Old Olavians Fives Club
(A precis of the early history 1928-1971)Old Olavians fives was almost certainly conceived in the mind of that most fanatical Olavian, Bert Holyoak, He was at St Olave's from 1899-1904 and became Honorary General Secretary in 1929, which post he held until his death in 1962.
Early in 1928 he arranged to meet the Headmaster, and on 14th May they discussed the terms under which the Old Olavians might be allowed to use the Fives Courts at Tower Bridge. They talked about the times that the courts would be available (Saturday afternoons and weekdays after 6 pm): about changing accommodation (in the lavatory with chairs while the rest of the building was out of bounds); about the number of members who might attend any session (the maximum was placed at sixteen ; a most optimistic figure, first achieved on 14th April 1934): and it was agreed that a responsible member of the club should always be present. A notice was put in the school magazine advertising the formation of a fives club under the auspices of the parent body.
A preliminary meeting was called on 12th November 1928, after which Bert Holyoak issued the following circular to Olavians he hoped would be interested.
THE OLD OLAVIANS - Formation of a Fives Club
"The Headmaster has very kindly given permission for the use of the fives courts at the school. A supply of fives balls will be obtained and an informal start will be made on Saturday next, 17th November, at 2 pm. A general invitation is given to any 'Old Boy' interested to come and play. Future meetings will be held on Saturdays at 2 pm. Evening meetings, other than Saturday, will be arranged when daylight permits.
It is proposed to start quite informally at first. When several meetings have taken place and those interested are known, a general meeting will be called for the purpose of constituting the club, electing officers, etc.
It will be a cheap club to join - the subscription (to be fixed later) would be a nominal one of a few shillings each year. The number of members would, however, have to be limited to, say twenty-four. Balls will be purchased by players as required 8d each. It is suggested that it would be convenient to change clothing - into flannels, or football costume, etc."
Sadly only one person, A H P Holyoak, turned up to the first practice on 17th November. One can picture him, a forlorn figure, standing on the court wearing his flannels (or football costume) with his box of three dozen Rugby fives balls tucked under his arm, waiting in vain for more enthusiasts to arrive.
He had bought the balls on Tuesday of that same week from H Gradidge and Sons of Artillery Place, Woolwich at a cost of seven shillings a dozen, which, with a 10% discount, cost him 18/11d altogether.
The following week one other player turned up at the practice, but on 1st December 1928 five Olavians arrived and a fives ball was hit in anger for the first time. On 8th December nine people took part. We know this because Bert Holyoak kept a meticulous register of those attending.
No sooner had enthusiasm been whipped up sufficiently to have two courts in operation than rain came to dampen it again, No play was possible on 22nd December because the courts were so wet, and this serves as a reminder that there were then only two courts in existence in Tooley Street, near Tower Bridge, both of them uncovered. On 16th February we read in the register that there was 'No proper play - snow'.
Saturday practices were a regular feature during the winter with a break only for Easter, and they continued on Wednesday evenings during the summer. A match was played against the School an 13th and 2Oth April 1929, but no proper record was kept of this game.
On Monday 9th October 1929 the inaugural meeting of the club was held in the library of the school. Twelve members attended and drew up a constitution and elected officers. Bert Holyoak was elected as Secretary and Treasurer, while the Captain was F C G Twinn with H E Cashman as his vice-captain. The subscription was set at 2s 6d for the winter season plus 9d per day of play.
Early Fixtures and the First AGMThe first official match of the club was against the School on the Tower Bridge courts on 4th January 1930, The Old Olavians won 3-1.
The season continued and four more matches were played - two against Emanuel School (home and away). Matches from this time until the war were almost invariably played as the best of three (fifteen points being game) and the pairs usually swopped about so that both the first and second pairs played each other and the third and fourth played each other and so on.
The first AGM was held in October 1930 and a badminton section was started so that badminton could be played in the gymnasium when the weather prevented fives. The badminton court was used six times that winter, once when fog stopped play at 3.30 pm and once when smoke from a fire in Butler's Wharf hindered play.
The fixture list was built up - in 1930-31. There were new fixtures with the Old Reptonians, Old Woodbridgians and Old Citizens (second team, while the City of London School and The Wyverns provided new opponents in the following season. Other early opponents were Old Cholmeleians and St John's School, Leatherhead, where the scorebook shows that our four pairs lost 162-360!
In 1932 a club uniform was established; white jersey, black shorts and club stockings (purple, black and white rings); the club affiliated to the Eton Fives Association and it was agreed that Eton fives balls should be used rather than the Rugby fives version.
By 1933 there were so many fixtures that the Westminster City School courts were hired, at the cost of three guineas per season, to help accommodate the extra matches. The Old Citizens organised a single pair competition at the Queen's Club, and it was agreed to enter. The Old Olavians finished in equal bottom place.
Court Renovation - 1935The Tower Bridge courts were renovated in 1935, and it was reported at the AGM that these courts were now 'almost standard' as ledges had been added. The club had paid half the cost of this work - £31 10s Od. Since 1900, when the courts had been built, there had been no ledges, but there was a black line painted on the front wall where the ledge should have been.
In 1937 there were welcome plans for the erection of two covered courts behind the two open courts. and the club approached the school authorities with a view to arranging the installation of artificial lighting in the new courts. When the courts were finished they were found to be unusually dusty and the headmaster accepted a gift of a rubber hose for the purpose of washing down the courts - it is believed that the headmaster did not wash the courts himself!
In 1938 Bert Holyoak retired as Secretary and Treasurer of the club and S C Thompson and 'Cashy' Cashman took on the work of these two offices.
Post War
By l948 there was a new secretary in Eric Norkett, and he wrote briefly of the intervening years: "By September 1939, when the club should have been holding its AGM many members were otherwise engaged - more or less busily."
"In the succeeding years the School courts were blitzed and used as temporary storage for the wrought iron front gates or ARP equipment."
"Play was resumed in the open courts in 1946/47 by a small number, but they were prevented from enjoying the season to the full by the severe weather which 'snowed up' the courts during February and part of March 1947. In 1949/48 there was a revival of interest following the wartime upheaval..."
New BeginningsSo the club had to start all over again: Joe Ward was captain of the club immediately after the war end R A Bodey was elected in his place at the first post-war AGM in September 1948. There was much improved weather for the 1948/49 season and regular practices were held on the two uncovered courts. It seemed that there was little immediate prospect of repairs to the two damaged courts, but they were in fact ready for use again during the 1948/49 season and lights were installed during 1950.
Only three matches were played in 1948/49: the Old Olavians lost to Charterhouse, but beat the School and the City of London School. With the appointment of an enthusiastic new young secretary in Doug Keeble the fixture list began to look more healthy and by 1955 there were twenty-seven matches to be played. Successive secretaries, John Blown, Jack Sayers, Dick Spooner, John Brown (again!) increased the number of fixtures by one or two each year until there was a regular list in excess of fifty.
The Kinnaird YearsWith the arrival on the scene of Jim Biggs the stock of Old Olavians fives was higher in the fives' world than it had ever been. In partnership with Old Reptonian Philip Curtis, he reached first the Kinnaird Cup semi-final in 1954, the final in 1955, and went on to win the final in 1957. But in 1961 the Kinnaird Cup was won by our own two Jims, Biggs and Wallis, and they went on to repeat this twice in the next three years.
In June 1958 a dinner was held to celebrate the club's twenty-first playing season and Jim Biggs' success in winning the Kinnaird Cup. This occasion was so successful that it was decided to hold another dinner to celebrate the thirtieth year since the club's inauguration. Thereafter it was decided that we need seek no reasons to hold a dinner: the dinner itself was reason enough.
R A 'Bo' Bodey resigned as captain after ten years which had seen the club achieve a greater standing than that reached at any time earlier in the club's life. He was succeeded by Jim Biggs who had contributed so much by his ability on court to help to achieve the club's improved standing.
Weekend ToursA feature of the seasons at about this time were the weekend tours, when two matches were played and the team stayed at a hotel on Saturday night. In 1959 there was a visit to Stratford-on-Avon with matches against Old Edwardians and Old Berkhamstedians, both of which were drawn. This tour took place just after the first stretch of the M1 had been opened. There was no speed limit in force then and Jim Wallis frightened the life out of the writer of this article by driving at over 120 mph most of the way.
Another popular tour was that to Charterhouse and Lancing with a stop for an evening meal with vice-president Mark Cregeen near Godalming; and by the late sixties Shrewsbury and Repton were visited regularly.
SpoonsdayWhen Jim Biggs resigned as captain in 1964 after six successful years, his place was taken by Dick Spooner who applied a fresh and enthusiastic mind to the job. The number of fixtures increased, the practice sessions were still more thoroughly organised and played with a greater intensity, and the club's own Spoonsday tournament was an even more prominent feature of the season. Before the war this tournament had been introduced and was played twice a year on a knockout basis. This was revived as an annual competition in April 1948. The system was changed in 1952 to an 'American System' where everyone remains in the competition for about five rounds until the four with the best records are discovered and put into a final round. This method had continued with only slight variations until the present day. The spoons are now known as the Cregeen Spoons since Mark Cregeen first generously presented the club with enough silver spoons to last for over a dozen years (first presented in 1963).
Joe Ward TankardAnother club tournament for the Joe Ward Tankards was introduced in season 1971/72 in recognition of the services rendered by this much loved President of the club.
Move to OrpingtonThe move of the school from Tower Bridge to Orpington was viewed with some apprehension by club members. It meant the loss of the courts on which the club had played its best fives, and it seemed likely that we would be unable to keep many of our popular mid-week fixtures since our opponents would not want to travel to Orpington after a hard day in the City. After much correspondence and changing of likely completion dates, the courts were first used on 11th June 1968. Our earlier fears about the move to Orpington proved to be unjustified: the courts are much cleaner and provide good playing conditions in all weathers, while there can be no courts which provide better viewing facilities for spectators. The number of midweek fixtures actually increased as more matches were arranged on the Westminster and Emanuel School courts.
Coming of AgeThe most important match in the history of the Old Olavians' Fives club came on Sunday 25th April 1971. This was the final of the Barber Cup and was to be played on the Eton courts against the Old Edwardians. The Old Eds had won four recent finals so were clear favourites on the day, but the Olavian team of Jim Biggs, Jim Wallis, Dick Spooner, Neil Davenport, Ray Toomey and Roland Williams all excelled themselves and the match was won 3-0. One feels that our founder, Bert Holyoak, would have been proud of them; the Old Olavians' Five Club had come a long way since that day in November 1928 when Holyoak waited alone on the courts for another three players to join him in a game of fives.
J.M.B.
The Old Olavian Fives Club by John Brown
Constructed 19th November 2001
efa@etonfives.co.uk