'The club has a plan and is heading in the right direction'

Fancy dress and a structured club is helping Spencer flourish in both England Hockey Conference East leagues, writes Rod Gilmour of The Hockey Paper.

Nearly 40 years ago, Spencer men saw themselves as ‘arguably the finest side in Europe’ after winning the London League final. The advent of astroturf subsequently hindered the club’s progress in the early 1980s, but today the south London outfit’s strength is knowing exactly where it stands, from senior teams down to a celebrated junior programme.

“Spencer’s a club not trying to compete with the likes of Wimbledon, Surbiton or Hampstead,” says Gareth Hall, coach of Spencer men. “We are a family club trying to build our junior section."

Both men’s and women’s senior teams are in their respective Conference East divisions and Hall, who is into his fifth season as player-coach, admits that for the time being the league placement is a good level for the club.

“There is potential to compete in the league above, but that comes with a bit more commitment. As a club right now we are in a bit of a niche position in terms of London hockey where we can train one night per week. We have the right balance of players at the end of their career and several younger guys, while playing good level hockey and a good social scene.”

Hall, 39, is now an aerospace consultant. He won 10 league titles with Scottish side Kelburne and in 2014 with Beeston during their Championship-winning year, alongside his Scotland duties. 

“Doing that and trying to play international hockey previously was pretty full on but this [Spencer] is a nice balance, where I’m still connected to hockey and have the league to look forward to at weekends,” he admits.

Spencer has the added appeal of several former Home Nations internationals in their set up. “It helps when a few like myself and Iain Lewers [who played for the club last season] come in as it attracts other players,” smiles Kyle Good, who played for Ireland at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Captain Good plays alongside fellow former Green Machine internationals Kirk Shimmins, another Rio squad member, Tim Lewis and Stephen Dowds, while Gordon McIntyre is a former Scottish international.

Good decided to step away from the international scene after the Rio Games and shunned the bigger English clubs for a better work-life balance with Spencer and to meet new people.

“For me, the Olympics is the peak and I could happily hold my head high,” he says.  

“We have found a gap in the market at Spencer. It’s a nice variety and it works as we still have that group of people who want to maintain that competitiveness in their routine. But we also have a nice balance where if life gets in the way, or you have to stay at the office an hour extra, we are not training three times per week or travelling the length of the country.

“It’s helped people fall back in love with sport and hockey again and be able to maintain the competitive level.”

Good moved into the tech industry after returning from Rio, swapping Deodoro Stadium memories for a computer desk with Monday.com.

Ironically, just this week, a colleague approached Good having found out that he competed at an Olympic Games. “He said ‘what on earth are you doing working here?’ But it's a different lifestyle now.”

Gone is Good’s full investment in the game, replaced by the odd dressing up away day in the Conference East.

“We always look at the calendar when the away days are, that’s for sure,” he adds. “For me personally, I’m happy that we aren’t travelling too far every Sunday. But we do enjoy our away trips when we can get dressed up here and there.

“Last season everyone came back as shepherds or dressed as anything with the letter ‘S’  from one game. We beat the team we played fairly convincingly and then to add insult to injury, they watched us dress up as shepherds and get on the train home. I think they were happy to see the back of us when we eventually left!”

The mix of experienced ex semi-pro internationals and young players is clearly working, Spencer currently two wins from two this season and hoping to build on their third-place finish last season.

The numbers at junior level are also rising, while Spencer Lynx, the club’s community programme, is winning plaudits after giving access to nearly 2,500 children and over 20 schools in south London.

What stands Spencer apart, adds Good, is the organisational structure at the Wandsworth-based club. “It makes a big difference,” the Irishman admits. “Having a base, a clubhouse, it allows us to have the Lynx hockey development programme and the youth hockey [which saw an under-18 debut in the men’s 1s last weekend] come up the ranks with a great filter system.”

Hall adds: “We aren’t aiming to be in the Premier Division in two years time - that’s not what we are about. The club has a plan and is heading in the right direction. It is a sustainable plan."

Men's Conference East
Saturday: Richmond v Spencer, 12.15pm