Sept 2014: New Trophy For Old Friendship

John Reynolds reports:

A new trophy honours the generations-old friendship between Old Citizen and Old Zuozer Fives players. The OCEFC last week presented the Hawken Garrett Cup to the Old Zuozers, with the intention that it will be played for whenever the two clubs meet, wherever that might be - in Switzerland, England or further afield.

The cup is named after OCs Philip "Floater" Hawken and BJ "Bunny" Garrett who were the players above all who reinvigorated the Old Citizens Fives club after the Second World War. They began visiting the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz in the early 1950s in Garrett's Jaguar - photographs of the two of them with Gordon Stringer (having lunch) and David Cooper (with the Jaguar) are shown above - and Old Citizens have coninued to visit and play Fives with Zuozers in London, Geneva, Zurich and Zuoz ever since.

Some nine OCs and friends visited Zurich on Friday Spetember 12th to compete for the first time for the Hawken Garrett Cup. David Cooper, who was one of those who travelled in the fifties to Zuoz and is now in his seventies, was this time accompanied by OCs John Gee-Grant, Alex Kasterine, Stephen Kelly, Jonny Powell and John Reynolds. Club friends Ronald and Louise Pattison, and Will Skjott completed the party.

The tournament was played on the two courts run by the Zuoz Fives Club Zurich in the suburbs of that city. Some five Zuozers - including ZFCZ President Felix Buechi and joint keepers of Fives Renato Buechi and Kevin Michaelsen - competed in a variety of pairings against the visitors. Honours were even after the first few rounds, then the Old Citizens took a sizable lead, which was then dramatically overturned in the final two games so that the Zuozers emerged as the first holders of the trophy - a cup which was made in the 1830s, which makes it as old as the game of Eton Fives itself. It was handed over by David Cooper, who said a few words about the special nature of the Zuozer/Citizen relationship.

Supper then followed in the nearby restaurant and the players feasted on beer, suasage and roesti.

The Zuozers held the first running of a new international tournament - intended to become an annual event - the following day, Saturday September 13th, competed for by the eight British visitors and a further 16 Zuozers. This was won by Ronald Pattison and his Swiss partner Marc Mettler.

To the visitors' surprise, the trophy was called The John Reynolds Trophy. This is in the form of an engraved pewter beer mug, with lid, on a solid wooden base.

Former keeper of Fives at Zurich, Danny Haering, presented all visitors with a beautiful little fives-ball-and-wooden-stand memento of the occasion.

We hope to compete for the Hawken Garrett trophy soon, wherever that may be.