​Name: Rachel Bull
Age: 30
Height: 180cm
Weight: 66kg
Home base: London
Club: London Penguin

Also played for: Locatelli Genova in Italian A2 division, UNSW Sydney Australia, University of Manchester, City of Manchester

How did you get into water polo? I used to swim competitively and one day after training the coach gave us a ball to mess around with. I really enjoyed it and quickly got bored with swimming and enjoyed the challenge of water polo, and I haven’t looked back.

Position: Centre back and 4/5.

Best goal scored this season in BWPL? I’ve had a couple of long distance shots from around half way.

Best player played with: Frankie Snell, who played for Penguin and then represented Team GB in the 2012 Olympics.

Best player played against: While I played in Italy, I trained with Rapallo and Bogliasco for a few months and got to play with Aleksandra Cotti who had just won silver at the Olympics in Rio. I also played in a few summer tournaments with men and women from the Italian national team, which was a great experience.

Most influential coach: John Lake (Shakey) who sadly passed away last year and is missed by everyone at Penguin.

Most memorable match: Probably when Penguin won Silver at the British Champs in 2012.

Best venue played at for water polo: Probably Neptunes WPSC in Malta or Circolo Canottieri Ortigia in Sicily.

How has your experience on the National squads benefited your Club? I was part of the GB Junior set-up when I first started playing aged 16, and it all happened quite quickly. I then took a gap year and played in Sydney, and when I came back, the national squad had a focus on the 2012 Olympics. Since then, I have had some incredible opportunities to play with teams abroad which I never expected.

Your representative honours? GB Juniors

Name: Holly Toone
Age: 17
Height: 5ft 8ins
Weight: 70 kg
Home base: Tyldesley
Club: Tyldesley
Also played for: Liverpool, North West, England, GB U/17s.

What is it like coming into the sport from a water polo family? Growing up with my family in and amongst the sport has allowed to me excel by having watched many high-quality matches from a young age whilst travelling with my brother when he played in his European qualifiers or watching many BWPL matches whilst my dad has been playing and coaching; this allowed me to pick up a good understanding of the game quite early on.

Please give a shout out to your family members also involved in the sport: There are five of us, including me, attached to the Tyldesley’s senior teams, starting with my dad, Lee Toone; head coach, my auntie Nicola; former player now assistant coach and my cousin, Annie; our goalkeeper. As well as my brother Adam, who plays for Tyldesley men’s team in BWPL.

Best player played against: Playing against Lily Turner (Otter) with her having just come back from playing in America as well as playing against a range of experienced players in BWPL who have played polo internationally. I also had the chance to watch the young Spanish Olympic silver medallist when competing alongside her in the u17s Europeans in Croatia.

Please list your representative honours: U17 England squad, when we were crowned champions of the North Sea Cup; representing GB in the U17s Europeans in Sibenik, Croatia.

What are you most looking forward to this forthcoming BWPL season? Representing my small local club in Division 1 for the first time. And playing against teams and opponents much older and more experienced than me - I will continue to learn a lot from this. Having just come back from u17s Europeans, I feel I am on a high and ready to start the BWPL season flying.
​
Favourite BWPL venue to play at: Ponds Forge, Sheffield. 

Taking part in the Olympics is a fantastic experience for any athlete – or official.

BWPL is proud that one of its former referees, Frank Ohme, is now one of the world’s top refs, taking charge in Tokyo of many of the major matches, including the women’s bronze medal clash between Hungary and Russia and the Hungary/Croatia men’s quarter-final. He also refereed two games involving eventual men’s champions Serbia.

Frank, now back in his native Germany, penned this fascinating report on his experiences in Japan. He's pictured in the Olympics pool in Tokyo - wearing his BWPL shirt!

"The Olympic Games are always unique and full of memorable moments. Obviously, this year's Olympics were extra special. Not only because all those "Tokyo2020" banners seem to have missed a year (which many of us might want to forget, too), or because 10,000 Olympians and officials started each day with a new COVID test.
 
This year's Olympic water polo tournament was also notable because the sport is going through a significant transition to make it more attractive and assure its place in the Olympic programme for the foreseeable future.

For the first time, 10 (instead of previously eight) women's teams participated alongside 12 men's squads. In response to worries about increasing numbers of athletes, only 12 players were allowed to line up for each match per team. Coaches could decide: do we start with two goalkeepers (numbered 1 and 13) or only one?
 
The latter option came with the exciting possibility of replacing the designated goalie with any field player wearing the red cap with their field number. If you watched enough games, you might have spotted some of those 7-on-6 attacks in the final seconds of a close match. It is unclear if we will ever see this rule at major tournaments again, but it certainly added a little extra excitement.

There were other changes in the game that we definitely will keep seeing in the future. FINA promotes a less physical, more diverse and skilful style of playing water polo. We referees are instructed to protect the movement of players and do not allow constant holding, both in the perimeter and at the centre forward.
 
This creates new and old challenges for us. The two refs on the poolside have to perfectly cover the field of play. Any action, on and off the ball, can be crucial. As we keep the game as clean as possible, we need to avoid calling an apparent foul that is only the reaction to a first action we missed. For example, a defender might be on top of a driver who pulled themselves underneath; a centre-forward might push off a defender who has been trying to drown them for the past 20 seconds.
 
These situations need quick reactions from the referees on the first foul or no whistle at all if deemed irrelevant at this moment. Luckily, the radio communication system that has become standard at international events helps the referees to find a common standard quickly.

Especially during the Olympics, there is a lot more technology involved. More than 20 cameras watch the action, some from underwater, some hanging from the ceiling, some are placed right next to the referee. Eight of those cameras are not for the broadcasters but for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). Two extra monitors adjacent to the field belong to that system, and they are the place to go if we need to check if a ball has actually crossed the goal line.
 
Sometimes, despite 100 frames per second in high resolution looking exactly along the goal line, it is hard to make that call - but in the end, it is far more accurate than what mere humans can see during live action, or even in the TV's slow motions.

So, refereeing at the top level is in some ways easier than at the local league. There is technology to help. There is a large group of people running and supporting the table. And there are professional players who can work with the line the referees are defining. Although the stakes are as high as it gets in our sport (Olympic medals!), the discipline in the water and on the benches is equally high, with very few exceptions.

Nevertheless, the referees are expected to perform as professionally as the players are. We are given some space to manage the game using our best judgement, but if mistakes happen, and they do happen regularly, they will be thoroughly reviewed.
 
One of those reviews happens immediately after the game, in a small room with a screen showing crucial parts of the game selected by the delegates. Other reviews happen more informally. After all, the entire water polo community is watching the games we referee, including the top officials from all over the world. Each Olympic referee watches most matches that they do not have to officiate from the otherwise empty stands. After, there are many opportunities to chat (over hot or cold beverages) about what happened in the pool.

I experienced a similar atmosphere of friendly and constructive feedback as a BWPL referee. In fact, being with many different referees, delegates and players during those BWPL weekends and listening to everyone's ideas of water polo was excellent preparation for refereeing on the big stage – because officiating women's and men's games on various levels while constantly receiving (good and bad) feedback is the best way to grow as a referee.
 
One has to become confident in one's own abilities while maintaining enough flexibility and humbleness to never forget what a good referee must be: a service to the teams. Service to the sport."

Name: Katy Cutler

Age: 20

Height: 176cm

Weight: 85kg

Home base: Bristol/Taunton

Club: Otter

Also played for: University of Bristol, Taunton, Basingstoke Bluefins, Southampton Sirens, Exeter, Salisbury Stingrays

How did you get into water polo? I was part of a swimming club when I was younger and first tried water polo at a ‘fun’ session as part of this. My swimming teacher at the time also coached water polo and he told me to give it a go! As I got older, I got bored with swimming, so started playing water polo more and everything else started from there.

Position: CB or 4/5

Best player played with: Rosie Morris – one of the Olympic GB goalkeepers for 2012. Rosie also coached me when I was training with the 1997s and I learnt so much from her during that time

Best player played against: Maria Myriokefalitaki – she’s a Greek CF that I played against in the U19 European Championships in 2018

Most influential coach: Nick Hume and Sue Webb. As a pair, they were my coaches for over four years and took me to two European Championships and supported me to becoming the player I am now. I’m also very thankful to Theo Nousious who was my coach at my first European Championships and gave me my first chance to play for GB.

Most memorable match: Beating Serbia in the U17 European Championships in 2017 to come in the top 6, which is the best GB have ever done at a European Championships. We were one goal down with around two minutes left to play and I scored the equalising goal to finish 9-9 before we went in to penalties. It was one of the scariest but most exciting games I’ve ever played in and, despite being in Serbia in front of a home crowd, we were able to pull through and win!

Best song/music to get you in the right frame of mind for a match: It changes depending on the day/opposition but anything that makes me feel ready to play – sometimes I need more energy other times I need to sit down and focus a bit more

How did you find University polo? It’s a lot of fun and a great opportunity for people that have never played before to get in to the sport! I haven’t been able to play much for the uni yet as there haven’t been any matches this year – hopefully next year there will be more opportunities to play

How do you see your role as captain of a team? To lead and support the team as a whole as well as all the individual players. It varies between each team depending on who the players are to enable you to get the best from each of them as this will give you the best team performance overall

Best venue played at for water polo: Funchal Swimming Pool in Madeira. I competed there for the U19 European Championships in 2018

Your representative honours? I have competed in three European Championships. My first was in the U19 tournament in 2016 when I was 15, then the U17 tournament the following year where we came 6th and lastly the U19 tournament in 2018. Unfortunately, the last junior European Championship that I was eligible for, the U19s, was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid so we’ll never know what would’ve happened. I have also played for England in multiple EU Nations tournaments from U17 up to senior women and for English schools as well as competing in the Pilva Cup in Croatia and the Escad Cup in Slovakia.

Any other thoughts on a return to competition? I can’t wait to get back to playing properly again! Everyone has been away from competing for so long that anything possible is a great opportunity for everyone to get back to playing matches.
 

​Name: Liv Henderson

Age: 18

Height: 5”5

Weight: 60kgs-ish

Home base: Brighton 

Club: Worthing, hopefully Manchester from September!

Also played for: Otter, Mid-Sussex Marlins, GB U17s

Position: ½

How did you get into water polo? Turned up for swim training at the wrong time, so joined in with the polo session!

Best player played with? The South-East have some very good players, but I’d have to say either Lily Turner or Izzy Bates

Best player played against: Any of the players representing the Netherlands!

Most influential coach: Alastair Roberts

Most memorable match: The game against Newton Abbot in the final of NAGS; Nick made sure we never forgot.

Best music: The Steve Cook Gymshark playlist 

Best venue: Anywhere that isn’t Walsall!
 
Representative honours: England U17 ESSA, U17 England Squad, Junior U17 GB squad, awaiting senior women squad trials.
 
Thoughts on return to competition? I can't wait to get back into match play and see everyone at BWPL weekends!

​Following City of Manchester’s double triumph in the women’s and men’s Super 5s, captains Jade Smith and Charles Booth (Photos: Trevor Hyde) were invited to offer their thoughts on the 2019/20 season – and on the impact that water polo has had on their lives. Here’s what they said:
 
Name:             Jade Smith
Age:                27
 
When and how did you start playing water polo for City of Manchester WPC? I was playing for my local club and needed the next step up and my coach at the time mentioned Manchester. So, my brother, sister and I all attended one session and the rest is history. I’ve been a Manchester player since the age of 12.
 
How many seasons have you played in BWPL? I’m not sure on the exact number but I think about 12 years.
 
Which team do you look forward to playing against most in BWPL? Liverpool. There has always been a rivalry there from past years, but I find the games are always exciting and there is always great play! 
 
Name the teammate who was your MVP for this season in BWPL: I think it has to be Annie Clapperton. To score that amount of goals, shows how good she really is.
Name the best player you have played with in BWPL: Kate Lewis, she taught me a lot in my first few seasons on the first team.
Name the best player you have played against in BWPL: Angie Winstanley-Smith (when I played for our 2nd team against the 1st team) or a non-Manchester player would have to be Hazel Musgrove (Liverpool). She used to lob me from position 3 almost every game!
Name ‘one to watch’ for the future in BWPL: Mikey Patterson. Played in the first team for three seasons but still young. Has all the attributes to be a great centre forward if he keeps working hard. 
 
What influence has your coach has had on your water polo career at City of Manchester WPC? Theo Nousios has changed the whole mentality of the club and the players. When we play, you can tell we train together every week and work hard; this is all down to Theo and his work with both teams. 
What impact has Mike Glover had on your water polo life? Mike had a massive impact on my water polo career. I will always remember my poolside chats with Mike and how he used to tell me it’s great how I’m not scared of the ball. He will be truly missed by everyone in the water polo community and we want to dedicate our win this season to him! 
 
Name:             Charles Booth
Age:                31
 
When and how did you start playing water polo for City of Manchester WPC? It was around 2001/2002, with the youth team, just after the Aquatics Centre had opened in Manchester. I was very fortunate to train and play in such fantastic facilities and we had a number of really good coaches such as Kevin Williams, with whom we won the National Junior title - two years on the bounce. He installed in us a fantastic work and team ethic and how to conduct yourself in and out of the water.   
 
How many seasons have you played in BWPL? 13, I think!
 
Which team do you look forward to playing against most in BWPL? Cheltenham. For the last eight or so years we've had a really strong rivalry with them with games always being fiercely contested.   
 
Name the teammate who was your MVP for this season in BWPL: Without sounding really cliché it was a real team effort this year. However, Dan Paddon deserves a mention for being the League's top scorer, which is a fantastic achievement. Andrea De Caro scored some unbelievable goals for us and also Dylan Green had a really strong second half of the season in goal, giving the team a great platform to build on. He organises the defence brilliantly. 
 
Name the best player you have played with in BWPL: Joe O'Reagan - strong, scores goals, superb eye for a pass and great defensively. Also, a great leader in the team, setting a fantastic example on how to train and perform in important matches and pushing the lads on to improve. Ed Scott is also brilliant to play with. So calm and a great goalkeeper.   
 
Name the best player you have played against in BWPL: Dave Taylor for Cheltenham. Always thought he was one of the most underrated players. Exceptionally smart player, always had a cool head and scored vital goals or made important contributions when it really mattered. Tom Curwen and Rob Parker are both exceptionally difficult to play against. Both strong, quick, powerful, and great goal scorers. 
 
Name ‘one to watch’ for the future in BWPL: Mikey Patterson. Played in the first team for three seasons but still young. Has all the attributes to be a great centre forward if he keeps working hard. 
 
What influence has your coach has had on your water polo career at City of Manchester WPC? Theo Nousios has had a huge influence, always pushing me and the team to keep improving. He has created a fantastic environment at the club and has transformed the mentality of the team.    
 
What impact has Mike Glover had on your water polo life at Manchester? City of Manchester WPC would not be here without Mike. A true gentleman who had time for everyone and will be sadly missed by everyone involved with the Club. 
 

Name: Annie Clapperton
Age: 19
Height: 5ft 11ins
Weight: 83kg
Home base: Stretford, Manchester
Day job: Student, Sheffield Hallam University
Club: City of Manchester
Also played for: Stretford
My start in water polo: As a child, I was a member of Stretford Swimming Club – and hated swimming! My swim coach at the time said that, because I wasn’t enjoying myself and was quite big for my age, I ought to give water polo a try – and that was it. I suppose I was about seven at the time and by the age of 10 progressed to City of Manchester; then, at 16, to the GB programme, coached in those days by Jim Caulfield.

I still represented the Stretford club – as a centre-back. That changed one day while playing for the North-West in the inter-regional competition. Coach Fiona McCann needed a centre-forward and said “you’re big – that’s your job” . . . and I’ve played there ever since.

Coaching: Manchester’s Theo Nousios has been my most influential coach, helping me into the GB programme. He isn’t a big man for compliments – I like how blunt he is at times! But he really gets women’s water polo! If you do receive a compliment, you know you have worked hard and achieved something.

Representative honours: At 16, I played for the GB 1997 team in the Europeans. In total, I’ve been to three European age groups and several EU Nations events. Last September, I made by senior GB debut in the four nations tournament in Porto, which we won.

My most memorable game? This has to be at the European Junior Championships in Serbia where we beat the host country in front of a big crowd in a penalty shoot-out after drawing 9-9. I missed my penalty and was crying on the poolside! Then Katy Cutler scored with an absolute screamer to give us victory.

Family matters: My twin sister Maisy used to play for Manchester and is now with Sheffield while studying for a psychology degree at Chester University. She’s not the only other player in the family. As Maisy and I were so involved in water polo, my Dad Richard started playing and he turns out for the Manchester Sharks team along with my brother Theo. My Mum Jacqy is a great supporter!
​
The future: My main focus at the moment is my degree course at Sheffield Hallam. I’m studying criminology, with a career in the police – and ideally a dog-handling unit – as an ambition for the future. After university, I might take a year out to play abroad, perhaps in Spain, but that’s a long way ahead.
​

Name: Joe O’Regan
Age: 28
Height: 6ft 8in
Weight: 110kg
Home base: Oldham
Day job: Primary School Teacher
Club: City of Manchester
Also played for: Royton and PVSK Fuszert (Hungary)

My start in water polo – and early years: Believe it or not I used to swim at my local club Royton and the water polo coach of the club asked me to come and try it out. From there my love for the sport started. After a few years mixing it with local league polo I joined Manchester where I was able to play nationally and then join the GB junior set ups and didn’t really look back after that.

Representative honours: International debut aged 18 in Georgia at the Tbilisi international tournament. Last appearance - the 2014 Commonwealth games. Major Competitions: World League 2011/12 (Groups), Olympics 2012 (Groups), Commonwealths 2014 (1st).

Best player played with: Really tough question as I have played with some great players – Craig Figes, Adam Schofield, Rob Parker – but I think the two that probably stand out are Tom Curwen and Ed Scott. Tom could single-handedly win you a game, which he still does for Lancaster now, giving goalkeepers nightmares in the process. I loved playing with Tom and would love to have played with him more. Ed, just like Tom, can win you a game – he is so cool and calm about any situation and makes some saves look easy. My favourite Ed moment was him saving four penalties in one game.
​
Best player played against: I’ve played against some great players over the years but the best would have to be Boris Zlokovic (Montenegrin centre-forward). The man was an animal. It was a very difficult game trying to mark him and I received possibly the hardest kick of my life from him. Honourable mention must also go to Cosmin Radu (Romanian centre forward) who is also a great player and one I have had many battles with and really enjoyed playing against.

Most influential coach: Had some brilliant coaches over the years from Tim Dunsbee to Theo Nousis but the most influential has to be Andrei Iosep. His knowledge and understanding of the game are amazing. What he managed to do with our GB squad with little training in comparison to the teams we were playing against was fantastic. He made you want to die in the water for him. His leaving the programme was a huge loss for the sport in this country.

Most memorable match/incident: My favourite match for me was a league game in Hungary playing for PVSK against Szentes. It was a must win game for us and it was the game where I really felt I was capable of playing at that level. Everything I did worked and, if I don’t say so myself, I scored some absolute screamers. Other memorable matches are the first game of the Olympics, playing at the highest level. Then my last international game for England against Malta in the Commonwealth final. Winning that game and finishing what was unfortunately my last international game with a gold medal is something I will never forget.

Name:  Bernice Cowton
Age: 44 (Ouch! I don’t feel it)
Height: 165cm
Weight: 57kg
Home base: Sheffield   
Club: City of Sheffield Water Polo Club
Also played for:  City of Coventry and City of Manchester

I started playing in around 1990 for Rotherham Metro. I was part of the swimming club there and had an opportunity to join one of Norman’s sessions at a time when they were trying to develop a ladies’ team. I moved to Sheffield Water Polo in 1991 where I played for seven years and gained my first junior and senior GB caps. Post-graduation, I moved to London to work and switched to play for City of Coventry between 1998-2001 but migrated back north, returning to Sheffield for the 2001/2002 season.

In the following years we had the most successful period in the club’s history, winning successive league and cup titles, and competing in the European trophies. I retired from international polo in 2007 to prioritise my career but continued to play domestically.

In 2010 I intended on retiring completely, but a summer tour to Holland resulted in me joining Manchester to play with some old friends. This ended up lasting for three seasons but re-familiarised me with the fun that can be had from playing, albeit still wanting to win! Following this I came back to Sheffield in 2013 with the intention of playing a season to help the team that was being rebuilt at this time, back up into Div 1. I’m still here!

Representative honours:  155 International caps.  2 Commonwealths (1 bronze), 1 Europeans As, 3 European Bs (2 golds and 1 silver), 1 World Champs. 

Best player played with: Jenny Davies (Braddock). You never needed to fear taking the opportunity for an early counter attack with Jenny in goal behind you. She was like a wall, with fantastic distribution. I had the pleasure of playing with Jenny both in my time at Coventry and at GB.

Best player played against:  Irene, the Hungarian centre-forward.  If Jenny was a brick wall, Irene was a boulder! Jeez, she was solid.

Most influential coach:  Well, that would be hard to say without running the risk of offending someone.  It goes without saying that whilst some coaches have been better than others, they all have some good points. However, I will always be grateful to Ted Motley for spotting some talent in me as a young player and providing the opportunity to gain national squad selection.

Most memorable match/incident:  It has to be the club cup finals – ASA National Champs it was then (now British Champs). We ended up at the finals weekend with eight players due to injuries, sickness and lame excuses! To manage to finish a game without being man-down was going to be a challenge in itself, never mind actually winning any.  However, the results just demonstrated the strength and bond of our team at that time, as we beat Manchester 8-7 in the Saturday semi-final and then Liverpool in the Sunday final, 5-4.  I still have the Swimming Times article to this day!

Any other thoughts? I have been lucky in so many ways - a long polo career, some good coaches to learn from and witnessed the true grit and desire of a team of full amateurs that played for the love of the game.

I benefited from the early investment in the build up to London 2012, with the change in mentality that came with this. Visited more countries than I can recall. Had great success with my club sides, and some also as England and GB. Plus of course made some great friends for life.

I have been guilty of looking back and wondering what higher level or better player I may have been if, in my early career, I had the support, funding, facilities and opportunities that players had towards the end of the last decade. However, had that been the case, I may not have been still enjoying the sport now. 

It does feel like there is a gap in the ladies’ game of a whole generation of players. I do believe it aids the strength of a sport to keep these role models in the game for younger players to follow and to ensure players have to work for their position and earn representative honours. 

This also leads me to the huge praise for the set-up of the English Roses a number of years ago.  Whilst at the other end of the spectrum, this is a fabulous forum for older players to still enjoy the game and competitiveness. All credit to those that have invested so much time getting that club up and running and continue to do so. Having that full spectrum of ages, fitness, ability, talent across the league is a really pleasing situation for the sport.

Today, we begin a regular series of BWPL player profiles. Appropriately, we start with one of GB's successful 2012 Olympians, goalkeeper Matt Holland (Photo: Trevor Hyde).

MATT HOLLAND
AGE: 30
HEIGHT: 6’4
WEIGHT: 100kg
LIVES IN: LONDON
CLUB: Sutton & Cheam

Also played for: As guest for Manchester/Bristol/Cheltenham in British Champs. PSV Eindhoven (NED), Pays D’Aix Natation (FRA), Navarra (SPA) and Reims Natation (FRA).

International honours: First cap at European Qualifiers, Dubrovnik, 2008 and last at EU Nations 2018, Prague. Major comps: European Bs, Lugano 2009 (4th), World League 2011/12 (Groups), Olympics 2012 (Groups), Commonwealths 2014 (1st).

Best player played with: Rob Parker with GB and Petar Tomasevic, Pay’s D’Aix Natation.

Best player against: Revaz Chomakhidze – ridiculous how good he was back playing for Georgia, pushing 40. Ed Scott and I have an ‘Old Boats’ VII, comprised of the best old boys we have played against, and he certainly takes the centre-forward position.

Best coach: Andrei Iosep, GB coach, 2013/14, who managed to get the most out of a predominantly part-time squad resulting in great wins v Netherlands/Malta/Slovakia/South Africa/New Zealand as well as good results vs France/Russia/Romania/Hungary, culminating in winning the 2014 Commonwealths. His leaving was a great loss to GB water polo.  

Hardest shot faced: Tom Curwen – in his prime one of the best shots in the world and still not too shabby. His not going to the Olympics shows that, even when we did have decent funding, we didn’t necessarily know as a sport what to do with it.
Other sports: Used to play cricket, football and basketball.

Parents: Chris and Tracey. Always travelled to games with the other parents and gave great support. Dad has represented GB masters in Triathlon.

Siblings: Olly. The ‘better’ Holland as the lads used to say. Came to lots of games/tournaments and helped organise the post-match bonding.

Biography: Started swimming with Sutton aged 10, which coincided with club legend Charlie Thurley taking over the junior water polo section. I went along and as the biggest and most willing I was put in goal. The southern counties team started weekly training a couple of years later and the strength and commitment of this team helped push on our development. Jack Waller, Sean King and myself from that team all went to the Olympics and many others played for GB juniors.

I went to University in Leeds and starting training with the senior team in Manchester, making the drive across with Ed Scott four times a week. We also trained together in Leeds and I was able to learn a lot from him as he had been trained by Theo in Manchester and was already the GB no 1.

After University, I went to Eindhoven with Ric Lawlor, Ciaran James and Mike Bourne to play for PSV. We trained hard, worked hard stacking shelves in a local supermarket and played hard at a bar owned by a 3rd team player who gave us 1 euro beers. On a pre-season tour to Croatia I learnt an enormous amount on specific technique and conditioning drills from their crazy goalkeeper coach and used this as my basis for training that year, improving massively. This allowed me to get more game time for GB and then a professional contract with Pay’s D’Aix Natation in France.

I played three seasons in Aix en Provence during which I went to the Olympics in 2012 and Commonwealths in 2014. These were brilliant years of my life, living in the South of France playing with some great people and at the same time playing for the national team with my mates and getting good results. Ed Scott and I had a good relationship and worked well together as the two goalkeepers. I think it’s a real benefit for a coach to have two keepers at the same level who play a different way. Ed was technically better and rock solid whereas I was a bit attacking and used some more guesswork and mind games to unsettle things!

I then moved on to Spain to play for Navarra, a team Sean King and GB coach Andrei used to player for, based in Pamplona. I had an enjoyable year playing in a tough league and being coached by ex-Spanish goalkeeper and legend of the game Manel Silvestre. After, I moved back to France to play for Reims in the 2nd division. We only trained once a day and therefore I could work as a teacher and coach at the same time. It was hard work at times but we won the league and again I played with some good guys. The coach Frank Missy used to coach the national team and knew how to assemble and mentor a winning team.

Since then I have moved back to London and play for and coach Sutton. We are playing in the 1st division now after nine years and have won the London league three years out of the last four. I was assistant coach to Tim Dunsbee at the Student Games in 2017 where we finished in the top eight, a massive achievement for the lads. A big part of that was the Peter Pickford’s performance in goal vs Canada to win 8-7. With Peter, Dylan Green and Tom Manley there are certainly some talented young keepers in the UK. Just need a national team for them to play in.

Junior photo (below): This remarkable photo was taken in 2002 and shows a Sutton & Cheam junior team with their coach, the late Charlie Thurley. Matt, aged 13, is easy to spot – he’s next to Charlie and already proudly wearing the red goalkeeper’s hat. He’s not the only player still active at the club. These include two more current BWPL regulars, Stephen Bayles (back row, far left) and Dicken Maclean (back row, far right). Others still turning out in local league matches are Ollie Holland, Matt’s brother (back row, second left); Andrew Lawrence (back row, fourth left); Dave Smithson (front row, second left); and Rob Worland (front row, fourth left).
 ​