50 years ago - 1947/8
Attlee was Prime Minister, bread was rationed, cigarettes had gone up from 12p for twenty to 17p and the dollar exchange rate was £4.04.

For Eton Fives this season was unique as the minutes of the General Meeting held at the Law Society's Hall on Tuesday 4 November, 1947 explain:

'To this meeting were invited not only representatives of those clubs, bodies and schools which were members of the Association in the years 1938-39, but also any individuals who were interested in the game and in reviving the activities of the Association'.

Twenty-three people attended, including two representatives from the London Hospital. It was the first meeting of the Association for nine years. Three of those attending the meeting in 1947 had been present in the previous meeting and one hopes that their memories were good enough to enable the minutes of the previous AGM held on 23 November, 1938 to be 'confirmed' before being signed by the Chairman.

The first matter was the Association's financial position. Helpfully, the Treasurer in 1938, TGC Lund, was also present at this meeting. No accounts had been produced since 1938 when the Association's balance was £59.14s.8d. During the war, he had managed to purchase some £90 worth of National Savings Certificates with the result that there was now a balance of £119.3s.Od,'a better financial position that the Association had ever known'. The Oueen's Club was demanding a sum of £19 for the use of the courts in 1939 - 40 and it was agreed that that sum should be paid without delay.

The meeting then moved on to elect a new Committee. RG de Quetteville, who had been Chairman in the years before the war, was elected President. H Le Bas was elected Hon. Secretary and PC Curtis as Hon. Treasurer, so beginning a commitment of over 50 continuous years as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President or President of the Association. These three officers were supported by five committee members. In April, 1948, JM Peterson became Chairman.

Over this first year, the Committee's task was to pick up the threads after a gap of nine years. It was important to organise the two competitions, the Kinnaird and the Public Schools. The Association had lost its central base because the court at the Oueen's Club had been virtually destroyed by bombing and the'dangerous nature' of the Westminster courts deprived them of an alternative. In the event the Public Schools competition was played at Highgate. There was discussion as to whether the competition should be a handicap or 'Championship': the committee favoured a championship but decided to circulate the schools for their approval. It was retained as a handicap competition. When, six years later, the committee again supported an open championship, not least because 'there was some dissatisfaction with the method of handicapping employed', it was recognised 'that the Headmaster's Conference would have to be approached as it was they who insisted after the war on having the handicap competition. The Chairman and Treasurer undertook to raise the matter with the Headmasters of Shrewsbury and Eton respectively'.

Inevitably, there were problems with obtaining and recovering fives balls. One novel suggestion, which was not accepted, was'to approach the Board of Trade concerning an increase in the supply of fives balls'. The balls supplied by Lilleywhites were unsuitable for the competitions and Eton College came to the rescue by providing 60 Malings balls. However, in the July meeting, the Treasurer was able to report that Lilleywhites had taken back 220 unsatisfactory balls end refunded the EFA the sum of £31.18s.2d. The cost of balls concerned one committee member.'2/7d. (13p) was a great deal for a schoolboy to pay', but the idea that the Association should buy up a quantity of balls and sell them at a loss was rejected by the President on the basis that 'such finance savoured overmuch of the activities of the Present Government' and anyway, the Treasurer would no doubt want to husband the Association's resources to the utmost. The Malings balls seemed to be satisfactory and there is no further mention of this matter for six years, and then it was concern over the shortage of balls because 'Jefferies Malings was now a one-man firm'.

The Committee decided in their first meeting in November, 1947 that the twelve point game should be played as an experiment during the season and the final decision should be made at the next General Meeting. A subsequent postal vote showed a strong majority in favour and in the Annual General Meeting in October, 1948, it was resolved that'the twelve-point game should be adopted as the Official method of scoring in Eton Fives'.

The major concern was the Association's relationship with the Queen's Club and the rebuilding of the Eton Fives courts there which had provided the central base for competitions and matches. No progress had been made by the end of the 1947 - 48 season. Sporadic discussions were to continue with the Queens Club for the next eight years with the Association using every contact it could. At a committee meeting on 31 May, 1956, 'it was agreed that no further purpose would be served by continuing negotiations'. The failure of the Queens Club to obtain a licence for more than 50% of the rebuilding to be done and the inability of the EFA to guarantee to make up the shortfall if the War Damage Commission's award did not cover the cost of rebuilding meant that the Association would be wholly dependent on the use of school courts. In the meantime, the primary financial problem was trying to get old members to restart paying their subscriptions when several old boys clubs were still in the process of re-establishing themselves. Four clubs, and two schools, were to be sent third and final reminders to pay up. On the other hand, it appeared that Lancing had set a fine example by paying a double annual subscription for the past ten years. The strategy of firm pressure on old members was preferred to that of raising the pre-war subscriptions. It was agreed that the proposal to raise more money by introducing individual membership was a decision for the annual General Meeting.

In the July masting, the Committee decided on the arrangements for the first proper postwar Annual General Meeting. It was important to secure the services of an auditor prior to circulating a report on the finances and activities to all members before the Annual General Meeting. The agenda for the meeting was agreed and included the issues of individual membership and alterations in the Rules of the Association and the Laws of the Game.

Twenty-five years ago: 1972-73
Lord Kinnaird had died in July, 1972. Sir Alec Douglas Home had been invited to become Patron of the Association, with AT Barber as President. The retiring Treasurer, BD Barton, was presented with a tankard at the AGM as a tangible expression of'the Association's gratitude for all his labours over the past twenty years'.

This was a comparatively quiet season though the administrative needs of the Association merited the appointment of a second assistant secretary. Following the concern expressed in the previous season at the lack of publicity, the new publicity sub-committee submitted an interim report which was'highly approved' but with no further explanation. The finances of the Association were 'favourable' not least because of the subscriptions of the new Individual Associate Membership which had been approved in 1971 and by March 1973 had risen to 290 (with 75 ties sold). The Treasurer undertook to keep the record of membership 'because he needed an up-to-date accurate list'. For the first time an entry fee (of £2) for the Alan Barber Cup was agreed.

The fives ball agreement with AT Baden-Fuller was duly ratified at the AGM, but the quality of the fives balls continued to cause dissatisfaction. In November it was reported that there was variation in the size as well as the bounce of the last batch of one thousand. Despite assurances by the manufacturers of more consistency in future, there was still concern expressed in July, when the Committee resolved to explore alternative sources of supply.

There was news about the possible provision of two Eton Fives courts at the Iffley Road Sports Centre. The estimated cost was £10,500: the site of the old courts might raise £7,500 - £8,000. The authorities would not build them unless the OUEFC could find the balance. The Committee agreed that they urgently needed more information about the scheme so that they could decide what to do, and at the same time to press for three courts to be built. In the last meeting of the year the Committee decided on their strategy to try and remedy the 'widespread criticism of the Kinnaird party'.

Ten years ago: 1987-88
There were six committee meetings, five held in the Wax Chandlers' Hall and one at Eton. A wide range of matters were discussed, though there seems to be no one dominating issue.

The lack of fives balls caused alarm in the winter, because the supply of cork for the balls had gone astray between Gatwick and Heathrow. A new consignment was due to arrive before Christmas, but the main delivery was still on the high seas. By mid-January there was 'general relief' that the cork had got through, the latest batch of fives balls was 'quite satisfactory' and would be available by the end of the month. When the quality was 'satisfactony', if was intended to put into stock a 100 dozen from the latest batch of cork.

The progress of the coaching manual towards completion was slow. The hope in December that it would be completed by the Kinnaird weekend was not fulfilled and by July there was anxiety in case the delay in completion might jeopardise the sponsorship from NatWest. Despite disappointing attendance by schoolmasters, the coaching weekend in November was reported as a 'great success'.

There was little information about new courts at Cambridge with the impending closure of facilities at Portugal Place which had been reported in the previous year, though the University had agreed to provide two Eton Fives courts within the new sports complex. In addition to the £500 earmarked towards roofing costs at RFS High Wycombe, a similar sum was agreed as a contribution towards relighting the courts at Highgate.

There were some nine adult competitions arranged for the season 1987-88, though the Midland competition was cancelled far lack of support. Approaches to various businesses to seek sponsorship far the Kinnaird proved abortive. The Kinnaird had a low entry (forty-eight), but the competition ran smoothly. Only seven pairs entered the Ladies competition but there had been a good standard of play. Nineteen pairs had entered the very successful Mixed Pairs. The League and Secretaries meeting in May was well attended. The proposal of penalty points for defaulting teams was rejected: the new format of four divisions was accepted and promotion would be limited to a team a year. The Committee approved the Treasurer's proposal to increase the entry fees for the competitions and the subscription rate for clubs By the end of the year, the Committee was seeking replacements to run three competitions including the Schools Championship, where the general opinion was that the organiser should not be a current master-in-charge. There was some support for a further competition for those clubs not able to take part in the Alan Barber, but on the other hand the Committee 'agreed wholeheartedly' with the sentiments of the author of a letter to the Association deploring the increase in competitions and the reluctance of club secretaries to arrange friendly fixtures and asking the committee what it could do to reverse 'this alarming trend'.

For the rest, there are references to a membership drive and the creation of a Midland Committee. It was reported that 'an international event' had taken place at Highgate and the Committee approved in principle the organisation of another similar event. They agreed a donation towards R Tyler's coaching course in Darjeeling in October. The last meeting of the year refers to the urgency of persuading contributors to the Annual report to put pen to paper, of seeking nominations to the Committee and finding people to take over the running of three of the competitions. The overall impression given by the minutes of this season is of the growing pressure on busy people as the Committee becomes increasingly active in seeking longer-term strategies to promote the game and to encourage more people to participate.

Minutes of Yesteryear by Roger Beament
Created 7th February 2006 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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