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hurlinghampolo.com
TA L K
HANNAH WYLES, ALAMY
M A K I N G H I S T O R Y
Among the 800-year-old cobbled streets
and fairy-tale architecture of the University
of Cambridge, it must be said the Game of
Kings seems at home. It might not be
surprising to learn that the Cambridge
University Polo Club (CUPC), founded in
1873 by the Hon John Fitzwilliam, is one
of the oldest clubs in the world. But it might
surprise some to learn that, in 2017, CUPC
is one of the largest clubs of any type at
the university and is completely student run.
Recognising polo’s unique ability to capture
the hearts and minds of all who encounter the
sport, its popularity at Cambridge reflects
the club’s constitutional evolution – a focus
firmly set on increasing the accessibility of
the game, and on teaching discipline, respect,
passion, teamwork, pride and hard work.
The club is founded on important
traditions, not least sportsmanship in the
oldest continuing polo fixture globally: the
Varsity Polo Day (est 1878), played against
Oxford University Polo Club (est 1874). The
first Varsity match was played in pouring wet
weather at the Bullingdon cricket ground
as a five-a-side game using a tennis ball,
and lasted 90 minutes. At the end of the
1870s, the Cambridge players felt strong
enough to enter a team in the Hurlingham
Club’s Champion Open Cup, which was the
premier competition of the time and is
equivalent to the modern-day Gold Cup.
Steeped in tradition, the Cambridge University Polo Club is gallantly passing down
the values of the sport to each new generation, as Jacqueline Gilbert attests
Although they were defeated, the experience
served them well. The club thrived over the
following years and several Cambridge
alumni went on to win medals in polo at the
1900, 1908 and 1920 Olympic Games. The
international influence of the club is also
notable for the alumni Sir Lancelot Stirling
introducing polo to South Australia in 1874
and William Brooks-Close to Iowa and
Illinois, USA in 1882.
Today the club stands on the shoulders
of these giants of polo history as a values-
driven organisation with the Prince of Wales
as the club president and Mr Ravi Tikkoo as
chairman. The club operates with a student
executive of four, supported by a team of 12
