The death has occurred of former international referee Don Newbold, who officiated at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics and had long associations with the Shivererers (Brighton) and Polytechnic clubs. He was also a very successful businessman, becoming CEO of multinational company Foster Wheeler.

​He served on the board of Rolls Royce and many government advisory committees and was awarded the CBE for services to industry.

​Former Great Britain goalkeeper Neil May writes: "I first met Don in 1951 when he saw me keeping goal for my school team and invited me to join his club Barking. After four successful seasons playing behind Don, who was a very fine defender, I was invited to join the Poly and it was Don who convinced me to make the move.

​"Don was one of our greatest refs. At the Moscow Olympics, he refereed the semi-final when the USSR beat the mighty Hungarian team 5-4 before going on to beat Yugoslavia for the gold medal. He coached Shiverers, as well as Great Britain under-21s and seniors.

​"Don was always a huge supporter of the Poly, playing a huge part in the polo team's success in the 1970s and 1980s when he introduced Len Hatton to the club. Len became President and a very generous benefactor - with his backing, we were able to stage European Cup groups at Crystal Palace in 1972, 1973 and 1976."

​Many former players attended the funeral, which took place in  Brighton on 20 April. BWPL was represented by former NWPL chairman Stephen Baker.

International referee Andy Allen has announced his retirement after 25 years' national league service - and some 500 matches!

​Andy was very much taken by surprise before the start of his farewell match during the BWPL Super 5s weekend at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School when he was presented with the Dave Warriner Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually for outstanding service to the BWPL and to the sport as a whole.

​National refereeing began for Andy, a product of Wiltshire club Marlborough, when he was appointed to a match at Plymouth in the old days of home and away national league fixtures - very different from one of the highlights of his career, a women's European Championship semi-final between Italy and Hungary in which he awarded Italy a very late, winning penalty.

​Everyone associated with BWPL will wish Andy a happy retirement - although we still look forward to seeing him on poolside occasionally as a senior delegate.

It's taken Solihull just six years to rise from the bottom of the British League ladder to carrying off the men's Super 5s crown - not bad for a club which, even now, does much of its training in a shallow, 25-yard pool!

Victory at the splendid Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School pool was very special for skipper Jake Vincent who, despite his years playing top division polo for Cheltenham - plus, of course, his appearances for Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics - he is a Solihull man through and through.

Jake was seven when he learned to swim at the Solihull club before progressing to polo at 13. He played in the Solihull team which came within an ace of achieving top division status some eight or nine years ago.

"It was a team with a few older players," Jake explained. "So a decision was made to withdraw from the league for a while and build a new junior set-up comprising mainly 15 and 16 year olds.

"We always intended to return. And it was our present coach, Phil Powell, who pushed for us to enter Division 5 back in 2012. Since then, we have progressed year by year - there are three of our players who have appeared for the club in every division during that time."

Jake fulfilled a promise to return to Solihull once the club made it to Division 1 in 2016. "It reached a stage where this year we wanted to push for the title from the start," he added. "And, having gone through phase one successfully, we were confident we could do it."

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Solihull receive the Dr John Howell Trophy! Left to right: Matt Kelly, Matt Madden, Morgan Hirsch, Ian Elliot (coach), Peter Farkas (hidden behind Ian Elliot), Jordan Elliot, Jack Vincent, Ryan Padbury, Nick Beard, Pawal Wielogorski, George Davies and Jim Alton.

Otter coach Nick Buller was thrilled with his team's women's Super 5s triumph - especially as it was achieved after replacing eight members of last year's senior squad.

Key to the success, he said, had been the development of a strong junior set-up at their Crystal Palace base. "Winning national junior titles - plus the experience of playing for our second team in the British League - has given our young players the confidence to step up and perform at this level.

"Only two of our players - Brooke Tafazolli and Tracey Allen - were in the team when we won our previous title five years ago. I think the League had been more competitive this time. For example, Coventry (the team Otter defeated to make sure of the championship) beat us in the first phase of the season."

Nick praised the League's organisation of a "fantastic tournament, very well organised and finished off in front of the Sky Sports cameras. I also thought the refereeing has been of the highest level experienced for a number of seasons."

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Otter team - L-R, back row, Izzy Keith, Rebecca Mulcahy, Robyn Greenslade, Tracey Allen, Nick Buller (coach). Front: Peggy Etiebet, Holly Campbell, Brooke Tafazolli, Katy Cutler, Lily Turner.

Polytechnic, who have enjoyed such a successful first season back at the top level, deservedly finished third in the Super 5s after wrecking Solihull's 100 per cent record with an 11-10 win in the final men's game at Haberdasher's School today.

Solihull seemed to be coasting to victory at one stage, developing a 7-2 lead two minutes from the end of the second period. Celebrations after the previous day's success may have caught up a little with the Midlanders in the later stages  - but Poly deserve tremendous credit for the way they fought back and finally claimed the points.

Even after three periods, Solihull still led 9-7. But Poly enjoyed a superb spell of dominance after that, scoring the next four goals through Chris Brown (2), Michele Aureli and Campbell Gregory. Gregory finished with four goals. Solihull's only reply came with 59 seconds remaining through Matt Kelly.

​Photo: Poly's team at Haberdasher's - Back row L-R, Luke Jones, Peter Benedek, coach Gary Simons, Chris Icely, Campbell Gregory, Jeremy Johnson, Matteo Gaspari, Giacomo Cupido, Chris Brown, Joan Secanell. Front: Jorge Herrando Garijo, Lyndon Cranley, Michele Aureli, Sergio Schiaffino. 

Otter clinched their first women's Super 5s title for five years as they beat Coventry 12-9 in their final match at Haberdasher's Aske's School today. A point would have been sufficient for Otter to rob Liverpool of a fourth consecutive victory - but, with Lily Turner scoring seven times, the London side made absolutely sure of the trophy.

Coventry provided stern opposition, recovering from 8-4 down to trail only 9-8 midway through the last. But Otter rallied again in the final stages, breaking clear with two goals from Turner and another from Katy Cutler. Vicki Hawkins scored four of the Coventry goals.

The trophy and medals were presented by Mike Farrar, Chairman, Swim England Board, assisted by BWPL President Pippa Jones.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Lily Turner (white cap) in action against Coventry today. The Coventry defender is Nicole Thompson.

Manchester defeated Lancaster 10-3 at Haberdasher's School today to ensure finishing runners-up to Solihull in the men's Super 5s.

Lancaster led 2-1 early in the second period but Manchester controlled the rest of the match with Dan Paddon and Eleftherios Chelioudalis claiming hat-tricks.

Otter beat Manchester 5-4 at Haberdasher's School today to give them a great chance of winning the women's Super 5s title for the first time since 2013.

They will take the honours if they win a final match tomorrow against City of Coventry. Admittedly, the prospects didn't look good early on as Manchester took a 2-0 lead with goals by Emma Bartlett and Annie Clapperton. It was 3-1 to Manchester at the end of the second period - but, after that, Otter took over.

Otter scored twice in the last 50 seconds of the third period - a delicate angled lob from Cecily Turner and a man-up power shot from Katy Cutler - to take a 4-3 lead. And Rebecca Mulcahy made it 5-3 with three minutes remaining of the last quarter. Bartlett's final goal for Manchester came too late to affect the result.

Later, Liverpool Lizards, champions for the past three years, beat Sheffield Sharks 12-7 to take the title battle to the last day.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Otter goalkeeper Tracey Allen makes a fine save to thwart Manchester.

Solihull wrapped up their first British League Super 5s title today when they beat nearest rivals Manchester 7-6. The result repeated their one-goal victory over Manchester earlier in the season - and maintained a highly impressive 100 per cent record from seven matches.

Former GB goalkeeper Ed Scott kept Solihull at bay early on with some fine saves. But Solihull went from 2-2 to 4-2 at the end of the second quarter, left-hander Ryan Padbury scoring with three seconds to go with a pile-driver of a shot from eight metres.

Manchester narrowed the gap to 4-3 with one of three goals scored by Spilios Kalouidis but Solihull then broke clear, scoring through Peter Farkas and Jake Vincent to lead 6-3.

To their credit, Manchester battled back to 6-5, but the title was Solihull's once Jordan Elliot netted from close range two minutes from the end. 

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Ryan Padbury (White 5) scores the final Solihull goal against Manchester.

Polytechnic men kicked off the Super 5s finale weekend at Haberdashers' School today with an exciting 10-9 victory over Cheltenham. The win avenged a one-goal win by Cheltenham when the sides met earlier in the campaign.

The game, reffed by guest international officials Anna Goncharenko (Ukraine) and Peter Balzan (Malta), was close throughout, although Poly edged into a 5-3 lead early in the third when Jorge Herando Garijo scored one of his four goals from a sharp pass by Luke Jones.

Goals by Rob Parker (2), Cian Mulcahy and Julian Bewley briefly earned Cheltenham a 7-6 lead. But Michele Aureli equalised from a man-up chance at the end of the third and the London side just edged the final period, scoring further goals by Herrando Garijo (2) and Chris Icely.

In the women's Super 5s, Coventry had to work hard for a 7-5 win over bottom team Sheffield after the game reached 4-4 after two periods. Fran Clayton scored three of the Coventry goals.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Cheltenham goalkeeper Sam Legge saves against Polytechnic.