In addition to writing about the recorded minutes of 50 years ago (1953-4), 25 years ago (1978-9) and just 10 years ago (1993-4), I have tried to put them in each instance in the context of the previous four seasons, to show the continuity of much of the work of the committee and to indicate those matters which took time to resolve.

50 years ago (1953-4)

J.M.Petersen resigned as Chairman on his appointment as Headmaster of Shrewsbury, the announcement of which occurred the day before a Committee meeting which provided the committee with an opportunity to drink his health. During these five years, the committee had met two or three times each years, reverting to just two meetings in 1953-4, in October and April. The AGM attracted fifteen members, a better attendance than the four previous occasion which had averaged eleven.

The dominant issue during this period was the hope that the damaged fives court at the Queens Club would be repaired, and so provide the EFA with a London centre. It was a frustrating matter that dragged on. Initially, the Committee had found the Queens Club uncooperative and then that the cost of the rebuilding would have to be borne by the EFA. It emerged by 1952 that the war compensation would only pay for 50% of the costs. In 1953-4 the Committee learnt from the Secretary that, despite many applications, the licences had not been granted for either the fives court or the damaged tennis court. There was relief that St.Olave's were allowing their courts to be used, especially as the committee did not consider that their finances would allow them to contemplate building their own court, though at the AGM in October 1953, Mr.Leigh Pemberton did suggest that the cost of purchasing a site and building a court might be met by special appeal.

The finances of the EFA were sufficient for the housekeeping requirements of administration. By 1951-2 the assets had amounted to £200 (about £ 3,700 in current values). In 1953-4 there were sufficient additional resources, £50 cash in the bank and £50 in Post Office Savings, to purchase £100 of 3 ½ % Defence Bonds, though the Kinnaird had shown a deficit of 30/- ( £ 1.50 to the younger members).

The new Laws of the game had been updated, revised and published by 1952, though the committee in 1953-4 had to rectify one ambiguity by a new definition “ The side which is down may not touch or catch a game ball cut which is going out of court.” The Rules of the EFA were likewise revised by 1953-4.

For the rest, the Committee organised the two annual competitions, the Kinnaird, won by A.R.Kittermaster and A.R.B.Mousdale, and the Public Schools in which Aldenham defeated Highgate in the final. There was a complaint about the shortage of balls - plus ca change! At the AGM in October 1953, Mr. Peter May was welcomed as a new committee member and congratulated on behalf of the EFA on his part in recovering the Ashes and on his being selected for the MCC tour of the West Indies. In April 1954, the Committee heard that Geelong Grammar School, Victoria, had recently completed building an Eton Fives Court.

25 years ago (1978-9)

Officers between 1974-1979:
President: A.T.Barber
Chairman: F.B.Hooper
Treasurer: R.M.G.Turnbull
Secretary: G.D Stringer (until 1975); M.J.Shortland Jones (1975-9)

Committee meetings over the five years from 1974 had numbered three or four per year. In 1978-9 there were three meetings with an additional minuted meeting at the Kinnaird weekend in March. The Annual General Meetings had attracted an average attendance of nineteen members, including officers.

The increasing administrative load of the committee over the previous ten years had led the Chairman to propose in May 1978 that the number of members should be raised to eight and be eligible to serve for four years. He felt that the committee often lost members just when they had acquired the expertise to fulfil their commitments with increasing efficiency. These proposals were accepted unanimously at the AGM in October 1978. The Rules of the EFA were duly amended to incorporate the changes.

A recurrent theme, as always, was the rise and fall in the fortunes of fives’ courts. The appeal for funds for the Oxford Courts had closed in 1976 with a sufficient total of £8,000. The Queen's Club fives court was not to be renovated: the hope that Southwark Council might develop the old St Olave’s school courts as a sports centre had come to nothing (1975-6), and there was another plea for a fives centre in London (1976 -7). There was concern at the destruction of the eighteen courts at Eton (1978). On the other hand, at Chigwell the Headmaster had won the Governors approval, after initial hesitation, to repair the courts there and the EFA contributed £250 whilst Harrow was willing for their courts, which were about to be improved, to be used for evening matches.

The income of the EFA was for the most part sufficient in these years to cover the ordinary expenditure of the Association. In 1977 the Treasurer stated that he had invested a further £1,100: individual membership was increasing satisfactorily, but that it was desirable to discuss and define the longer term aims, with a willingness to look more seriously at promotion and sponsorship, as well as a drive for new members. It was the individual membership fees that ensured the EFA remained solvent. By 1979 it was decided to increase the subscriptions for clubs and schools to £4 which would pay for the “expensive” production of the Annual Report. Individual membership at £1, which according to the Treasurer, many members thought was surprisingly low, would increase in October 1980.

The number of competitions remained consistent over these five years. There were three adult competitions, the Kinnaird, Midland and the Alan Barber Cup. The Committee in 1979 was very concerned about the confusion of the entry dates for the Kinnaird. In the Kinnaird competition D.R.Firth and M.R.Keeling recovered the title they had had to concede the previous year because of injury in the final. Dr. P.J.Knowles was congratulated on the excellent organisation of the Schools Competitions. The Alan Barber Cup ran very smoothly and was won by a strong Old Cholmeleian team. The League had acquired a second division in 1976-7 and a third division in 1977-8, but reverted to two divisions in 1978-9. The EFA regretted the latter decision. There was also an issue as to whether the EFA should run the league directly as with all other competitions. There were four schools competitions with the venue alternating in these years between Eton and Highgate. The minutes of 1978-9 registered Shrewsbury’s keenness to provide a third venue and to host the Schools competition in 1981 when their fourteen courts would have been refurbished. In June 1979, Mr Ullman reported that twice as many EFA matches had been played with very few cancelled through lack of players.

The Committee had been very conscious of providing as much support to those schools where the game was struggling to survive. In 1977-8, members of the committee were allocated particular schools with whom to make contact. In the following year the Committee organised a meeting and dinner at the first Kinnaird weekend for Masters in charge of fives to provide a forum to exchange views and problems. The occasion proved very successful, thanks to N.R.Colquhoun.

At the last meeting in June 1979 M.J.Shortland-Jones was very warmly thanked for his work as Secretary and R.M.Knight was welcomed as his successor.

1993-4

In 1993-4, the Committee met six times as in the previous year, though between 1990 and 1992 there had been eight committee meetings each year. The Annual General Meetings were attracting an average attendance of 14 members over this period, with 15 in 1993.

In September 1993 the Chairman reported that the coaching manual had been completed within the deadline set by Natwest Bank which had contributed £10,000 to the total cost of £17,000. It was 140 pages long and had 130 illustrations. At the AGM in November it was announced that 2250 copies had been printed and 70 copies had already been sold. By May sales had topped 300. The Committee expressed its gratitude to the Chairman, the Treasurer and, particularly to J.P.Reynolds, for their efforts in realising such a high quality project which had started back in 1987-8.

The autumn of 1993 also saw the trustees of the Eton Fives Charitable Trust holding their first meeting. The AGM in November 1993 learnt that £5,600 had already been donated and the Chairman expressed the thanks of the Association to Philip Curtis for his drive and financial backing in establishing the Charity as well as others who had helped in the planning which had started three years earlier.. The charity could contribute to projects such as coaching and the funding of courts at educational establishments. M.R.Fenn was nominated by the Committee as one of their appointed trustees to the Charity: the term of office was two years.

One of the first projects for the Trust was seen to be the Cambridge courts - if a site was found on which to build them. This saga was a constant theme during these years. In June 1988 the President, P.C.Curtis, had reported to the committee that the University had agreed to provide a site for two Eton Fives courts within the new sports centre complex. In January 1990, planning permission had not been granted for the centre, and so the story dragged on. A common entry in the minutes was: Cambridge Courts - ‘no further progress’ or ‘no further news’. In January 1994 it appeared that the University was seeking a new sports centre at Maddingly Road. In the meantime, the EFA was seeking to persuade the Leys School to empty their courts of furniture and allow them to be used for fives. In July 1994, the Chairman said that the EFA was being asked to pay for other storage facilities and make good the courts, at a maximum cost of £10,000. Magdalene College had earlier in the year undertook to repair their court and the committee agreed to ask the Charity to make its first grant of £500 for this. It was agreed to pay Poole & Pattle, architects, to write a full specification for building a five court. New courts were proposed at Prior Park School near Bath and Summerfields were building two courts. Wolverhampton had six new courts. It was agreed to contribute £600 to the renovation of the Zuoz courts. Nigeria had also applied for a grant, but no decision had been made about this request.

In 1993-4 the Committee continued to monitor the arrangements for allocating and supervising the grant from the Foundation for Sports and the Arts which had been awarded to the Association in 1992-3. In July 1994, there was £2,400 left in the fund. There was a drive to encourage members to adjust their standing orders to the increased subscriptions and to approach players who were not members of the EFA to join. The Treasurer reported a projected deficit of £1895 for the year to June 1994 if grants of £1500 were made. The merchandising sub-committee was discussing various ideas to raise more money.

An important part of the Committee’s work was the monitoring and supporting the organisers of the many competitions: thirteen adult competitions as well as the League and seven schools competitions. After consultations and discussion, the new rules for running the League were accepted. There had been a disappointing entry for the Kinnaird which was won by R.A.Mason and J.R.Mole. The Alan Barber Cup had run well with the Old Cholmeleians winning for the nineteenth time since the competition was set up in 1965. The Ladies competition had attracted nine pairs: the Aberconwy had had a good entry. Zuoz had fixed the dates in September 1994 for the international competition they would be running and had set aside £1000 sponsor money to encourage players from England, and they hoped the EFA would make available a similar amount. By July some six to eight players had expressed an interest in participating.

These five years between 1989 and 1994 had seen significant developments which had been reported annually in the excellent EFA Report, latterly produced by M.R.Fenn. But there was no complacency and the Chairman had proposed in January 1994 the drawing up of a four year development plan for Eton Fives which could be presented to the Sports Council, with the hope of a grant.

The fifty years since 1954 had seen an explosion of competitions and activities. The committees had sought to establish a sound financial basis for the expansion, to encourage a larger membership, to widen the range of participants in the game and to provide support where it was needed. The fortunes of schools and clubs had inevitably waxed and waned over these years, some had maintained a remarkable consistency of support and achievement, but the overall impression is that of a game which has flourished and is flourishing through the good offices of a dedicated and hardworking group of people.

Minutes of Yesteryear by Roger Beament
Created 24th December 2004 by Mike Fenn
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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