Motoball history
The long-running sport of motoball arrived at Brooklands for the first time, in September 2020.
The right crowd – and no crowding,’ that elitist Brooklands’ strapline had a new relevance over September 26/27, 2020, when, for the first time in its existence, and in the face of Covid-19 restrictions, the Surrey circuit played host to motoball. But what is motoball?
“The most obscure sport you’ve never heard of,” Ray Attewell says with a smile. He is the manager of the Hayes and Southall team, which operates as a section of the ACU club of that name. As a club affiliated to the ACU, this enables the section to organise events, as the ACU remains the governing body for motoball although, sadly, the Hayes and Southall team is currently the only one still active in this country.
Thankfully, there is sufficient interest among the Hayes and Southall membership to still be able to form two teams. For Brooklands, the pool of riders was divided to become the ‘Upstarts’ and the ‘Veterans’. They played two matches each day. Ray Attewell explained it was the first time they had played in 14 months. A winter lay-off is normal, but coronavirus and a lack of opportunity meant riders, but definitely not the bikes, were still rather rusty.
Motoball machines can be no more than 250cc. Seventies Japanese off-roaders are favourites, but Bultaco, Maico and BSA could all be seen zipping around the pitch. The pitch was the great unknown, as the match was being held on Brooklands’ Start/Finish straight, so it was the first time any of those involved had played on a concrete surface.
The rules are similar to five-a-side football, but four of each team’s players are riding while the goalkeeper remains on foot. With eight motorcycles flying around in any direction of choice it sounds like a recipe for carnage. In practice, it all works out to offer an intense experience of fast-moving, quick-witted entertainment. One minute, the ball is in the middle of a melee of near-stationary bikes, the next it is flying down the pitch with a posse of riders chasing hard. Perhaps a tussle around the goal, around which is a bike-exclusion zone, or everyone is accelerating and anticipating as they head back along
the pitch. The concrete surface helped acceleration, but manoeuvring tight turns by flicking the back wheel round, normal practice on grass, was not so easy. In the first match, the apparently even efforts of the teams was confirmed with a final score of 0-0. Yes, there were a few tumbles, but at negligible speeds. The normal football issue Acme Thunderer whistle is of little use with eight engines and focused riders to penetrate, so a pair of powerful air-horns is used for referee communication.
Things were not so easy for manager and also mechanic Ray Attewell. The non-cushioning effect of concrete caused damage that was minor but at least mendable between outings. The players also seemed to be exercising an element of caution, but in the afternoon everyone was getting back into it and play became a little more exuberant. A single goal for the Upstarts made them the day’s winners. A situation that was almost reprised on the Sunday with another single goal for the Upstarts to make them the weekend’s clear victors.
In the ensuing days, social media became a suitable platform for riders to exchange photos of concreteinflicted trophy bruises, but the message was that they certainly hoped to do it all over again.
The Brooklands meeting had taken a year to organise. The museum had been closed at the start of lockdown but had reopened with restricted, prebooked entry. Interpreting the prevailing Government regulations it looked as if the event would not be able to go ahead, but a rallying call was answered by the Brooklands volunteers, the Trust members and the local section of the VMCC. With support to conform to all the rules and stipulations – it happened!
From the Brooklands demonstration, the appeal to spectators was obvious and the sport once enjoyed many years of popularity with teams, and leagues, all over the country. But how did it start? The story remains apocryphal, but Motorcycle Football, as it was then known, was said to have begun with First World
War dispatch riders apparently playing football while riding their bikes and awaiting the next summons to duty. A story not really beyond belief when there are photographs from various locations of matches taking place in the early 1920s.
The Motor Cycle carried a report on the 1926 Cup Final, played with the backdrop of the original glazed wonder of Crystal Palace, between teams from Middlesbrough and Coventry. Unfortunately, conditions produced a mudbath and the match was abandoned after just 17 minutes.
By the following decade there was no sign of interest waning and reports mentioned crowds measured in thousands. In 1930, the first international match to be held in London was between England and Germany and took place at Wembley Stadium, no less.
The sport survived the years of the Depression probably offering cheap entertainment for both participants and spectators as in motoball it was almost a matter of pride to spend the minimum amount of money to take part and almost anything could be converted into a machine suitable for competition, although this did not always apply. A report on the Cup Final of 1930 between Coventry and Wolverhampton gives a useful insight. All the bikes were of 350cc, Coventry fielding AJS, Sunbeam, Grindlay-Peerless, Sunbeam and Montgomery although New Imperial was the marque of choice for all the Wolverhampton team (which included top off-road rider Vic Brittain).
While there was much interest and some strong teams in the Midlands, there was also keen competition further south, especially with the Border Club, based west of London. After the war the sport went through some turmoil, with clubs coming and going. In 1969, the Met Police Club hosted the National Championships that saw Border, still going strong, take on a team from Ipswich Triangle MCC at the Met Police grounds at East Molesey in Surrey. The programme for the event refers to the Motoball Association forming a league competition and some revision of the sport’s rules.
Those with longer memories will doubtless remember the archive photos that appeared weekly in Motor Cycle News as the ‘spot the ball’ competitions that were a long-running feature.
Developing the sport
In the sport’s halcyon prewar days, the ACU issued separate and regularly updated handbooks specifically for ‘motorcycle football’ and this was played with an ordinary sized football. The playing rules are simplified from mainstream football, but players must remain mounted when playing the ball. Other regulations addressed the safety of the players. A player can only be tackled on the side of the bike on which he (or she) is playing the ball. The action can be fast moving so there is a referee for each half of the pitch. Two substitute players are available for each team, either for tactical reasons or the occasional mechanical glitch.
All players, including the goalkeeper, were motorcycle mounted and the game continued thus for many years. Any size of engine was permitted and images of the earlier games seem to see few modifications to the machines ridden. By the 1930s, the bikes were becoming far more refined, at least as far as creativity was concerned. Machines from the previous decade had little more than scrap value so they were an easy choice. They aimed to combine an engine that would deliver a punchy performance with cycle parts that gave manoeuvrability and were obviously as light as possible. Lights, mudguards and any sheet metalwork, other than fuel and oil tanks, was discarded. It was very easy for the ball to get trapped between the front wheel and the frame, so bikes featured guarding to block that and any other potential trap points. In the postwar period, the difficult task of goalkeeper meant a moped, or cyclemotor stripped to basics, was the favourite machine for the job.
A later overhaul of the rules limited engine size to 250cc and mandated the size of the ball to 15 inches (80cm) in diameter. The sport was now officially known as ‘Motoball’. The goalkeeper’s lot became easier as the player in this position was now on foot. The inevitable cascading down of obsolete machines eventually saw BSA’s unit-construction C15 in the ascendant, but they gave way to older and no longer competitive motocross bikes.
The scene today
From considerable interest into the 1970s, which included teams making forays to matches on the continent, by the mid-1980s there were just six teams left in England. The main problem was a lack of suitable
pitches for regular use. Although the bikes were properly silenced, they were not always welcome in urban locations. Motoball is a summer sport and even a wet pitch would suffer no lasting damage. Unfortunately, this did not always convince those in charge of precious turf and so venues became ever harder to secure. Faced with such difficulties enthusiasm inevitably dwindled.
South Harrow was among the last clubs and, when that expired, remaining players joined the nearby Hayes and Southall team. Generally, they are restricted to playing exhibition matches at motorcycle or heritage transport shows, although the club is happy to play anywhere with enough space.
While Ray Attewell is full of enthusiasm for the sport, a long-term injury now precludes riding, so he keeps on top of the administration. Ray was brought up with the sport as his father Richard (Dick) Attewell organised a team in the Metropolitan Police in the 1970s and Ray’s brother Geoff still competes. Once Ray’s son Josh was old enough to join the action, in 2005, it made a third generation of the family. Ray keeps a stable of six bikes to help out any players with mechanical problems.
The ethos of creating a cheap steed remains. As noted, off-road machines that fall in the gap between ‘outclassed’ and ‘desirable classic’ are ideal. An alternative choice is quarter-litre, single-cylinder Japanese roadsters that can be readily adapted. The safety rules are just as important and can involve some modifications such as rerouting the exhaust. Footrests are often abbreviated and protected by that essential lower engine guarding. A guard also protects the rear wheel sprocket. The gear lever is moved out of the way (motoball needs only first and second gears). A cross shaft and additional pedal will enable the rear brake to be operated with either foot. Handlebar levers are just loose enough to pivot around the bar, rather than bend, in a tumble.
When the Hayes and Southall riders made a trip to Germany for the Alten Herren (‘Old Men’) tournament in 2019 it was the first time for 30 years that a British team had competed on the continent. The lack of riding opportunity for the British meant finishing last in the tournament, but the team was made to feel very warmly welcome.
Motoball flourishes on the other side of the Channel and the sport has a huge following. Most European countries have a number of regularly-competing teams and in Russia the interest even extends to professional players.
Always interested in any motoball memorabilia available, happy to offer assistance to anyone tempted to pick up the gauntlet, gather some like minds together and form a team, Ray Attewell is the man to contact: 07812 920 403; ray_attewell@lineone.net