Guards Polo Club Official Yearbook 2017 Official Yearbook 2017 | Page 22

interview
really have those beginners’ competitions,
but the other clubs all had beginners’
tournaments, and that is where you did
your experience. It was great fun.
“Believe it or not I started playing
polo with John Horswell [now a leading
polo coach] as my pro when he was
playing off four goals. Very few people
still playing today can say that they have
played with John.”
Since those early days, AFB has added
its name to some of the toughest 8-goal
tournaments around, culminating in
Victor Ludorum success – the best of the
8-goal teams over a season – three times.
AFB now has its sights set on winning
this accolade again in 2017. “We are
going to pla y all the Victor Ludorum
8-goal tournaments this year, said Clive.
“We have never won the Gerald Balding,
although we have been in the final twice.
So, we are heading down to Cirencester
instead of playing the spring at Guards.”
However, don’t be fooled into thinking
that the 8-goal is the soft option. “Playing
the 8-goal is not the easy opt-out, said
Clive with passion. “When we won the
Archie David in 2010 there were more
than 40 entries.”
Pete Webb then interjects quietly:
“You might have the best team in the
tournament, but still not win the Archie
David. You always need a little bit of luck
and chance in this competition.”
As Clive heads towards his 60th year,
how has the game changed for him and
his AFB team? “The standard of play has
improved immensely at all levels to the
extent that these days you need really
good horses. It is so competitive now.
Now the patrons are just young kids, I am
not worried about it – it’s just where the
sport has got to – and it’s right that the
handicap committees don’t move them up
too soon as they need to get experience.
But they are very good and so it’s harder
for me. We were never trained to be polo
players, – we fell into it and it was fun.
“It didn’t used to be a young man’s
game, but my peers have stopped playing.
I do miss that camaraderie. So, I am
looking forward to playing this year with
John [Gunn]. When you are playing
with a kid in the team it’s like having
three professionals and you look around
afterwards and think – who am I going
to have a drink with because for me polo
is also a social thing. If I look back at
22
HM The Queen in conversation with
Clive after the GCC Day in 2006
In action at the inaugural snow
polo tournament in Moscow
Clive with his daughter on the Clubhouse terrace at Smith’s Lawn
guards polo club official yearbook 2017