Danes Watford
History
Danes Volleyball Club started life as a St Clement Danes School run volleyball club during the mid 1980's. A measure of its success was apparent when a section of the club continued once the first batch of pupils had left the school, and wished to join a local league to carry on playing. The local league team consisted of past and present pupils, a trend that has continued even into the present time.
In 1991 Paul Westhead, England Women’s National Team Head Coach joined the school and under his direction the teams (both Men’s and Women’s) blossomed as we joined in 1992 the first rung on National Level Volleyball in the Southern Leagues.
In September of 1994 we started our first season as a National League Division Four club and have enjoyed some real successes in the Division. Firstly in 1997, we reached the final of the EVA Shield held in Sheffield with a team that included two England Juniors. However, our most notable triumph during our stay in Division Four came in 1999 when we went the entire season unbeaten culminating in victory in the EVA Shield final in Brighton.
The resulting promotion into Division Three saw another goal realised and our status grew with back to back play off places achieved in 2002 and 2003. We reached the EVA Shield final for the third time in our history in 2004, playing a well organised Division Two side in Loughborough in a game that we ultimately lost but that gave us a taste of the standard required to be a solid Division Two outfit. So our next aim was to get promoted! We didn't have to wait too long as we managed to become a Division Two side in April 2005, starting our season in September with the initial aim of staying up. Again we realised some success as we managed to finish in the top half of the table.
Despite the introduction into NVL Volleyball all those years ago by Coach Westhead, he was unable to guide the team as head coach with commitments at National Team level and with the NVL Women’s Champions London based Britannia and more recently Div 1 side Polonia Men. Over the interim 15 years the club has had a number of coaches who have kept the ship steady. In 2009 however Coach Westhead returned along with former National Women’s Team Captain & setter Teresa Westhead to lead the side out of Division 3 and into the new look National League Division 2.
The club has a newly discovered ambition and a new energy and is attracting players who also share that ambition and vision. If you would like to become part of that vision and feel you could make a real contribution either as a prospective player, or as part of the management team of the club, please do not hesitate to contact the Head Coach, Paul Westhead at p.westhead@ntlworld.com Our fixtures list is also available from the coach.
Please feel free to come along to our home matches and support the team.
Danes Fixtures
| Date | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 24/9 | RAF Harriers (A) | W3-0 |
| 1/10 | Nottingham(H) | L2-3 |
| 22/10 | Loughborough(H) | W3-0 |
| 29/10 | Leeds (A) | W3-0 |
| 30/10 | Team Northumbria (A) | W3-1 |
| 19/11 | Oxford Students (H) | W3-0 |
| 10/12 | Newcastle (A) | W3-0 |
| 14/1 | Leicester (H) | W3-1 |
| 21/1 | RAF Harriers (H) | W3-0 |
| 28/1 | Nottingham (A) | L2-3 |
| 18/2 | Team Northumbria (H) | W3-0 |
| 3/3 | Loughborough Students (A) | W3-0 |
| 10/3 | Leeds (H) | W3-1 |
| 11/3 | Leicester (A) | W3-0 |
| 24/3 | Oxford Students (A) | W3-0 |
| 14/4 | Newcastle Staffs (H) |