GLSE Select's first ever game in 1981

In celebration of GD playing Ruislip in the Copper Box one year on from the Olympics, this post shows a very brief report of the first game played by the GLSE Select team on Saturday 30 May 1981. The team took on a visiting Swiss police team and went down by 34-17. The team line up shows four players from Ruislip Eagles and three from Great Dane. The report appeared in the first edition of the GLSE Handball News in October 1981 on page 13.

Cardinal Griffin School

Today is the school national finals for handball and one team taking part with a long tradition is the Cardinal Griffin School in Cannock. This photograph shows a press photograph from the under 15 final in 1982 when Cardinal Griffin defeated Woughton Campus 18-11.

 

The school, which has had a long association with the local club Olympia, were so strong back in the early 1980s that they finished 4th in the famous Teramo Tournament in Italy which was then the European Under-14 Championships in all but name.

1970s Scottish Action

This photo by Arthur Kinloch appeared in the Glasgow Herald on 11 December 1979. It shows Billy Hayburn (centre with the ball), who then played for Allander and Scotland U21, and two unnamed defenders.

Billy Hayburn

The Hull Handball League (Part 5)

This photograph appeared in the Hull Daily Mail along with a short interview with Ron Lister. It shows the presentations at the Hull Handball Association Dance in the early '60s which was held at the Beverley Baths.

In the interview Mr Lister explained that football referees had been recruited to learn the rules of handball and officiate in the league which took place over the summer. It was felt that it was an ideal sport for football and rugby players to play in the closed season.

As in a previous Hull Daily Mail article, Mr Lister goes on to explain that the first international to be played by Great Britain was against Holland in 1959 and that this was followed up a year later by an international against Germany. However, this report gives further details, in that it confirms that the Germany international was also played in Hull at the Costello Stadium which is now the KC Stadium.

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.

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.

Ruislip Eagles

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.