Awards

Ladies 1s

Pip Lewis

Miriam Pritchard

Ladies 2s

Vicky Drews

Caoimhe Byrne

Ladies 3s

Maisie MacDonald

Lucy McEvoy

Ladies 4s

Linda Nixon

Alisha Robinson

Ladies 5s

Erin Kelly

Erin Kelly

Ladies 6s

Ruby Baird

Ellie Caley

Ladies 7s

Amy Arnott

Frankie Borderie

Men's 1s

Damon Steffens

Mikey Robson

Men's 2s

Jake Davey

Pete. Makin

Men's 3s

Billy Rudolph

Jason Hullick

Men's 4s

Rich Laverick-Brown

Max Korner

Zak Hond

Aarie Verwey

Leonard Posthumus Meyjes

Thirsts

Angus Lachenicht

Jamie McKenzie

Spaniards

Joshua Skillern

Rodrigo Rivadeneira

Men's Colts

Josh Spencer

Thomas Bignone

Vets

Antoine Julien Richard

Chris Grounds

Supervets

Boudewijn Dierick

Boudewijn Dierick

Grandmasters

Marc Rejali

Andy Brookes

Best Ladies Player

Joie Leigh

Olivia Hamilton

Best Men's Player

Rhys Bradshaw

Tim Cross

Ladies Most Important Player

Rachel Greenwood

Carys Isherwood

Men's Most Important Player

Ted Graves

Jake Glew

Best Ladies Captain

Saar de Breij

Esme Berge

Best Men's Captain

Fergus Stevens

Andrew Saunders

Ladies Golden Stick

Erin Kelly (10)

Catherine Ledesma (9)

Holly Hunt (9)

Kirsten Meehan

Men's Golden Stick

Will Saxby (28)

Joshua Skillern (27)

Matt Guise-Brown (26)

Boudewijn Dierick

Barnard Cup

Presented to the team with the best playing record for the season

Ladies 1s

Supervets

Woodpecker Tankard

Member of The Year Award

Sam Taylor Award

Exceptional Contribution and Commitment to the Club

Nick Coleman

Oz Rankin

Oli Thomas Award

Gabriella Giles

Ruby Baird

Morley Pecker Cup for Goalkeeping

Most Outstanding Contribution by a Goalkeeper

Joe Harold

Sam Hext

Nick Cowley Award

Awarded for Exceptional Umpiring Contributions

Charles Packe

Josh Baron

Third Half Jug

Most Social Team

Ladies 5s

Ladies 4s

Barnard Cup

Presented to the team with the best playing record for the season

The Barnard Cup is the Club’s oldest and its most prestigious playing award.

It was donated to the Club by Laurie Barnard, whose application to join the Club had come before the Annual General Meeting on 5 September 1924. Laurie was not known personally to two Club members and was invited to play in the practice game to be held on 20 September 1924. That membership must have been confirmed but there is no record of when.

On 7 January 1937, the Club Secretary reported that “Mr L Barnard had kindly offered a Cup to the Club in memory of his wife, to be presented for some feat, the exact nature to be discussed by the Committee.” Two days later, the Secretary wrote to Laurie to propose “that the Cup to be presented by him should take the form of a Loving Cup, to be kept in the Clubhouse during the season and to be used at the Club Dinner, Club Dance and, at the captain’s discretion, after any notable victory; the Cup to be held by the captain of the side with the best playing record for the previous season”.

On 5 April 1937, the Committee proposed that the Barnard Cup should be held, on the first occasion, by the 1^st XI. Auspiciously, the Secretary was instructed to look into the question of its insurance.

Subsequent AGMs recorded the playing records of the Club’s teams and naming the team that had won the Barnard Cup that season. The winning teams’ results were not always startlingly good in later years as Club fortunes declined. For example, on 12 April 1961, the 1^st XI had won the Barnard Cup but had only won six, drawn three and lost seven. Two years later, however, the Secretary reported that, so far as results were concerned, it had been the most successful season since the renowned 1955-56. The Barnard Cup had been won by the 3^rd XI. One year further on, 31 goals were the least scored by the 1^st XI since at least 1935 but the team still won the Barnard Cup.

In the early 1970s, one Saturday evening, whilst driving members of a team home after post-match entertainment a row broke out concerning the amount of time that was being spent playing hockey. It became increasingly contentious. The woman driver opened her car window, grabbed the Barnard Cup and threw it out on to the Kingston by-pass.

The other occupants watched in trepidation as the Cup bounced off the tarmac and tried to track its whereabouts. The driver was persuaded to stop on the side of the road. The hockey playing husband rushed out to retrieve the Cup. He did so but discovered that the Cup had sustained a large dent in its side that remained as a testament to the event.

On 30 April 1982, as reward for winning the Barnard Cup for the first time, the members of the Veterans XI convened at Kettner’s for a special dinner, convened by Peter Boizot.

Soon after the Club took up residence at the Carlton Tavern, following the migration to Paddington Recreation Ground, the Barnard Cup was on display behind the bar. It proved too much a temptation and to the chagrin of the manager, it was stolen in broad daylight. The thief was never apprehended, despite strenuous questioning of the regulars by the distressed manager, conscious of its importance to the Club.

An insurance claim was successful, despite there being no photograph of the Barnard Cup. A drawing of it was made from memory, which proved sufficient. Valuation advice was taken from the London Silver Vaults, off Chancery Lane. The Cup was made of solid silver and therefore considerably valuable at that time (in spite of the dent). 

Former President Stan Elgar offered the Club a replacement trophy. However, that too had a foreshortened history. It became another casualty of the partial demolition of the Carton Tavern and was not recovered. A third Cup was acquired that is still testament to Laurie’s name. Its award still focuses the attention of teams in contention towards the end of a season.

Woodpecker Tankard

Member of The Year Award

At the HWHC AGM on 5 April 1968, the President, Jeremey Potter, thanked Messrs Pecker and Wood for handing back a handsome sum from their winnings in the 200 Draw, to be expended on something of lasting benefit to the Club. A month later, the Committee agreed to suggest to Messrs Pecker and Wood that their offering might either be invested, with the annual interest being used to award a Member of the Year tankard or be set against the cost of a spiker that was then being considered to improve the grass surfaces. The Committee voted substantially in favour of the tankard but preferred the donors to make a choice with this knowledge.

On 4 July 1968, the Secretary reported that “Mr Pecker favoured a Member of the Year tankard and that Mr Wood was happy to accept any decision that the Committee made”. It was therefore agreed to invest the available funds accordingly. The tankard would be awarded annually by the President at the Committee’s recommendation, if requested, and would be known as the Woodpecker Tankard.

Sam Taylor Award

Exceptional Contribution and Commitment to the Club

Sam Taylor collapsed and died at the Carlton very suddenly after playing that afternoon. It was a huge shock. He was 37 years of age. In order to mark the contribution that he had made as Match and Venue Secretary and later Manager of the Men’s 1^st XI in the first two seasons in the National League, the Committee wanted to express its appreciation in particular to his widow, Jenny, who had herself been a singularly dominant force in establishing a women’s playing section in the Club and who was well known and respected in the Club.

The Sam Taylor Award was therefore presented to Jenny at the Annual Dinner in 1985. It was intended to recognise exceptional contribution and commitment to the Club. It takes the form of an inscribed salver. It was not intended as an annual award and only to be presented on extremely rare occasions when the circumstances were appropriate. The only other members to have received the Award have been Peter Boizot, for the evident reasons, Richard Chapman and, in 2026, Nick Coleman and Oz Rankin. 

I would all in seriousness counsel caution over it being awarded so soon again, lest its significance is degraded, stressing the exceptional contribution and commitment element.

That is not to say that Oz is other than a proper candidate for this award. His wide and unstinting contribution over a broad range of club challenges passes all the tests. However, I think it would be appropriate for there to be a gap between his retirement and the award as there was with Richard and Nick. I would urge you to discuss this with Richard Sykes if you are nonetheless still minded to present it. That said, there cannot, in my opinion, be any doubt as to the propriety of the award to Oz.

Morley Pecker Cup

Most Outstanding Contribution by a Goalkeeper

As evident by its name, this Cup was donated by former goalie turned umpire and judge Morley Pecker. It was inaugurated for the Annual Dinner in 2005 and to reward the most outstanding contribution by a goalkeeper.

Nick Cowley Award

Awarded for Exceptional Umpiring Contributions

Nick Cowley was one of HWHC’s finest.

He joined Hampstead & Westminster Hockey Club in the early 1990s and was a regular for many years for the Men's 4s, and in the late 1990s he captained the Men's 5s. By the noughties, he moved on to the Vets, Supervets and most recently the Grandmasters. He was also a regular member of the Vets touring teams in Belgium. And he captained the summer team “The Opposition”.

Above and beyond his own team, Nick was a willing umpire. He would not complain if the fixture was a late one, or even away. Whatever he did and whoever he dealt with, he did it well and with a smile.

Nick’s even bigger contribution to HWHC was off the pitch.

He was a critical member of the Club’s Management committee, as Club Treasurer for more than a decade, until late 2008. Back in those days, match fees were paid in cash, so it was arduous counting and banking weekly match fees, and also having to chase late payers. Nick was diligent and, before the days of internet connectivity, he always pursued his own initiatives (politely of course) to collect money due from Club members.

All of this he did with modesty, together with his constant charm and patience. He was integral to the club becoming a Company Limited by the guarantee of its members, and he was instrumental in securing Gift Aid status for HWHC as a Community Amateur Sports Club; the latter was key to the finances of the club.

Sankey Siffleurs

Awarded for Extraordinary Commitment to Umpiring

This award came about in March 1989 after the death of John Sankey, renowned as one of the three who managed the Club’s revival in 1951 after the dispersal of members at the end of the Second World War. Once a player in the 1930s, John had later taken up umpiring. He was a Vice President and hardly missed attending an AGM in the years that followed. His daughter discovered two whistles that John had used and donated them to the Club.

They were mounted, framed and presented to the Club, with the request that they be named the Sankey Siffleurs and awarded for some extraordinary commitment to umpiring in the Club. 

Latterly, in tribute to the late Nick Cowley, a similar award is now established in respect of exceptional umpiring contributions.

Third Half Jug

Most Social Team

A trophy was provided by the Men’s 5^th XI at the end of the 1995-96 season allegedly as the team wanted to encourage others to surpass its self-proclaimed renown as the most sociable in the Club at that time. It came about after the Club had moved to the Carlton Tavern. It was to recognise the largest social contribution made to the Club in each season. 

Usually, an opinion was taken from the managers of the Carlton Tavern in deciding which team deserved to win the award, although in its early days, it was said that the award was in the gift of the winners in the previous season. It was first awarded to the Veterans in 1996 and in 1997 to the Women’s 1^st XI.