Rugby Fives

Fives is a game similar to squash played in a four walled court. A hard ball is struck with padded gloved hands to hit the front wall above a line. The game was derived from the older game called rackets, which was played at traditional Public Schools.

Legend has it that the boys at Eton used to practice against the chapel wall while they waited for their turn on the rackets court.

There are two main versions of the game. Eton fives courts resemble a chapel wall in that there is a buttress sticking out from one side wall creating a chimney where the ball can ‘pepper pot’, a step in the floor and no back wall. Rugby fives courts are much the same as modern squash courts (slightly smaller) with four walls sloping to the back.

At Bedford Modern School we play Rugby fives. Lionel Weston and Richard Williams won the Public Schools’ doubles in 1964. Matt Cavanagh was England champion in 1984. The game declined at BMS in the 1980’s and 90’s but there have been recent attempts to revive interest.