Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a special court using gloved or bare hands as though they were a racquet.
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The name may be derived from the slang expression "a bunch of fives" (meaning a fist). The game has also been known as hand-tennis and historically was often played between the buttresses of church buildings in England. There are links between Fives and the Irish and North American handball games and indeed, in recent years, British clubs have begun to establish ties with clubs in those countries.
Fives is not the same as Long Fives, which is played in a real tennis court.
There are two main types of fives, Rugby Fives and Eton Fives. A precursor to Rugby Fives is Warminster (or Wessex) Fives; another variant of Wessex fives is Winchester Fives, although there are only 9 places in the UK where this is still played.[1]
Most schools where fives is played have only one type of court but three schools have historically had both Eton and Rugby courts - Cheltenham, Dover and Marlborough. Cheltenham now only have Rugby courts and Dover two unrestored Eton courts; Marlborough have four rugby and two eton courts, all in good condition.
Eton Fives is played competitively as a doubles game, as opposed to Rugby Fives, which is played as both a singles and a doubles game. In Eton Fives the ball is softer and lighter than in Rugby or Winchester fives, and the gloves are fairly thin.
The Eton Fives court is modelled on part of Eton College's Chapel and is enclosed on three sides and open at the back. It has a more complex variation and some specific court features or "hazards". A small step splits the court into upper and lower sections, and sloping ledges run horizontally across the walls, one of which forms the "line". There is a large obstruction, known as a 'buttress', or a 'pepper' to fives players, on the left-hand side of the court in line with the step. At the bottom of the buttress is the 'box' or 'pepper pot'. The step extends approximately 80 cm into the court and is around 15 cm high. The first courts at Eton were built in 1840 and the Laws for Eton Fives were first published in 1931.
Rugby Fives, developed at Rugby School, is played in a four wall court (quite similar to a squash court). The four walls and floor are uniform and contain no hazards such as in Eton Fives. The front wall has a height of sixteen feet, sloping down about half way along to six feet at the back.
The balls used in Rugby and Winchester Fives are fairly hard and hence the gloves worn are thicker than those used in Eton Fives. Rugby Fives has had an official varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge annually since 1925.
A less well known, but possibly much older version of the game is Warminster Fives, a game based on Wessex Fives which is thought to have been played at Lord Weymouth's School, now Warminster School from as early as 1787. It has even been claimed that Rugby Fives owes its creation to the famous Headmaster Thomas Arnold who had first played Fives when a pupil at Lord Weymouth's.
Whilst an 1860 Warminster Fives Court still exists at Warminster School, the game is rarely played in the area any more and the fine details of the game are probably lost. The Warminster Fives Rules are recorded in many locations including the Eton Fives Website.
A further variation is Winchester Fives. This variation differs by the addition of a buttress which is a thin layer of concrete reaching to the top of the court on the left-hand wall, although much smaller than the one used in Eton Fives. The courts at Winchester and Radley ("proper" Winchester courts) have an 11-foot-high (3.4 m) back wall which further differentiates the courts from the Rugby variety.
At Clifton College for instance, the court has a half-height back wall and if the ball bounces out of the back of the court, a 'let' is played.
Fives is a small sport played by groups and enthusiasts numbering perhaps 4,000 active adult players in the United Kingdom and there are a number of Old Boys' and university clubs which tend to be concentrated around the South East. There are of course many other clubs around the country including Midlands clubs such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Rugby, Repton and Shrewsbury.
A similar number play in schools. About forty schools are affiliated to the Eton Fives Association (the governing body of the Eton Fives variation) and compete in many tournaments and championship events throughout the year.
There are some well-established clubs overseas, such as the Zuoz Fives Club in Switzerland, and the game is also vigorously pursued in northern Nigeria.
The Rugby Fives Association (the governing body of Rugby Fives, founded in 1927) has affiliations from over forty schools and thirty-two clubs, from Edinburgh to Tavistock, and there are also a number of clubs overseas, for example in South Africa and the United States.
The first match on record between schools was when an Eton pair played at Harrow in 1885 (F. Thomas and C. Barclay of Eton beat E.M. Butler and B. R. Warren of Harrow).
Currently, Blay William Bradley is the national Fives champion.
Although the image of Fives has been dominated by well-known public schools, courts do exist at state schools, and in recent years many of these have been brought into full use. The advantages of economy of space and low playing costs (ball and gloves) make it an attractive sport for schools. Fives continues to develop in England and has started to attract interest from the wider community.[2] In the United States the only known Fives courts are at Groton School, St. Mark's School, and the Union Boat Club in Massachusetts; a Fives Court was also built into the A.D. Final Club at Harvard in 1899.
There are also numerous championships, notably the (doubles) Eton Fives Kinnaird Cup and the Rugby Fives Open Singles championship (The Jesters' Cup) and Open Doubles championship (The Cyriax Cup). There are many other Rugby Fives Tournaments. A very special Eton Fives event is the Engadin Challenge Cup played in the Alps at an altitude of 5400 ft.