Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Scotland - England Internationals
This is a short report from the Glasgow Herald of Monday 6 May 1985 about the Scotland versus England Handball internationals which had taken place on the weekend before.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Salford (Ladies) v Ruislip (Ladies) 19 December 1983
This post is a short report from a match played 30 years ago between the Salford Ladies Handball Team and the Ruislip Ladies Handball Team who were known at the time by the sponsor name of Robert Jenkins Systems Handball. The report is from a London Association newsletter hence the lack of mention of the Salford players.
The game was a National League fixture which threw off at 4.30pm. The teams were lead out by Salford Majorettes and Ruislips' starting seven were
Sue Roberts (GK)
Dawn Bellis
Donna Anderson
Kim Walker
Janet Nichols
Christine Fitzgerald
Melanie Chowns
Fitzgerald opened the scoring for Ruislip and the first half found them exploiting a weak Salford defence but not being able to turn the superiority into the advantage that it should have been. When half-time came Ruislip were leading by six goals to three. The spectators were entertained at half-time by the Salford Majorettes who were a group of mainly 9 to 10 year olds. The second half continued much the same as the first with Ruislip continuing to dominate while playing in a relaxed manor throughout. While the team as a whole played sufficiently well, special mention goes to Sue Roberts in goal who save four penalties. The game ended in a 12-6 victory to the Londoners.
The game was a National League fixture which threw off at 4.30pm. The teams were lead out by Salford Majorettes and Ruislips' starting seven were
Sue Roberts (GK)
Dawn Bellis
Donna Anderson
Kim Walker
Janet Nichols
Christine Fitzgerald
Melanie Chowns
Fitzgerald opened the scoring for Ruislip and the first half found them exploiting a weak Salford defence but not being able to turn the superiority into the advantage that it should have been. When half-time came Ruislip were leading by six goals to three. The spectators were entertained at half-time by the Salford Majorettes who were a group of mainly 9 to 10 year olds. The second half continued much the same as the first with Ruislip continuing to dominate while playing in a relaxed manor throughout. While the team as a whole played sufficiently well, special mention goes to Sue Roberts in goal who save four penalties. The game ended in a 12-6 victory to the Londoners.
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Ruislip Eagles
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| Graphite (Ruislip) Eagles Club badge from the 70s |
The club website states the following:
Ruislip Eagles Handball Club was formed in 1970 when they were based in the old South Ruislip Leisure centre. The Club have previously been known as Graphite Eagles (when sponsored by Graphite Equipment Ltd) and Robert Jenkins (Graphite were acquired by Robert Jenkins Systems and the name changed as a result of this).
The men’s and women’s teams were started and coached by Bill Holderness, a GB goalkeeper. The teams were largely made up of British players but gradually more and more overseas players joined the club and brought new skills and experience.
The club enjoyed a successful spell through the 1980s when many of their players were picked for the national team and the women won the league on several occasions alongside fierce rivals Wakefield.
The men also were involved with great competition with Brentwood and Liverpool but it was the women’s team who enjoyed the greater success. In 1982 the women became the 1st British team to win a match in a European Cup, beating the Belgian champions over two legs.
Both men’s and women’s teams have an international flavour with many nationalities playing in both teams.
Sunday, 23 September 2012
The Hull Handball League (Part 4): Possibly the oldest club photo
As previously reported in Part 2 Crawford Sports were the Hull handball league champions in 1961. This photograph taken from the Hull Daily Mail shows the Crawford team lined up as follows: back row Roy Marshall, George Gardiner, Ray Riley, George Nesfield, Ray Sissons and Barry Fuller; front row Syd Cowan, Col Raper, George Pougher, Ronnie Bray and Terry O'Neill. The team took the name of the club sponsor Crawford Sports which was a sports shop based in East Hull.
Unless anyone knows of an older club photo of a British handball team photograph then this photo of Crawford Sports HC is the oldest one, albeit of a team that played the 11 a-side version of the game.
Unless anyone knows of an older club photo of a British handball team photograph then this photo of Crawford Sports HC is the oldest one, albeit of a team that played the 11 a-side version of the game.
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| Crawford Sports HC |
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Coventry Handball Club
Coventry Handball Club is shaping up to be one of the 'Legacies of the Olympics' and Thursday is going to be the first occasion on which the club meets to train. It was reported on the BBC earlier today that this was Coventry's first ever club but records show that a club going by the name of Coventry made a brief appearance in organised leagues around 30 years ago.
The main source of information comes from the Midland Handball Association's handbook published in 1982. It lists the member clubs as Leicester Computers, Coventry, Leicester '73, Milton Keynes 1980, Olympia (Cannock), Salford and John Quinn Sheffield. Each club has details of officials, colours, match times and a brief history.
The entry for Coventry shows that the club had previously been known as Nuneaton Tech and Recreation Nuneation and that prominent club members were Frank Dillon, Mick Darlison and Chris Leadbetter. It records the home base as Coventry SC in Fairfax Street and club colours as white shirts, blue shorts (first choice), orange shirts, blue shorts (second choice).
The history section explains that the club could trace its roots to Nuneaton Tech, a club which had been founder members of the English National League and places its establishment as 1975 at the latest. In 1977 a 'B' team (Nuneaton Newdegate) was formed to play in the lower league. The team eventually broke away from Tech after sports centres were opened at Etone and Jubilee and the club was renamed Recreation Nuneaton. In 1980 Recreation won the English Second Division but they were apparently denied promotion due to reorganization of the leagues meaning that all teams had to go through regional qualifying. The final National League table for 1980/81 shows that the team finished sixth out of seven in a league which was won convincingly by Brentwood '72.
The Midland's Handbook then explains that the club moved to Coventry following a friendly against a Scottish team called Linwood and that the club started 1981/82 very well but that due to rule infringements had points deducted. They also went out of the British Cup in the first round losing 26-24 to Great Dane London. The Midland Directory was introduced for the 1982/83 season and finishes the piece on Coventry by saying that the club resigned its place in the National League position in 1982 to join the Midland League. This is verified by BHA publications which show Coventry in mid-table after six games of the '81/82 season but as not being in the league on publication of the final table.
The 1982/83 season proved to be the last for the club and shows that there may have still bee problems as records from the season show that Coventry were in the Midland League but the final standing only show four teams (Milton Keynes 1980, Olympia, Salford and John Quinn Sheffield). Despite this, the records show that Coventry were involved in an exciting cup tie in the first round of the British Cup. Playing Kirkby Select, a National League team, Coventry tied the game 20-20. Following extra time the game was still level at 22-22. It took a further period of extra-time for Kirkby to defeat Coventry 24-23.
1983 proved to be Coventry's final year. It is recorded in the November 1983 edition of the BHA publication 'Word is...' that the club came about from the 'considerable work done by Frank Dillion' and that following Frank's move to Saudi Arabia the club had folded.
So, 30 years after the former club embarked on its last season, the new club is about to embark on the first of what will hopefully be many.
Good luck Coventry Handball Club! Click to find out more about the new club.
The main source of information comes from the Midland Handball Association's handbook published in 1982. It lists the member clubs as Leicester Computers, Coventry, Leicester '73, Milton Keynes 1980, Olympia (Cannock), Salford and John Quinn Sheffield. Each club has details of officials, colours, match times and a brief history.
The entry for Coventry shows that the club had previously been known as Nuneaton Tech and Recreation Nuneation and that prominent club members were Frank Dillon, Mick Darlison and Chris Leadbetter. It records the home base as Coventry SC in Fairfax Street and club colours as white shirts, blue shorts (first choice), orange shirts, blue shorts (second choice).
The history section explains that the club could trace its roots to Nuneaton Tech, a club which had been founder members of the English National League and places its establishment as 1975 at the latest. In 1977 a 'B' team (Nuneaton Newdegate) was formed to play in the lower league. The team eventually broke away from Tech after sports centres were opened at Etone and Jubilee and the club was renamed Recreation Nuneaton. In 1980 Recreation won the English Second Division but they were apparently denied promotion due to reorganization of the leagues meaning that all teams had to go through regional qualifying. The final National League table for 1980/81 shows that the team finished sixth out of seven in a league which was won convincingly by Brentwood '72.
The Midland's Handbook then explains that the club moved to Coventry following a friendly against a Scottish team called Linwood and that the club started 1981/82 very well but that due to rule infringements had points deducted. They also went out of the British Cup in the first round losing 26-24 to Great Dane London. The Midland Directory was introduced for the 1982/83 season and finishes the piece on Coventry by saying that the club resigned its place in the National League position in 1982 to join the Midland League. This is verified by BHA publications which show Coventry in mid-table after six games of the '81/82 season but as not being in the league on publication of the final table.
The 1982/83 season proved to be the last for the club and shows that there may have still bee problems as records from the season show that Coventry were in the Midland League but the final standing only show four teams (Milton Keynes 1980, Olympia, Salford and John Quinn Sheffield). Despite this, the records show that Coventry were involved in an exciting cup tie in the first round of the British Cup. Playing Kirkby Select, a National League team, Coventry tied the game 20-20. Following extra time the game was still level at 22-22. It took a further period of extra-time for Kirkby to defeat Coventry 24-23.
1983 proved to be Coventry's final year. It is recorded in the November 1983 edition of the BHA publication 'Word is...' that the club came about from the 'considerable work done by Frank Dillion' and that following Frank's move to Saudi Arabia the club had folded.
So, 30 years after the former club embarked on its last season, the new club is about to embark on the first of what will hopefully be many.
Good luck Coventry Handball Club! Click to find out more about the new club.
Friday, 31 August 2012
The Hull Handball League (Part 3) The first ever GB team
Hull was not only the location of the first handball league in Britain; it was also where the first ever Great Britain representative team played. The status of this representation is not clear; on the one hand there was no official Handball Association but on the other hand the Hull league was recognized by the IHF. It is reported by the Hull Daily Mail that Great Britain played Holland on Sunday 28 June 1959 at the Costello Stadium in West Hull.
Syd Cowan, who played in the game, explained that the Dutch were much better but that the score was kept down by the brilliant goalkeeping of Billy Bly. Cowan said "I played in this game and have one of the commemorative plaques. The Dutch players handled the ball and moved it quicker than us and ran into open spaces. When they shot at goal they took the ball on the move and leaped and hurled the ball down from about nine feet high - no wonder Billy looked a bit downcast towards the end".
One of the officials on the day, Ron Lister, explained that a further international took place, this time against Germany in 1960 and Cowan adds that the team also traveled to Germany to play a team from Freiburg. The team which played Freiburg are lined up in the poor quality photograph below which, was published in the Hull Daily Mail. The photograph, dated August 1960, is almost certainly the oldest in existence of a handball team in Britain.
A page from the programme of the international in 1959 (shown below) confirms that the game played in Hull 50 years ago was in fact the 11-a-side version of handball. There is not much footage of this version of handball but this short clip shows a game between East Germany and Austria from the same period.
Syd Cowan, who played in the game, explained that the Dutch were much better but that the score was kept down by the brilliant goalkeeping of Billy Bly. Cowan said "I played in this game and have one of the commemorative plaques. The Dutch players handled the ball and moved it quicker than us and ran into open spaces. When they shot at goal they took the ball on the move and leaped and hurled the ball down from about nine feet high - no wonder Billy looked a bit downcast towards the end".
One of the officials on the day, Ron Lister, explained that a further international took place, this time against Germany in 1960 and Cowan adds that the team also traveled to Germany to play a team from Freiburg. The team which played Freiburg are lined up in the poor quality photograph below which, was published in the Hull Daily Mail. The photograph, dated August 1960, is almost certainly the oldest in existence of a handball team in Britain.
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| A page from the 1959 Great Britain - Holland programme |
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
The Hull Handball League 1958-62 (part 2)
In an article published in the Hull Daily Mail on 31 March 2003 a former player, Syd Cowan reflected on the years that Hull had had its own handball league, made a point of the variety of sports represented. Syd himself was a Rugby League player but he also referred to rugby union players, the boxer Wally Mays and the netball player Pat Hamblyn. However, he explained that handball attracted "many local and professional footballers" because it was ideal for maintaining fitness over the summer months. Two names of footballers he mention are the Hull City players Frank Harrison and goalkeeper Billy Bly.
Handball in Hull lasted for just four years. It is clear that it was introduced in 1958 by Dr Seewald while Syd reports that the Division One Shield was last contested in 1962 after which "sadly the game petered out." There is no mention of any silverware in 1958 which is not surprising given the fact that it had only just been introduced however in 1959 a tournament was organised with a team by the name of Asbestos winning the trophy. In 1961 the full league was organised and the Shield winners were Crawfords Sports. The second and final year of the league saw Hull Boys Club win the Shield.
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