The story of the Blues so far...

The Walcountian Blues have quite a history... We have pieced together what people can currently remember from the drunken haze of the 80's and 90's... if anyone can remember any more, let us know! Founding members still playing for or involved with the Blues include: Steve Cattle, Justin Baranowski, Paul Evans, John Wigmore, Martin Little, Eddie Scrine and Ian Ballantine. Chipstead Lacrosse Club was founded in 1982 by some disgruntled Purley players who wanted to start their own club. St Helier were folding at the time; subsequently a conversation was had at the sixes, the idea was put to the Purley lads, and Chipstead was formed. Chipstead played at 'Chipstead & Coulsdon Cricket Club' and Justin Baranowski was Club Captain, taking on most of the running of the club. In the first season of Chipstead's existence they won the Second Division and were runners-up in the Intermediate Flags, losing to Beckenham in the final. Brighton then folded and some of the players joined Chipstead. For some time, Chipstead ran 2 teams, assisted by kids from Edenham High School whom Justin coached. However, when the cricket club got promoted and required a superior quality outfield, Chipstead unfortunately lost their venue. The move from Chipstead took the Blues to Tatsfield and in 1992 Tatsfield was founded. The move brought some new players, including current club treasurer, Amit Biswas. Tatsfield won Division 2 in 1998, however, as with all clubs there are highs and lows. In 1999 the club was not in a good state; failure to fulfil fixtures got some of the members a little disheartened. The decision was made to do something about it and, starting with improving the facilities, this meant that the Blues were on the move again. The move to the Old Walcountians Sports Club in 1999 brought the facilities, which could assist the growth of the club. In the 1999/00 season the Blues were runners-up, and in 2000/01 season they went 1 step further winning the Minor Flags Final against Reading Wildcats. In the 2002/03 Season, the Blues led Division 2 all year, only to end up runners-up in the final weeks and the 2s joined the league. This was our first serious year of coaching and development, with our first paid coach being Damien Orr. After that, in 2003/04 the Blues continued to grow to a membership of 30+. Blues 1s were promoted, Blues 3s joined the league and Blues 2s won the Intermediate 6-a-sides and were runners up in the Third Division. 2004/5 brought the leaving of a swathe of players to form East Grinstead and the Blues narrowed down to 2 teams. The first team consolidated in Division 1, with Jeremy Boyce coaching the teams. In the meantime, Purley ladies won the Premiership in 2005/06 season, having been founded in 1979 and winning the All England tournament in their founding year. This season also brought the first (and now legendary) Bluesfest, superbly organised by Ian Ballantine. 2006/07 brought the 6-a-side trophy to Clockhouse along with a creditable 4th place in the First Division for the 1s, with the 2s bottom of East Division 1. 2007/08 saw the successful merger of Purley Ladies and Walcountian Blues, leading to the eventual renaming of the ladies team. It also saw another two coaches join the Blues, another Bluesfest with 31 teams & another year of success from both teams looking ahead to the new season. 2008/09 highlights 2009/10 highlights Current season