Old Millhillians Eton Fives Club (OMEFC)

Fives is one of the oldest established games at Mill Hill with the first internal competition in 1874 won by OM AC Field. The school was lucky enough to have two new courts built on the quad accompanied by an article in the 1908/09 school magazine stating: ‘The new Eton Fives Courts have been the principal, athletic attraction of the term, and constantly been used by players from all parts of the school.’ In 1912/13, though, there was a familiar sounding season to this current year blighted by the pandemic.

An article in the school magazine says that ‘nothing could be more unlucky than the past season, for not a single match has been played.’ Many had been arranged, but unfortunately, the outbreak of diphtheria prevented any from taking place.

Fixtures between the OMs and the school date back to the 1919/20 season when J K Batty the previous years’ school team captain, organised a group of players to return and take on the pupils. Fives has been a constant at the school, but there is little record of fixtures and it was far more of a game played for fun ‘by boys in passing’. The first recorded match was the Public Schools championships in 1930, then held at the Queen’s Club, with two pairs: J L Bowman (School 1926-1930) and D G P Leavey (Ridgeway 1926-1930) as Mill Hill 1 and C S Darke (Collinson 1926-1931) and E A Wotton (Ridgeway 1927-1930) as Mill Hill 2.

An official Old Millhillians Eton Fives Club was formed in 1969 by Andrew Summers (Weymouth 1959-1964) on his return from university as a social playing club with some informal fixtures. The number of players grew, and it was decided to enter the leagues with the first formal fixtures played in the 1972/7 season.

Fives at the school went through a large revival under Mr Paul Bowden, who became Master in Charge of Fives in 1984, and who successfully brought the game back to life before Mr Steve Plummer took over in 1991 until very recently. These masters in charge were very important in providing a high calibre of player for the school and then the Old Millhillians team, with Steve also both playing for and running the Old Millhillians Eton Fives Club for a long time.

The club’s emphasis in the early 2000s was on having good games, avoiding relegation in the league and enjoying a good social experience. From 2008/09, though, players were returning from university keen to play regularly, resulting in the OMs having a strong team in division 2 of the national league. They won Division 2, gaining promotion to Division 1, where the top clubs and players compete. After some debate and with strong numbers in the squad, it was decided to enter a team in both divisions one and two the following year. This was relatively successful. The following season (2012/13) was the best in the club’s history, winning division 1 and also coming second in division 2 by only one point. Furthermore, during this season, the club won Team of the Year at the national awards and MHS Master Steve Plummer winning Coach of the Year.

For the next few seasons, the club struggled to have a regular strong side in both divisions, though was always competitive in fixtures. The division two side was very much intended to be made up of a mixture of schoolboys, some regulars, old stagers and those looking more to the social side than the highly competitive level of division one. The tides turned again in 2018 when the division one team won the title for the second time.

In the final game of the season, they needed to gain one of the three possible points to win the league over second-placed Old Harrovians. This saw the OMs come second in the Team of the Year awards and saw Charles Plummer (MHSF 2003-2013), a leading player in the OMs team while still in Upper 6th, won the EFA’s Young Player of the Year.

In recent years, to build links between the school and the Old Millhillian Fives club, the Summers Cup was introduced. Each September, a knockout tournament is held at the school where an OM partners with a pupil from the school. It is a tournament with an emphasis on the social side of sport with good games that ensures the strong future of the club.

Looking forward, the OMEFC is intending to expand its player numbers. This will be aided by a core group returning from university and greater numbers currently playing at the school. However, new players are always welcome whether they were a regular school player or not, and whether they are just looking to be involved in the social club nights or the league fixtures. The club hopes to continue competing in the top two divisions while building even more on the social side.

For further information for joining the club contact details: Chris Vincent chrisvincenthome@gmail.com