EFA Centenary ArtEFActs: Fives Keepers' Book

Between 1901 and 1987 the captain of Fives at Eton College, known as the Keeper, was responsible for recording all school Eton Fives activities in a book.

As Fives is a pairs game, two Keepers were appointed, with the second Keeper playing a supporting role.

This book, which covers the years 1924-1933, is one of seven stored in Eton’s archive. The Keepers in 1924, Graham Norris and Tom Mott, are listed on the cover plate; the Keepers in the other years have scribbled their names alongside.

The Fives Keepers’ books comprise detailed reports from internal competitions, inter-school matches and fixtures such as an annual game against the Army. They also contain the annual list of ‘choices’ (the best players), reviews of the year or the ‘half’ (an Eton word for term) and commentary on noteworthy events.

Other than reports in The Times, this book has the only contemporaneous reference we have to the creation of the Eton Fives Association, officially formed on 24 October 1924. In his ‘Review of the Half’ in Michaelmas 1924, Graham Norris writes:

“I must add that the Eton Fives Association has been successful so far, everybody from whom I have heard agreeing with it.”

The book also records the creation of the ‘Old Etonian Fives Association’ on 7 March 1925, following a school versus alumni match. The games were clearly energetic: one player’s trousers “were unkind enough to split”.