The 2025 Civil Service Festival of squash - played in Nottingham on the 21/22 November – hosted the national squash championships and age group events. With lots of matches for all involved this was an action packed bonanza of squash.

The Friday began with the A grade and D grade with hard fought 1^st round wins for Tim Burrell to edge past David Jacobs 3-1 and Ethan Thornton to get through against Georg Willis by the same scoreline.

In the D grade it was straight into the semi-finals with wins for Richard Crisp and Collis Sheik. To make it through to the final. To wrap up the D grade the finals were played Friday. In the main final Collis used his experience to ease past Richard to take the title while in the plate event Helen Midgely, after taking the first 2 games, found herself in a tough battle against Deborah Atkinson as Deborah took the 3^rd game. Helen was not to be beaten though and wrapped up the match 3-1.

Back to the A grade and it was the quarter finals. The match of the round was top seed Tom Trott who found himself matched throughout against Andrew Kettlewell. A tough encounter which Tom eventually managed to win and complete the semi finals line up of himself, Matthew Sampson – who snuck past Joe Shill -, Ethan Thornton and Tim Burrell.

Social

Following the squash all players enjoyed food in the bar followed by a quiz.

The Saturday promised another bumper day of squash with the A grade to be finished along with the age group events and Ladies.

First up were the mens semi finals and the 2 top seeds were in no mood for potential banana skins with Tom Trott dispatching Tim Burrell in a close 3-0 and Matthew Sampson doing the same to Ethan Thornton.

Over 45s

In the over 45s a round robin took place between Dan Willets, Andrew Kettlewell and Richard Crisp, The event was won by Andrew who managed 3-0 wins against both his opponents.

Over 55s

The final of the over 55s was between Rishard Crisp and David Jacobs. Played at a fast pace that suited David he took the first 2 games. The third was a closer encounter but Richard couldn’t quite get over the line with David taking the game and the match for a 3-0 win.

Over 65s

The over 65s saw Peter Lee return to the competition after a multi-year absence. He was up against Collis Shiek who looked in fine form. A close match saw Collis take 3 close games and the title.

Grade A plate.

This event was a round robin and couldn’t have been closer with George Willis running out the winner with 3-2 wins against both David Jacobs and Hannah Anthony. In addition each match went to a tie-break in the 5^th game with George holding his nerve to win both.

Ladies

Last years winner Hannah Anthony was up against Helen Midgely and Deborah Atkinson. Hannah was in imperious form and wrapped up the title with 2 3-0 wins to retain her crown.

Grade A

Top seeds Tom Trott (winner 2 years previous) and Matthew Sampson took to the court with both players showing exceptional skills which made for a fantastic final. Tom got off to a slow start with Matthew taking full advantage to take an early lead in the first game. Tom then settled in and began to edge back to eventually take the game 12-10. Matthew didn’t let the disappointment of losing the first game get to him and took full control in the 2^nd to level the scores. It was anyone’s game. The 3^rd was a lose encounter with nothing to separate the 2 players. With the players trading points and wonderful winners it got to the business end at 8-8. It was Tom who managed to maintain his composure to take the 3^rd game. With the wind in his sails Tom continued where he left off in the 3^rd to take the 4^th game and with it the title.

It is not all about the sport we also have time for fun and Tim organised a quiz for us all on the Friday night, below are the photos of all the teams.

And finally our quiz master

The Mens and Ladies Civil Service squash teams were represented at the annual Crown Services Quadrangular tournament held at Edgbaston Priory up against the Police service, Fire Service and Combined Services.

Ladies CSSC squash team

Only 2 matches for the ladies as the Fire Service were unable to field a team.

First up were the Combined Services – made up of Army, Navy and Air Force - and are always strong. They were typically strong this time around! National Champion Hannah Anthony put up a strong fight at number 1 string before eventually losing 3-1 – a great match decided by fine margins just going in the favour of the Combined Services player. Beth Milburn and Tillie Drapper, both making their first appearances for the team battled hard but agonisingly lost 3-0.

Next up were the police and Hannah got the team off to a flyer with a 3-0 win. Beth And Tille couldn’t quite follow suit and despite good performances couldn’t quite get the win, leading to a 2-1 overall loss for the team.

In the final match the Combined Services beat the Police to take overall victory in the event.

Men

In the mens event the team were looking to improve on their previous years 2^nd place. With the Police looking strong it promised to be a close encounter with the Civil Service also putting together a very strong team.

First up the team played the Combined Services. Tom Trott playing at number 1 had a cracking encounter just managing to sneak the 5^th game and take a 3-2 victory. The rest of the team had no such problems each romping to 3-0 victories. A great start to the event with a 5-0 win.

Next was the Fire Service and again the team bought their A game to manage another 5-0 win. Tom Trott had another close game at number 1 string and managed to sneak the win. James Whelan playing up at number 4 also had a close game just taking the 4^th to seal a 3-1 win.

After 2 wins it all came down to the last match against the Police who had also secured 2 wins - This was a winner takes all match. First on were Tom Trott at 1 and Dan Willets at 5. Both had tough matches and despite some close games could not quite convert into the victory. Next on was the talented Matt Sampson at number 4 – a match the Civil service needed to win to keep the tie alive. In a very tight game the momentum went from one player to the other as both players battles hard. Having got to 2-2 Matt was not to be beaten – some great squash saw him take the match 3-2 and the Civil Service had hope. Unfortunately the hope was short lived. Matt Walker at 3 looked to be carrying an injury yet put up a great fight to eventually lose 3-1. Harron Rashid put in a couple of excellent performances to get 2 wins from the weekend but was over-powered by the Police number 2. This left the Civil Service with a 4-1 loss and 2^nd place for yet another year. The Police taking a well deserved win.

Great performances all round as the Civil Service came agonisingly close yet again.

Detailed results:

Detailed results

Ladies

Hannah Anthony v Elaine Radcliffe 1-3

Beth Milburn v Clare Graham 0-3

Tillie Drapper v Danielle Welch 0-3

Hannah Anthony v Lisa Tolhurst 3-0

Beth Milburn v Debbie Bowen 0-3

Tillie Drapper v Sara Laker 0-3

Men

Tom Trott v Adam Smart 3-2

Haroon Rashid v Paul Jones 3-0

James Hodson v Loan Davis 3-0

Matt Sampson v Chris Roper 3-0

James Whelan v Travis Harrison 3-0

Tom Trott v Neil Cross 3-1

Haroon Rashid v Leonie Holt 3-0

James Hodson v Ross Bingham 3-0

James Whelan v Karl Mullins 3-1

Dan Willets v Shaun Cramer 3-0

Tom Trott v Joe Green 0-3

Haroon Rashid v Ian Cox 0-3

Matt Walker v Nick Freer 1-3

Matt Sampson v Andy Hynes 3-2

Dan Willets v Luke Russell 0-3

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL CSSC SQUASH & RACKETBALL PLAYERS

Due to transforming and modernising the way CSSC delivers sport in the future the National Squash Graded Championship and combined Masters Age Group Event, scheduled to take place on 21st & 22nd November 2025 at Nottingham Squash Club will be our very last National Event.

Can I ask that you all make every effort to be part of this farewell event, and lets make it an event to remember,so dust off those rackets, dig out those trainers, get all of your kit washed and ironed and get yourself entered this last ever event for some time.

Please also note that CSSC will be trialing the development of local sporting opportunities which will include squash and racketball firstly in the North West Region before rolling it out to other Regions.

Please also note that this website will attempt to report on any progress being made in relation to Squash and Racketball.

The website will remain open for the foreseeable future and will report on the above Championships and also on the development of CSSC local squash.

This years CSSC Racketball Tournament was held on Saturday 5th July at Nottingham Squash Centre.

There were two box leagues and knockout stages with Andrew Kettlewell beating Lee Murray in the final.

All participants had a great day and were all given prizes thanks to KARAKAL.

Trophies were awarded to the overall winner and runner up.

Lunch was provided for all participants and feedback given was very positive.

All those that took part said that they will recruit more players from within their departments for next years event.

Entries are now open for the 2025 CSSC Racketball Tournament, being held at Nottingham Squash Centre on Saturday 5th July 2025.

The event is open for men and women

Registration for the event is 9.30am

Play to commence from 10am.

Closing date for entries is 26/06/25. There is now an £8 entry fee.

The link below gives you all relevant information, plus the entry form.

Racketball Competition

This year’s longstanding CSSC Squash Singles Event took place in the new venue of Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash Club on Friday and Saturday 22nd and 23rd November.  The Chief Coach Mike Harris there made everyone very welcome and provided us with some excellent facilities including glass back squash courts for all our matches.

Some late withdrawals in the Men’s Event saw the final stages being changed to a Round Robin format of 5 players. The top seed and previous 5 times winner Tim Burrell in his first match faced the unknown talent of Andrew Cowgill who had entered his first CSSC Squash Event.  With Tim losing the first game 9 – 11 it looked as if we might be watching a new Champion in Andrew.  Tim however  took early  control of the remaining contest by winning all 3 games to 4, 6, and 7 points. Andrew’s next opponent Richard Crisp was on paper an easy win but Richard an extremely fit exponent of kick boxing made Andrew work hard for his 3-0 victory.  The number 3 and 4 Seeds Dan Willets and Imran Bashir were on paper a very close match up and so it proved in the match which went the distance – it was Imran however who just edged past his experienced opponent 11-7 in the 5^th game. Imran put up another fine performance in his match against the number 1 seed Tim Burrell - only losing in the 5^th game 11-5. Andrew’s hopes of improving on his position were given a double blow when firstly losing a long hard fought battle with Dan 11-3 in the 5^th game and finally losing to the much improved player Imran Bashir 11-7 in their 3^rd game. So congratulations goes to Tim Burrell who chalked up his 6^th CSSC Singles Title the first one being some 14 years back! Congratulations also goes to Imran Bashir as runner-up and also to Dan Willets who won the Plate Competition and to the Plate runner-up Andrew Cowgill. Well done also to Richard Crisp who despite his lack of squash competition experience made all his opponents work hard for their win.

The Ladies Event was also cursed  with some unfortunate late withdrawals but did however produce an excellent final when the very experienced CSSC Team player Helen Midgley took on a very new to CSSC Squash and talented player in the form of Hannah Anthony.  Although the match only lasted 3 games the experienced Helen made a good show of it with Hannah’s talent too good on the day. Congratulations to both the winner Hannah Anthony and to the runner-up Helen Midgley.

This years Quadrangular  2024 tournament was held at the Prestigious  Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham.

The matches kicked off on time and the early Friday session produced some shocks... 

with POLICE v FIRE

it was very close FIRE winning that 3/2.

While on ct 1 it was..

CSSC v UKAF

CSSC was well organised and far too strong for UKAF winning that match 5/0.

After launch into the late afternoon session ..

POLICE v UKAF.

This was straight forward for the very strong POLICE. winning 5/0.

Much more exciting matches  between CSSc v FIRE

CSSC came through 4/1 winners.

Meanwhile there was a thriller in the ladies match between POLICE v UKAF.

POLICE won that 3/2 and with that also the overall event.

Friday evening meal was very well organised and excellent food thanks to Priory kitchen...there was plenty to eat .

some had 3 helpings.

Saturday  Morning.

Everything to play for POLICE v CSSC

with a slight change to CSSC team, weakened at the top of order..it was great effort by the boys..

CSSC only win came via Matthew winning 3/1 at No2.

FIRE had an easy run as UKAF were 2 players short but did manage to sneak a rubber which turned out to be crucial in the final tally of points.

FIRE won 4/1.

Also must mention Mike Edwards head coach at Priory and all the Priory ladies who turned up on Saturday morning to give the POLICE ladies team a match. It was close with POLICE ladies winning 3/2....

SO the score on the board revealed POLICE at the top and CSSC second FIRE in third place and then UKAF.

Summing up it was an excellent weekend and thanks to al our players for making this event a great one and hope it continues to be successful.

Collis.

The next CSSC Squash Singles event is being held on Friday 22nd November and Saturday 23rd November at Wolverhampton Squash Club, WV6 0HL.

This will be a graded tournament to suit all standards and will include both mens and ladies matches.

The start time for both days is below:

Friday 22nd November - 12pm until 5pm

Saturday 23rd November - 9:30am until 5pm

Please come along and support this event and see for yourself and what this new venue can offer.

22nd June 2024: Social squash match CSSC vs Fire Service vs GB Vets

Following the success of the 2023 event, the Civil Service, GB Vets and Fire service squash teams all headed to Nottingham to take part in a friendly 8-a-side squash match.

First up were CSSC against the GB Vets who boasted none other than Nick Gollaglee, British Over 65s champion, in their ranks, along with a host of other national players. The civil service, however, were boosted by being loaned Nick Sheppard from the GB Vets and local Nottingham player Noah Duckworth. Despite these additions, the civil service found it tough going yet managed to put on some excellent performances against tough opponents. James Hodson was star of the match for the Civil Service managing to get a win against the talented John Simpson. Special mention also goes to Tim Burrell and Imran Bashir for getting a game each while the others all lost encounters closer than the scorelines suggest – Nick Sheppard and Paul Clarke particularly unlucky not to win a game.

Despite some heavy legs going into the 2^nd match it didn’t show. Mike Plant had a very good win in a tight affair while Richard Chubb and David Jacobs, playing his first CSSC squash event, also managed to come out on top. Imran Bashir and Paul Clarke were both unfortunate to be on the wrong end of 3-2 scorelines – just not having enough to get over the line. James Hodson, Joe Shil and Noah Duckworth played well but ultimately were bested by their opponents.

In the remaining match once again there were plenty of tight matches with the Fire Service just managing to narrowly beat GB Vets.

Following the squash all the teams retired to the bar to enjoy some food before heading home having thoroughly enjoyed the event.