidable St Olave’s School 2 - demonstrating a campaign of consistency, if not quite perfection.
A Season of Strong Results
The season began in less than ideal fashion with a tough trip to St Olave’s, where Newbury were soundly beaten 3–0, with Will Thomas and Ollie Avery, and Ed Porter and Matthew Beard both coming up against very strong opposition.
Fortunately, things improved dramatically thereafter.
A particularly productive November saw Newbury notch up back-to-back victories at Berkhamsted. First, a comfortable 3–0 win over Berkhamsted 2 featured convincing performances from Paul Holland and Jack Hopkins, Will Thomas and Ed Porter, and Matthew Beard & Pelham Lindfield.
On the same day, Newbury edged Berkhamsted School 2–1, with excellent wins from Matthew Beard and Ed Porter, and Jack Hopkins and Pelham Lindfield, the latter pair especially emphatic in their straight-sets victory.
Another away win followed against The Abbey, where wins from Pelham Lindfield and Matthew Beard, and Will Thomas and Peter Jones secured a 2–1 result with Ed Porter and Will Seath struggling to take any sets against a strong first pair from The Abbey.
The Mid-Season Tests
North Oxford’s visit to Newbury proved one of the closer and more hard-fought encounters of the season. A 2–1 defeat saw Will Thomas and Paul Holland fighting back from a set down to win in four, but defeats for Ed Porter and Matthew Beard, and Chris McCormack and Peter Jones ultimately decided the match.
Both losing pairs can consider themselves slightly unfortunate, particularly after a nail-biting first set at third pair slipped away 14–15.
If that was a narrow disappointment, the “visit” to Lancing Citizens was anything but - a rare (and perhaps slightly guilt-inducing) 3–0 win via concessions. One suspects the Newbury players were warmed up and ready to go regardless.
Finishing Strong
Newbury ended the season in emphatic fashion with a 3–0 home win over Team Westway 2.
The highlight of the fixture came at first pair, where Will Thomas and Paul Holland battled through a five-set epic, eventually prevailing 15–13 in the decider — not one for the faint-hearted.
Meanwhile, Jack Hopkins and Matthew Beard secured a much more straightforward win in straight sets, and the third pair was conceded to round off a polished performance.
EFA Trophy Qualifiers
Newbury were also part of a bumper EFA Trophy qualifying day at Eton, with 14 teams and no fewer than 126 games making for a long and highly entertaining day of Fives. The Newbury side competed in a particularly strong Group B and, while ultimately finishing sixth, put in a series of spirited performances against some of the most established club teams in the country.
There were, as ever, some tough lessons courtesy of the likes of the Old Ipswichians and North Oxford, but Newbury more than held their own at times - notably picking up a win against Cambridge University and pushing several other ties close, including taking a pair off both Brigands and the Old Olavians.
Across the day, the mix of experience and enthusiasm was evident, and while the top four proved just out of reach this time, the opportunity to play such a volume and variety of matches in a single day was invaluable. As was noted in the event write-up, Newbury demonstrated the strength of the weekly club game, with plenty of players who were more accustomed to a friendly knockabout rising admirably to the competitive challenge.
Turnbull Trophy
Away from the league, Newbury were well represented at the Graham Turnbull Trophy at Eton in December, in what was another hugely well-attended and competitive event featuring thirty pairs from thirteen schools. The notoriously unpredictable format and tricky, damp conditions provided a stern test for all involved, not least the St Bart’s Newbury contingent, who fielded a number of debutants alongside more seasoned club members.
There were some spirited efforts in the Plate competitions, with Paul Holland and Freddie featuring for St Bart’s pairs, including a narrow 10–12 loss in Plate B that might easily have gone the other way. Elsewhere, Jack Hopkins and Pranav, James Holland and Rafferty, and Pelham Lindfield and Dylan also took to the courts as part of the St Bart’s entries, gaining valuable experience against a wide range of opposition. While results did not quite trouble the latter stages, the presence of multiple St Bart’s pairs - including several first-time competitors from the school - was particularly encouraging, and did not go unnoticed by the organisers, who singled out the club’s contribution as evidence of the game’s continued growth.
All in all, a long but highly enjoyable day of Fives, and an important reminder that the future pipeline at Newbury is alive and well (and already being thrown in at the deep end).
Players and Contributions
A strong core of players turned out regularly across the season, with Will Thomas appearing a near ever-present across multiple pairings, often alongside his long standing partner, Paul Holland.
Matthew Beard also featured prominently throughout, contributing to several key victories, particularly when paired with Pelham Lindfield or Jack Hopkins.
Elsewhere, valuable contributions came from Ed Porter, Peter Jones, Chris McCormack, Ollie Avery and Will Seath - demonstrating that Newbury’s strength lies not only in its top pairs but in a willingness across the squad to step in and compete.
The Bigger Picture
With 14 pairs won across the season and a strong points tally (only narrowly shy of top spot), Newbury can look back on a campaign full of positives.
While St Olave’s ultimately proved a step ahead this year, Newbury were competitive in nearly every fixture and showed admirable depth.
Most importantly, the spirit of the matches - competitive but always played in good humour - remained intact throughout, which is, after all, what the club game is all about.
Looking Ahead
With such a solid base of players and a season of momentum behind them, Newbury will no doubt look to go one step further next year.
Fewer concession-induced victories might even be requested - if only to keep everyone properly warmed up.
Paul Holland
North Oxford
EFA Trophy team; Ladies champions; Black Cup finalists
U25 winners; Aberconway Cup finalists; World Fives Day
This has been another hugely enjoyable season for North Oxford Fives club. Our Monday night sessions at Summer Fields school in Oxford remain as buoyant as ever, with the two courts full every week with a wide variety of players. We've welcomed several new regular players this year in Emilia Collinson, Ash Fridurik and Phoenix Ashworth as well as longer-standing Monday nighters such as Andy Bishop, Stefan Nowinksi, Simon Beattie, Stephen Thatcher, Olivia Prankerd Smith, Gareth Hoskins, Rachel McCormack, Andrew Rennie and Nick Jamieson and a large cast of semi-regular or occasional visitors. Anyone who finds themselves in the vicinity on a Monday evening is always welcome to come and join us for a game!
The competitive season started with a couple of strong team performances that narrowly missed out on the silverware, something of a theme for the season. Our defence of the Boughton Bowl came down to the last couple of points of the deciding game in the deciding pair of the final against a strong Berkhamsted line-up, the team of Karen Hird, Harry Asquith, Rachel Wood, Phoenix Ashworth, Archie Cameron-Blackie and Nick Shaw just having to settle for second place, with the second team of Emily Scoones, Emilia Collinson, Kristiana Smilovska, Lewis Drummond, Matt Davis and Pete Scholey only losing in an all-NOEFC semi-final. A twelfth successive Black Cup final (quite a record, that) also ended in defeat, with Karen switching sides and masterminding a well-deserved maiden victory for Repton over the North Oxford team of Emily Scoones, Harry Asquith, Grace Day, Sophie Clifford-King, Olivia Prankerd Smith and Mandie Barnes.
There was also a narrow squeak in the EFA Trophy qualifiers, with the team of Fred Prickett, Ed Gosnell, Stephen Thatcher, Nathan Turbull, Ian Mitchell, Stefan Nowinski and Harry Asquith performing miracles to qualify for yet another finals day, with two crucial 15-14 wins (both from 11-14 down) just enough to make it through. Once again, though, the silverware proved elusive, as Fred, Edwin and Stephen, along with Karen, Lewis and Graham Pulsford lost a tight semi-final against local rivals and eventual winners Oxford University.
The league season, meanwhile, was proving to the most successful and exciting for years for NOEFC's three teams. The Andy Bishop-led Division 3 side ended up finishing in mid-table but had some terrific matches and fulfilled its brief of giving competitive opportunities to lots of different players, with the likes of Emilia Collinson, Alex Davies, Nick Jamieson, Olivia Prankerd Smith, Rachel McCormack, Grace Day, Sophie Clifford-King and Jamie Lai all getting game time. We were grateful to the Henrys, Gardner and Barton-Smith, for helping us out when we were short on a couple of occasions and there was a memorable match at Westway where a proud team captain (and former Summer Fields Deputy Head) played in a side featuring four former Summer Fields pupils.
Overall, Division 2 was something of a disappointment this year, with two teams dropping out at the start of the season and too many matches being conceded. North Oxford's second team managed to successfully navigate the carnage, however, losing only one match all season and topping the table with 15 points scored out of a possible 18 to win the division for the first time since 2014.
The highlight of the year for the club, however, was the Division 1 campaign, which ultimately ended in another runners-up position but which can only be considered to be a huge success. The young core of the team have been improving steadily in recent years and right from the start of the season proved they were a match for anyone in the league. Alex Abrahams, Tom McCahon, Isaac Weaver, Noah Caplin and Gwydion Wiseman were a force to be reckoned with all year on any set of courts and against any opposition, and with handy contributions from veterans Graham Pulsford, Chris Austin and Gareth Hoskins, solid support from Darshan Patel, Tancred Campbell, Frank Lebon, Cameron Lyle, Beau Swallow, Sid Simmons, Steve Kaaber-Gore and Paul Holland and the occasional sprinkling of Fives stardust from Seb Cooley, it soon became clear that we were engaged in a two-horse race with the formidable Old Millhillians to claim the title. With five matches to go it was odds against; we'd have to take 15 points out of 15 to set up a winner takes all finale in the delayed first pair match against the OMs between Seb & Isaac and Sunil Tailor & Charles Plummer. With real momentum, the wins came one after the other and it was only a 2-2 timed out draw in the first pair of the last of those five matches that meant the OMs had the league sewn up before the final pair - a brilliant effort from all involved and one which ended with us in second place, well clear of the rest, with 31½ points out of a possible 42 - by far our best points tally since we first joined Division 1 over 10 years ago.
As well as the collective achievements, there were plenty of individual successes for North Oxford players - Karen continued her Ladies Championships winning streak and won the Mixed again, Fred & Isaac won the U25s, Rachel became Universities women's champion and Fred won the Mixed Unis and got to the semis of the men's (again) with Tom Hoskins for Exeter. Tom also made the final of the Aberconway Cup for the first time with his father and Graham Pulsford and Pete Scholey both got their hands on trophies (again) at the Veterans Tournament.
We also continued to place equal importance on combining matches with trips to the pub and/or curry house and on our friendly fixture list - trying to play matches against lots of different opponents on lots of different sets of courts, with Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the OIs, the Brigands, Marlborough, Harrow, Oxbridge Past & Present all appearing on the fixture list this year and a range of NOEFC players featuring heavily in summer trips to Rydal, St.Bees, Artignosc, Warminster and Prior Park.
Thank you to everyone who has played their part in making 2025/26 another memorable NOEFC season!
Gareth Hoskins
Old Berkhamstedians
Boughton Bowl winners; U25 finalists
Division 3
A successful and enjoyable season for the Berkhamsted league 3 team and club.Most Tuesdays 4 to 6 of the Berkhamsted courts were full of a mixture of school teachers, parents, old Berkhamstedians, visitors from other fives clubs, the odd current pupil and friends and relatives of all the above! Particularly pleasing was the mix of young and 'experienced' players taking part as well as a few newcomers who we hope will become regulars for the future. We are thankful to Chris Davey for organising matches and providing equipment and balls for those that need it during term time. Outside of term time a hardcore of 'renegade' players make sure that barely a Tuesday night went by without at least a couple of courts of filled. The league 3 campaign resulted in a respectable 3rd place finish. The most pleasing aspect was the variety of players we managed to involve. The club is open to all on Tuesday evenings from 19.00 at no cost so we hope to see some new and/or returning faces next year as well as the usual suspects.
Division 1 and Tournaments
The Division 1 team finished in a respectable mid-table position, missing Jack Pemberton throgh injury for large parts of the season but gaining the services of the revitalised Doe brothers. The Barber Cup team had a first round bye thanks to the inability of the Etonians to put out a side before exiting at the quarter-final stage despite a fighting performance against the second-seeded Westminsters. The tournament highlights of the season came early on with Zoe Wheale & Freya Butler reaching the final of the U25s where they lost only to fellow Berkhamstedian Bethan Miles and Salopian Issy Wong and with a win in the Boughton Bowl mixed team competition, where Zoe, Bethan, Mandie Barnes, Ryan Perrie, Jack Pemberton and James Wheale qualified from their group by the skin of their teeth before hitting top gear in the knockout rounds, winning a thrilling final in the final couple of points of the deciding first pair game.
Adam Pemberton & Will Roen Tate
Old Cantabs
Boughton Bowl Cantabs; Mixed Tournament
No report received yet
Old Cholmeleians
Barber Cup action at Stowe; Ladies finalists; Over 50s champion
Despite a challenging league season for the OC Fives Club, there have been a number of significant positives and individual successes to celebrate. Aroop Bhattacharya has seen impressive improvements this season alongside solid performances from Oli Hallam, Vatche Kassardijan, Dan Lioubimov and Joel Robb in the league and tournaments. Emily Scoones reached the Pepperpot Trophy, Ladies’ and Mixed finals, while the return of Marjolaine Briscoe and Pheobe Bracken to the Ladies’ National was also encouranging, with the pair reaching the quarter-finals. Lorenza Valensise also won the Women’s University title and represented Oxford University at first pair in the Varsity match and Marco Rimini won the Over 50s title at the Veterans Tournament.
Player of the Year goes to Abs Bhattacharya, in recognition not only of performances on court, but also for remarkable commitment and resilience in playing and supporting the club.
One of the most encouraging developments this year has been the renewed involvement of Highgate School players within the squad. Re-establishing and strengthening the connection between the school and the alumni club has been an important step forward and provides a strong foundation for the future.
Emily Scoones
Old Citizens
Adams Cup players and action
Adams Cup action and winners; Top Fives
The Adams Cup – the climax of our season since 1928 – attracted a bumper entry of some 32 players, including some current CLS pupils, alumni still at university and a party of 10 players from the Lyceum Alpinum in Zuoz, Switzerland (we've been playing fives with them since the 1920s).
Edwin Gosnell won the event (for the third time in a row - but he doesn’t get to keep the trophy) in partnership with one of our Swiss guests, Mina Penev, beating Seb Drax and Zuozer parner Renato Buechi in a thrilling final in which Gosnell and Penev fought off a spirited comeback.
The previous day we held a five-pair match against our Swiss guests at Eton, which we narrowly managed to win.
We have a total playing strength of about 30, including four schoolboys – and on that subject we are so grateful to the CLS master-in-charge Rahim Dharamshi, who has nurtured the sport at the school for a dozen years but is moving on. We trust we will see him at future OCEFC events.
This season, Spencer Chapman has been captain of the Oxford University team, and one of his team, Nick Choustikov, completed an extraordinary eight half blues (for four Cambridge, four for Oxford during his post-grad studies). They won the grudge match against Cambridge.
Sixteen of us met just before Christmas for our annual festive old-versus-young fives match (this year the oldies edged it).
This season's first six, representing us in the Barber Cup (the sport's FA Cup) were: Edwin Gosnell & Nick Choustikov, Saajan Shah & Jacob Greenhouse, and Massimo Melessaccio & Stephen Kelly. We lost a tough first-round tie.
The club has also designed and built a modular and moveable version of a fives court to suit space-poor schools and sports clubs (thanks, Spencer, for lending us a corner of your stud farm).
John Reynolds
Old Edwardians
Barber Cup action; Turnbull Trophy; Veterans champions; Aberconway finalists
This year has been a bit more lively for the Old Eds, with, critically, some resurgence of Fives life at KES - thanks principally to Jon Shorrocks, who has been coaching a growing group of boys, latterly with the help of Richard Tyler. KES sent two pairs to the Schools U14 beginners competition, both of whom did quite well and had a great experience and recently 14 or 15 boys have been turning up for the Friday afternoon session, mainly due to the efforts of Jon Shorrocks and Fives Captain, Hari Phillips.
The medium term aim is to get the roof replaced. Work is required to get the school onside for this and of course to raise the money.
A highlight of the year was the Turnbull Trophy, where Pete Scholey paired with Hari Phillips in a very strong field, recovering from a difficult start to the day to reach the Quarter Finals of Plate B and ultimately winning Plate C.
In the Barber Cup this year, we had a ‘home’ fixture (at Stowe) against the Old Cholms. A good match saw creditable losses at 1st and 2nd pairs, but a solid victory at 3rd pair thanks to an Old Cholms no-show. Thank you to Stowe for the kind hospitality.
There was also individual success for several Old Edwardians, with Richard Tyler winning the Veterans Tournament, Peter Scholey the Over 60s and Tom Hoskins reaching the Universities Tournament semi-final and the Aberconway Cup final.
Ed Johnson & Richard Tyler
Old Etonians
Turnbull Trophy action
The 2025–26 season has been a challenging one for the Old Etonians, as the trend common to many clubs across Division 2 (difficulty in raising full teams for league fixtures) was felt particularly keenly this year. The division contracted from 11 teams two seasons ago to just 7, with Old Westminsters 2 and Old Ipswichians among those withdrawing entirely. In that context, we are in good company in finding recruitment a challenge, and conceded a number of pairs as a result.
However, when the Old Etonians did take to the court, the Fives was played with real quality and in excellent spirit. We enjoyed a particularly pleasing turnout for the Graham Turnbull Trophy, where our first pair produced one of the shocks of the group stages in ambushing the highly-fancied St. Olave’s 1, and both Eton pairs reached the knockout rounds. The Jesters friendlies and St Andrew’s Day were equally enjoyable, and well-attended.
Looking ahead, the Secretaries are focused on broadening the playing base going into 2026–27: bringing in new members, as well as re-engaging those who have stepped away previously. We are already looking forward to next season with enthusiasm.
Rupert Swallow & Arthur Clover
Old Harrovians
League action; Northern Tournament winners; U25 champions
No report received yet
Old Ipswichians
EFA Trophy teams; OIs v Ipswich School; Boughton Bowl team
Graves Cup finalists; Barber Cup team; U25 winners; Turnbull Trophy finalists
No report received yet
Old Millhillians
League Champions; Team of the Year award winners
No report received yet
Old Olavians
Aberconway Cup winners; Barber cup winners; Ladies Champions; Midlands finalists
Northern winners; U21 champions; Universities finalists
No report received yet
Old Salopians
Barber Cup team; League action; U25 champion
Over 50s champion; Boughton Bowl team
The 2025/26 season has been another history-making year for the Old Salopian Fives club.
Playing at courts in and around London in the official league format, we had teams of three pairs playing in the top two divisions. Following a successful few years in Division 1, the side began the season strongly once again, sitting top of the table at the halfway point. Despite our best efforts to fend off the usual challengers, teams this year proved that they have really been stepping up the standard, and we ultimately finished in third place. In Division 2, it was a similar story, where we got off to a decent start but ultimately tailed off, and we will be looking to bounce back in the leagues next season.
Outside the leagues, we made history as a club by entering an Old Salopians team into the mixed team tournament for the first time. This team event featured three mixed pairs from clubs, and to reach the semi-finals on our first outing as a club was a fantastic effort.
Staying on the topic of team tournaments, the Alan Barber Cup remains a key focus for the club as a competition which brings out the most competitive Fives in everyone, and this year was no different - we reached the semi-finals and narrowly missed out on a spot in the final.
With our renowned strength and depth, the club also entered a team into the EFA Trophy which has a bumper entry this year. The Old Salopian team, led by the school’s master in charge of Fives, Adam Morris, fought hard over a long day of Fives and just missed out on the semi-finals.
It was not just quarter-finals and semi-finals for the club. We entered six pairs into the Graham Turnbull Trophy, a tournament where a current pupil partners with a former pupil or teacher - a really fun tournament which strengthens links between the club and the school. All six pairs played well, with eventual winners Seb Cooley & Michael Draper knocking some other Salopian pairs out of the tournament on their way to victory.
On the individual front, we continue to have a strong Salopian presence in the open tournaments for individual pairs. Starting at the Northern Tournament at Shrewsbury, we had two pairs reach the quarter-finals - Rex Worth & Tom Cox, and Ed Taylor & Henry Blofield. Tom & Rex partnered up the following month for the Kinnaird Cup, reaching Round Two, whilst Ed partnered with Sam Welti to reach the quarter-finals. A packed Fives calendar means there remains Fives for all, and we had strong Salopian representation in the various veterans and junior trophies, with Johnny Saunders winning the Over 50s and Issy Wong the U25s.
Henry Blofield
Old Westminsters
OW cup players; Barber Cup finalists; Kinnaird champions
The OWs Eton Fives Club has had a more challenging season than in previous years due to several injuries (a broken hand from football, a shoulder dislocation from cricket, lower back issues, a rotator cuff injury, a dislocated thumb, a broken thumb, and a broken finger, to name a few) or temporarily moving out of London for postgraduate studies, work, and extended holidays. As such, we took the difficult (but ultimately correct) decision to pull out of Division 2 this season, and unsurprisingly dropped down substantially in the Division 1 standings. Despite these setbacks, I am happy to say that we have consistently managed regular weekly and even twice weekly fixtures and friendly training sessions with plenty of players enjoying getting on court, which is the fundamental core purpose of the club and of the sport as a whole.
Importantly, the drop in OW numbers this year has been of no detriment to the participation of current school pupils. In fact, the very opposite has been true thanks to the infectious enthusiasm of two key Year 10 pupils who have encouraged the participation and improvement of their peers, juniors, and even some of their seniors! A notable mention goes to Andrew Zhang who helped to coordinate the pupils for this year’s OW Cup producing a record-smashing 13 participants. The OWs, also influenced by this enthusiasm and not wanting to let the alumni side down, had two players take part (gently) despite their injuries: Sudhir Balaji with a broken thumb, and Ben Merrett still post-op in a cast for his broken hand. The Spring OW Cup took place in April in much warmer weather (as can be seen by much pinker faces in the photo!) and it is great to see that we are now able to run this friendly competition twice a year. The Autumn edition was won by Laurie Brock and school pupil Max Maples, the Spring edition by Jonah Poulard and Kotka Lim.
An honourable mention additionally goes to Elana Osen and Laurie Brock, who partnered up for the Mixed Championships and caused an upset in the seedings by making it through to the Semi Final. Hugo Young also deserves a round of applause for his stellar performance in pulling me through the end of our rather epic Kinnaird Final, winning it together for a third time.
Riki Houlden
Old Wulfrunians
EFA Trophy action; World Fives day
The midweek sessions at Wolverhampton have been very well attended this season and we have rarely missed a week - which is credit to all. This has been largely due to the return of Phil Gordos to the Midlands who has been super keen since his first session back with us in September, even keen on drills sessions if there are only 2 or 3 available, just to keep his eye in! Supplementing Phil's ever presence have been the stalwarts of Andy Husslebee, Dave Jones, Greg Hammond, Mark A Yates, Toby Grainger and our local friendly Salopian Tony Walters.
Down in London, Rob Pye and Chris Austin are getting plenty of social fives at the Westway Centre and Aldenham respectively and have been very active in league fixtures throughout the season. Chris's North Oxford team missed out on the League 1 title by the narrowest of margins with Chris playing his significant part in that journey.
Andy Husslebee retained his Over 60s title in dominant fashion in the Veterans/Legends tournament at Aldenham by winning all matches in a round robin and Sid/Chris competed in the Over 40s, but without joy......again.
Our annual tilt at the EFA Trophy saw eight OWs (Andy, Phil, Rob, Dave, Mark W Yates, Mark A Yates, Chris & Sid) competing as a team back at Eton College after building works there had meant a move around the country for the last few years. The standard and quantity of players this year was the highest that I can remember with all of Eton's 16 courts being used continually throughout the day and whilst we had some occasional success, we failed to qualify from the groups for Finals Day.
A special mention must be given to Andy Stephenson, who has been nominated for the EFA Coach of the Year award by the Fives community for his great work at Berkhamsted - another school and many more kids benefitting from Andy's breadth of knowledge and experience in the game.
A huge thank you to everyone involved with WGS Fives & Old Wulfrunians and here's looking forward to another enjoyable season next year!
Sid Simmons
Oxford University
EFA Trophy winners; Centenary dinner; Universities champions
Varsity Match squad; World Fives day
No report received yet
Repton
No report received yet
Team Westway
Festive Fives; World Fives Day; Boughton Bowl team; Kids Club
World Fives Day; Beanies go travelling; Black Cup; League action
This year the club has seen increased numbers from both new players and long-absent returners as well as some relocated young folks making the Westway courts their new home. Although the courts have turned rather quieter during the spring rains, we started the season with regularly busy courts and we had a fantastic turnout for our December festive fives social. Somewhat bizarrely, we ended up corwing the same winner for both December's Festive and May's WFD event: both ladders being jointly won by Freddie Rowe!
The club has launched the 'League of Legends' a monthly night for our older players which has proved very popular, along with coaching evenings for the masses which have gone down very well, and continues to provide kids fives sessions during the school holidays. The club members have been sporting their multi-coloured beanie hats as they travel about this season so they have been both warmer and more easily identifiable!
Team Westway was represented at this year's Boughton Bowl, Richard Black Cup and EFA Trophy qualifiers. It was also brilliant to have our younger players represented in the U25s, U21s and Mixed Universities this year! As well as our kids club players bring represented at both U12 and U15 levels of the schools championships with a winner in the U12s.
The adults started the Team Westway campaign with the Boughton Bowl. This mixed team event saw us fighting through a tough group in the morning and only posting 2 points both coming from 3rd pair James Grant-Peterkin and Grace Day. We headed to the plate in the afternoon and after making swift work of Cambridge Uni, we faced our morning friendly rivals Ipswich for a second time. Despite a mix up of the pairings and much better scores all round they were just too strong a team for us and we headed to the 3rd/4th place pay off against Oxford Uni for a 3-pair win with 2nd pair Pete Griffiths and Natalie Lilienthal winning comfortably and Alex Abrahmas and Lucy Craughwell-Franks hitting their stride in 1st pair. All in all it was a great day of fives, with a wider Westway contingent out representing various other teams and providing lots of camaraderie both on and off the courts.
Team Westway love a bit of League fives and were again battling it out in divisions 2 and 3.
Div3 started the season with a bang and a 3-0 victory against Berkhamsted at home in September.
David McCahon and Pete Griffiths won in a stylish 3 setter, Ben Bryant-John and Justin Byam-Shaw made easy work of their opponents. Rob Pye fought valiantly with occasional assistance from your own correspondent, the 3rd pair match was even at a set each, they went 6-0 up in the third but the Berko pair of Giles and Mark clawed it back to 10-10. A mighty cut return winner helped tip it back in Westways favour and they eventually won it 13-11. The last set was close all the way with Westway only gaining one point each time they went up but they eventually closed out the yo-yo-ing match in 4 sets.
Against the new combo team of Lancing-Citizens we had a harder time of it. There was a 3-1 match win at 1st pair in a very high level game for div3! Martin Street and Pete beating Ed Habershon and Edwin Gosnell. The 2nd pair had to withdraw early when Sarah Jackman rolled her ankle :-( and David didn't fancy making it a 2-on-1. Our 3rd pair lost in 3 sets despite heroics from Freddie who stepped in at the last minute to complete the line-up with Rob.
Then we went on our travelling adventures out of the big smoke:
Berkhamsted School - A big battle at 1st pair saw Adam Field and David take on a pupil/coach pairing in a 5-set epic that kept the spectators vying for shelter from the pouring rain under a very small umbrella long into the darkness of the evening before they eventually clinched the win. Pete and Tim Thurnham at 2nd pair and Dylan Clarke and Natalie Lilienthal at 3rd pair both had fairly comfortable wins along with providing good spirited coaching support for the Berkhamsted girls pairs afterwards. A perfect start to Dylan's league fives.
The school team, staff and wider club always greet us warmly and after the main matches finished there were a few friendlies played while the 1st pair epic was playing out.
Holyport College - to play against N Oxford. This was a first trip to the new Holyport courts for most of the team. This was a first league match for Alexia de Silva and a long-awaited return for Kacper Mikowski, although they couldn't quite get through their 3rd pair opposition. Tim and Rob were similarly beaten at 2nd pair but Pete and Martin saved the day with a win at 1st pair before they headed off for lunch.
Orpington - This was the team's first trip back to St Olaves in a while and a return to home turf for two of them (Martin and Jessye Tu). Martin and Phil Wilkinson had a tight unfinished match at 1st pair when the Olavians retired after 3 sets (14-13, 11-12, 12-4, ret.). 2nd and 3rd pairs Jessye/Dylan and Rob/Kacper played well but were outmatched on the day.
Westminster - not much of a trek geographically although the organisational journey was longer than the physical one this year and we ended up playing against a mainly Olavian team as there was apparently a dearth of Westminster folk available. David and Martin won in 4 sets, Mark Gwynne and Dylan scored well despite losing to a top U16 pair, Morgan Butler and Colin Mayger were somewhat outmatched. Hopefully next year we will play Westminster school at the Abbey again.
The last trip of the season was out to Newbury in March - we only managed to field two pairs for this one due to injuries but it all started with a very jolly roadtrip from London to celebrate Tim's impending big birthday. A tight but score-wise wildly swinging 1st pair went to 5 sets in the beautiful morning sunshine with Adam and Pete not quite able to seal the deal against Newbury's Will and Paul. A more straightforward match in pair 2 saw some good fives and decent rallies but ultimately the Newbury pair of Jack and Matt were too strong for div3 debut Hugo Tobias and Tim.
Sadly our division 2 team didn't manage a repeat of last years' glory, with both teams coming comfortably mid-table, so there's lots for us to aspire to for next year!
Natalie Lilienthal
Windsor & Eton
Northern Tournament; World Fives Day
The season started with a move to the new courts at Holyport, hoping to attract new players from the local area and parents from the school. This didn’t work out quite as we expected but we have now attracted some new players as well as the return of a former player - welcome back Graham! The season has gone from hoping we get four each week, to a run of having six or more turning up. We had one friendly match against the Brigands which gave us the challenge of finding a new after fives refreshments venue. The White Hart in Moneyrow Green seemed to fit bill, one half is an Indian restaurant the other a traditional pub! We have been regulars ever since. The world fives day bring a friend event was successful from which we gained four new, and now, regular players. You never know we may be back in the league soon!
Mandie Barnes