Ham Polo Club is a

Hurlingham Polo Association The Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) is the governing body for polo in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and many other countries. The Federation of International Polo produces the International Rules of Polo through a coop ...

polo club situated in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the Londo ...

, south-west

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is one of the oldest polo clubs in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and the last surviving club in London. The club occupies a location between

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...

and the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

overlooked by

Ham House Ham House is a 17th-century house set in formal gardens on the bank of the River Thames in Ham, south of Richmond in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The original house was completed in 1610 by Thomas Vavasour, an Elizabethan cou ...

, eight miles from

Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the ...

. The club's facilities include three polo fields (two boarded), a stick and ball field, an exercise track, livery service, coaching and a members' clubhouse with a restaurant and bar which is managed by Blue Strawberry Group. Polo is played at Ham Polo Club between May and September. The club has around 70 playing members and several hundred social members.

History

Ham Polo Club is the last remaining of the many clubs that existed as satellites to London's 'Big Three' –

Ranelagh Ranelagh ( , ; ) is an affluent residential area and urban village on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of D06. History The district was originally a village known as Cullenswood just outside Dublin, surrounded by lande ...

, Hurlingham and

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

. The club began life as the Ham Common Polo Club in 1926, with one full sized ground and two smaller rounds. The first ground was next door to Brown Gates House, Church Road, Ham Common, home of the first chairman, Loftus Storey. The full-sized ground lay between Richmond Gates and Sheen and a regular coach there was

Johnny Traill John Arthur Edward Traill (1882–1958) was the first Irish–Argentine 10-goal polo player. He was born in 1882. He married Henrietta Margaret, from Scotland, and they had children John and James. Traill owned a ranch in Argentina and impo ...

, the first Argentine 10 goaler, who lived at nearby Roehampton. Ham Common Polo Club, together with Stoke d'Abernon and clubs such as Worcester Park, Kingsbury and Crystal Palace, was ideal for Londoners who did not compete in the major tournaments at the 'Big Three' but who played for the fun of the game. The 1939 season was necessarily the last for the next six years. Ham was revived in 1946 by William "Billy" Francis Walsh (1907–1992). On returning from service in the Army, Walsh found that Captain Tom Brigg, the owner of the stables where he had worked, had died and the stables were on the market. Using his gratuity Walsh bought the stables and revived Ham Polo Club under HPA rules. It is widely believed that Lord Cowdray, Arthur Lucas and Billy Walsh were the trio who rescued polo in the United Kingdom after the war. The first post-war English

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small ha ...

tournament was held at

in 1947 and the Ham Polo Club team carried off the premier trophy the Roehampton Cup (now played for at Ham). Three years later the club began using a field adjacent to

for matches. Then in 1954, George Stevens, The Dysart families' tenant at Ham House Farm' agreed to turn the Ham House orchard into a polo field for the club. The first president of the club was Major Archie David the patron of the Friars Park team. The Autumn cup which he presented is still played for annually at Ham. Johnny Traill became a familiar figure at the club and Edward Tauchert Rescued the

Roehampton Trophy The Roehampton trophy is the oldest polo trophy in the United Kingdom. The trophy was first played for at the Roehampton Club in 1902 and was won by Buccaneers. Today it is played for at the Ham Polo Club, the tournament is played for at an 6-goal ...

from the Roehampton Golf Club. In 1970, thanks largely to the efforts of the then President Sir David Brown, the club purchased the freehold of the land. Sixteen years later land adjacent was purchased and the club gained another ground. In 1982, at the age of seventy, Billy Walsh retired as manager of the club to become President. He was succeeded by two further generations managing Ham Polo Club, Peggy, his daughter and Tim, his grandson. The club continues to play polo between May and September, managed by Will Healy. The current President is Col. Geoffrey Godbold OBE TD DL. The club's Chairman is Howard Davis.

Flagship tournaments

A number of tournaments run throughout the season at Ham Polo Club. The flagship tournaments are the Summer tournament (0–4 goal), The Roehampton Trophy (6 goal) and the Billy Walsh Tournament (0–2 goal). File:Toast New Zealand Day.JPG, England back Eden Ormerod at the Toast New Zealand International match File:Dubai trophy final action 2010.jpg, Hissam Ali Haider and Marco Forcaccia in The Dubai Trophy final File:HAC corps of drums.JPG, Honourable Artillery Company corps of drums at the HAC polo day File:Austin Healey concourse.jpg, Display of Austin Healey classic British Sports Cars at Roehampton Trophy finals day

Membership

The number of playing members is limited and applicants must be interviewed by the committee. Social membership entitles individuals or families to use the clubhouse facilities on match days as well as being invited to the club's social functions. Academy membership is also available and a Junior category for young players.

Charity

Ham Polo Club has helped raise almost £2 million for charity over the last few years. Several main charitable events are run each year. ;ChildLine Sundown Polo Challenge On a Saturday evening in June each year a polo match, dinner and charity auction is held to raise funds for the ChildLine organisation. Patron of the charity

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and fou ...

is always present alongside a host of celebrity guests. ;Laureus Sport for Good Foundation The

Laureus Sport for Good Foundation The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation foundin ...

works with millions of underprivileged children worldwide. An event takes place annually, this year a number of Laureus ambassadors were in attendance including

Edwin Moses Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an American former track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400 m hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) and ...

Hugo Porta Hugo Porta (born 11 September 1951) is a former Argentine Rugby Union footballer, an inductee of both the International Rugby Hall of Fame and IRB Hall of Fame, and one of the best fly-halves the sport has seen. During the 1970s and 1980s, he pl ...

Sean Fitzpatrick Sean Brian Thomas Fitzpatrick (born 4 June 1963) is a former rugby union player who represented New Zealand, and is widely regarded as one of the finest players ever to come from that country. Early life and family Fitzpatrick was born in Auc ...

, Daley Thompson and

Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (, ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. Becker was successful from the start of his career, winning the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 17. He ultimately won six Grand Slam singles tit ...

. ;Chakravarty Cup For many years the Chakravarty cup was held at Ham Polo Club. The event, started in 1997, raises funds for the charities and foundations supported by

The Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papa ...

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

took part in the match for nine years; now he has retired, his sons The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex take part.

Notable members

Elle Macpherson Eleanor Nancy Macpherson (; née Gow; born ) is an Australian model, businesswoman, television host, and actress. She is known for her record five cover appearances for the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' beginning in the 1980s, leading ...

, Australian model, businesswoman, television host and actress * Ali Albwardy, patron of the

Dubai Polo Team The Dubai Polo Team is one of the most successful polo teams of all time, playing at the highest level globally. The Dubai Polo Team has bases in UK, Spain, USA, Argentina and Dubai. The Dubai Polo Team have won the British Open for the Gold Cup ...

Adolfo Cambiaso Adolfo Cambiaso (born 15 April 1975) is an Argentine professional polo player with a 10-goal handicap rating. Early years From an early age his mother, Martina de Estrada Lainez, encouraged her son Adolfo and his half brothers to play polo.

, 10-goal professional polo player * Lolo Castagnola, 9-goal professional polo player

Chairmen

*Loftus Storey 1937–1938 *''Polo ceased during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

'' 1939–1945 *Loftus Storey 1947–1950 *Major S.C. Deed 1950–1954 *Edward Tauchert 1955–56 *C.J. Busby 1957–1965 *R.W.Addie 1966 *C.J. Busby 1967 *C.J.Harrison 1968–1971 *Col Gerald Critchley 1972–1979 *P.Adams/G.Godbold 1979–1984 *G.E.Godbold OBE TD 1979–1995 *N.Colquhoun-Denvers 1995–2018 *H. Davis 2018–

Presidents

*Major Archie David 1957–1970 * Sir David Brown 1971–1979 *Doug Riley-Smith 1980 *''post vacant'' 1981–1982 *Geoffrey Lawson 1983–1986 * Billy Walsh 1987–1992 *

Bryan Morrison Bryan Morrison (14 August 1942 – 27 September 2008) was an English businessman, music publisher and polo player. Career He served as representative for musicians such as Pink Floyd. His company, the Bryan Morrison Agency, became one of th ...

1993–1996 *Douglas Brown DFC 1997–2000 *J.W.M. (Buff) Crisp 2001–2003 *Saeed Ali Albwardy 2004–2007 * Vichai Raksriaksorn 2008–2012 *Steven Lamprell 2013–2016 *Mohammed S Almarzooqi 2017–2020 *Col. Geoffrey Godbold OBE TD DL 2021-

Polo managers

* Billy Walsh 1946–1986 *Peggy Healy 1987–2000 *Tim Healy 2001 *James Lange 2002–2003 *Tom Benson 2004–2005 *David Leach 2006 *Daniel Devrient Kidd 2007 *Adolfo Casabal 2008–2011 *William Healy 2011–2021 *Gaston Devrient 2022- January-June *Lucy Dowie/Manuel Perez (Joint Interim) 2022- June-September *Marcus Hancock 2022 -

Trophies

* Annie's Trophy * Anthony Cup Trophy *Ascott Cup * Asprey Red Cross Trophy *Autumn Cup *Aylesford Trophy *Bannister Bowl *BBVA Bowl *Best of Richmond *Boisdale Social *Candilio Cup *Chairman"s Trophy * Childline Trophy *Childline Champagne *Committee Crystal *Crescent Oil Trophy *The Gerald Critchley Trophy *David Brown Trophy *David Healy * Don Zoilo * Double Bett Trophy *Doug Brown Plate *Dubai Desert Palm Dubai Trophy winners 2009,

Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...

. *Dubai Desert Palm II *FAL Energy *Farewell Cup *Floating Seat * Ghana Airways Trophy *Goal Cup *Godbold Trophy *Ham Cup *Ham Mini * Hine Cognac Trophy * HR Owen Trophy * Hunt Kendall * Indian Army Trophy *Jimmy Edwards * J & S Franklin Trophy * June Bamberg Trophy *Kingfisher Trophy *King Power Charity * Newport Cup Trophy * No Name Cup *Peter Pitts Trophy *Peter Pitts II *Petersham Bowl * Player of the Year Trophy *Polo Challenge *Quatros Amigos *Red Cross *Rerrieson * Richmond Park Cup *

* Rosie Adams Bowl *Siam Trophy * Sladmore Trophy *Social Trophy *Social Committee * Stagshead Trophy * Tauchert Bowl Trophy * Thailand Trophy * Tiger Mountain * Tiger Mountain 2 Trophy * Tiger Mountain PanAm Trophy * Tigerstream 1 Trophy * Tigerstream II Trophy *Tiger Tops *Tournament Cup *Umpire's Millennium * Ventura Pauly Trophy *Visitors' Trophy * Walsh Challenge *Anglo-German *Lufthansa Best Player *Orthoceras Belemnite

References

External links

*
Ham Polo Club Blog
– News and Reviews of matches and tournaments at Ham Polo Club
Flickr
– Images of Ham Polo Club
YouTube
– Videos of Ham Polo Club *

{{Coord, 51.445131, -0.310034, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title 1926 establishments in England 1926 in London History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Polo clubs in the United Kingdom Richmond, London Sport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Sports clubs established in 1926 Sports clubs in London Sports venues in London Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Buildings and structures on the River Thames