2011/12 EFA League Preview
The celebrations have barely died down from the champagne-drenched Summer Superleague finale and yet the 2011/12 EFA League season is about to start. How will the new look young Olavian teams cope with life at the top? How will Berkhamsted and the Millhillians adapt to life in Division 1? How many different teams will Nigel Cox play for in the course of one single season? To find out the answers to some of these questions and more, read on for an exclusive preview of the 2010/11 season.
Division 1
Berkhamsted 1: The team may be new to Division 1 Fives but the players certainly aren't; with the Berkhamsted coaching trio of Anthony Theodossi, George Campbell and Doug Foster backed by Ryan Perrie and a group of talented young Berkhamstedians such as Andrew Joyce and Jeremy O'Neill, there are many good judges who think that the Berko boys have a shot at winning the top division at the first attempt. In football terms this would put them on a par with the legendary Ipswich Town team of 1961/62 and you can't aim higher than that.
Player to Watch: George Campbell
Old Harrovians: With the Old Olavians regrouping and looking to youth, their nearest challengers for the past two years assume the role of bookies favourites this season. Captain Nick Shaw will be looking to seven-time Kinnaird Cup winner Tom Dunbar to lead the side with support from OH stalwarts Jamie Fleming, Ross Bryan and Nick himself. The contributions of imports such as Richard Tyler and youngsters like Will Jones, Tommy Faber and Alex Poole could be crucial.
Player to Watch: Alex Poole
Old Millhillians 1: Division 1's other newcomers this year did it the hard way, winning Division 2 last year in a blaze of glory after a couple of near misses in previous seasons. The prospects for the OMs look good - the experienced Ian Hutchinson is back in the fold and will have the support of a group of improving and maturing players. Vishal Bhimjiyani, Justin Lefort, Joe Coakley, Sunil Tailor and Jitesh Patel all look ready for Division 1, although strength in depth may be an issue at this level when the top six are unavailable.
Player to Watch: Joe Coakley
Old Olavians 1: This should be a fascinating year for the Old Olavians. After dominating the league for the best part of a decade, Howard Wiseman has decided that it is time to build for the future. The Olavian "big beasts" - the Toops, Wisemans and Cooleys etc - will still be appearing on court but less often and in much more of a supporting role, as the Olavians look to expose their younger players to a higher level of Fives in an attempt to increase even further the number of top players in their club and ensure that they will be at the top of the game for years to come. The OO1 team this year will be based around the current crop of schoolboys and their results will make for very interesting reading.
Players to Watch: Tony Barker & Harry Ravi
Old Olavians 2: The Olavians 2 are of course the defending champions but in line with the policy outlined above will feature a more experimental line-up this season. There will be experience in the likes of Sanjaya Ranasinghe and a lot will depend on how Luke Stradwick and Billy Dennis respond to their promotion up the order.
Player to Watch: Balrik Kailey
Old Westminsters 1: The Olavians rebuilding programme has given the other Division 1 clubs real hope that they can go one better than in previous years. For the OWs this means improving on the comfortable mid-table position that they have made their own since promotion from Division 2. Is this the year that they break through and make a challenge for the title? The loss of Doug Foster to Berkhamsted has been offset by the full-time arrival of ex Cambridge captain Laurie Brock and with John Reynolds, Giles Coren, Ed Rose, Saul Albert and Harry de Quetteville all available this could be an exciting season for the Wets.
Player to Watch: Laurie Brock
Division 2
Berkhamsted 2: With Berkhamsted 1 in the top division, the second team will be mainly schoolboy-based. With some promising players coming through the school ranks and some good young Old Boys available they will be far from uncompetitive and should be a side to be reckoned with in this Division, especially on their home courts.
Player to Watch: Jeremy O'Neill
Highgate: With the Old Cholmeleians sadly withdrawing from the league, the Highgate side in Division 2 will be an interesting and potentially potent mix of the invariably high class school players and old boys, as Guy Chapman looks to regroup and find a nucleus of players to allow the OCs to find their feet again. That combination could produce some very powerful teams this season and the Highgate side will definitely be pushing for a top three finish or even better.
Player to Watch: Charlie Noble
North Oxford: Champions three years ago and runners-up for the last two seasons, North Oxford will be once again looking for a high finish. The team has bags of experience with the likes of Graham Pulsford, Chris Austin, Gareth Hoskins and Spencer Chapman plus the returning Peter Scholey and some younger talent coming through as Hugo Tobias and Carl Rennie push for places in the first six. It would be a major surprise if the Oxford-based outfit are not right in the shake-up for the top slot at the end of the season.
Player to Watch: Carl Rennie
Old Carthusians 1: Last year was a watershed year for the Carthusians. With senior players unavailable it looked like the OCs might struggle, but OC Fives supremo Ronald Pattison managed to recruit and enthuse a new generation of young Carthusians and with some promising players coming out of the school at the moment, the squad will be looking to repeat last year's top five finish.
Player to Watch: Alex Manby
Old Citizens 1: After an impressive re-introduction to League Fives last year, which culminated in their winning Division 3, the Citizens will be looking to raise their game still further as they pit themselves against the best that Division 2 has to offer. They will bring a real sense of youth and enthusiasm to the Division as Nick Gill and John Reynolds inspire a new generation of Old Cits to try and live up to the deeds of some of their illustrious predecessors.
Player to Watch: Nick Gill
Old Etonians: As ever, the Old Etonians remain the most unpredictable side in the Division. A more settled selection began to reveal itself last year and the likes of Andrew White, John Rowe and Giles McKean will continue to improve alongside familiar faces such as Alex Knight, Martin Powell, Foreman Wickes and Jonathan Asquith. The potential top six available to them would undoubtedly be a threat to any of the sides in Division 1 and it is player availability that will once again decide the strength of their challenge this year.
Player to Watch: Jeremy Hindle
Old Ipswichians: The OIs are continuing to go through a period of transition under the astute leadership of skipper Tom Fletcher. Peter Boughton and Simon Woolfries of the old guard are still making their presence felt but the baton is gradually being passed to the likes of David Leach, Will Gibbons, Oli Watts and Alex Yusaf, who need to be making more and more of a contribution if the OIs are to prosper this season. Meanwhile, everyone involved in OI Fives has an eye on the “golden generation” of 13-16 year olds currently progressing through the school.
Player to Watch: David Leach
Old Millhillians 2: With the top players now plying their trade in Division 1, a newly introduced second team allows the wider squad to get a taste of league action. Skipper Chris Vincent will lead the way and will have at his disposal some recent leavers alongside the latest Millhillian schoolboys off the Steve Plummer production line. This OM side may not yet have the experience to challenge at the top of the table but they will be a match for most teams on their day.
Players to Watch: Oliver John & Matthew Jackson
Old Olavians 3: The promotion of several Olavian youngsters into the Division 1 teams means that the OO3 side may well feel the knock on effect in terms of player availability. If there’s one club in the league that has the resources to cope with such a challenge, however, it is the Old Olavians and they will undoubtedly pose a threat.
Player to Watch: Charlotta Cooley
Old Salopians: With T Walters back in Shrewsbury, a new hand on the tiller in Peter Nichols and the first team no longer in Division 1, this will be a season of change for the Old Salopians. The line-up is potentially extremely strong and more than capable of winning the Division, but the big question is what sort of teams they can get out. If Ed Taylor leads the line regularly alongside some of the talented youngsters who form the OS Barber Cup team then the rest of the league had better watch out.
Player to Watch: Tom Gerrard
Old Stoics: The Stoics had another very solid campaign in 2010/11, finishing in the top half of the table, and this will be their aim once again. With Dave Mew and Ryan Perrie lending some first pair star quality and recruiter supreme Mike Skjott getting the best out of his small squad, a higher finish could even be on the cards this time around.
Player to Watch: Ed Hewens
Old Westminsters 2: The Westminsters second team had a much improved season in 2010/11, demonstrating the strength in depth in the OW club and proving to be a hard side to beat, especially on their home courts. With the evergreen Andrew Aitken in charge of a squad featuring plenty of young legs the OW second string will be pushing hard not to be left in the shadow of the first teamers.
Player to Watch: Callum Brock
Division 3
Abbey Club: The Abbey Club is the breeding ground for the next generation of Old Westminster Fives stars and with Matthew Wiseman still on coaching duties, they will once again prove hard to beat.
Players to Watch: Leo Nelson-Jones & James Alster
Lancing Old Boys: These are heady days for the OLs, with two successive Barber Cup semi-finals in the last two years. The Barber Cup team members feature less in the league, with George Campbell and Doug Foster tied up with Berkhamsted’s Division 1 challenge and Mylo Scurr and the three Betts brothers spread far and wide. With Richard Black and Nigel Cox in charge, though, the player base for the league side has increased and they made a strong challenge for the Division 3 crown last year. Expect more of the same this year.
Player to Watch: Karen Hird
Old Carthusians 2: The Carthusian renaissance over recent months has led to the introduction of a second team in Division 3, a most welcome development and proof of the increased number of players available to skipper Ronald Pattison.
Player to Watch: Fergus Imrie
Old Citizens 2: As with the Carthusians, so too with the Old Citizens as the increasing number of (mainly young) players allows for the introduction of a second team to ensure that there are enough fixtures for all. With Alex Nice in charge and some keen and improving schoolboys available for selection, these are exciting times for the Cits.
Player to Watch: Sam Packer
Old Reptonians: Last season was a disappointing one for the Reptonians and captain Sam Basu will be hoping for a better showing this time around. The lack of players coming out of Repton at the moment is a worry, but hopefully Sam and his small but enthusiastic squad will keep the OR flag flying.
Player to Watch: Jonty Irving
Team Westway: Team Westway’s high placing in Division 3 last year owed a lot to forfeits from other teams and new skipper Freddie Rowe will be keen to get his players on court as often as possible to showcase the developing talent at Westway and get his side challenging at the top of the table.
Player to Watch: Josh Butler
Windsor & Eton: What W&E lack in sartorial elegance they make up for in sociability and their record in this Division in recent years shows that there is plenty of on court ability within their ranks as well. Led as ever by Nick Bunyan, you won’t miss them when they are on court somewhere and they should be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
Player to Watch: Robert Wilson