Neil May

Neil May joined the Poly in the mid 1950s, not quite soon enough to make the 1st team for their first ever win in the ASA Nationals in 1956. But he went with the first team for their tour to Moscow in 1957, let in a lot of goals against the monstrous Russian juniors, and came back so improved that he soon forced his way into the Poly team. By mid-1958 he had secured the first of many Great Britain caps.

He was to become one of the greatest British goalkeepers of all time, with a playing career that lasted into the early 1970s, and he was captain of the club for several years from 1966. While Peter Pass was regarded as the father of the modern Polytechnic team, Neil came to be known universally as “Mother”, probably at an early stage during his captaincy. Somehow he managed to raise the standard of a very good team, not just by his perspective on their performance from his position in goals, but also by getting the players to take the game more seriously and have a quiet night indoors before big matches.

During the early 1970s he was instrumental in taking the club to a new level again, first by organising the 1971 Europa Cup tournament at Crystal Palace, during the process of which he enlisted the help of Len Hatton, first as a benefactor and later as club president. He was still capable of putting in a fine performance in goal and Peter Pass gave him these thanks for his efforts:

What can one now say about the organisation for this tournament? We have all thanked Neil May, we have toasted him at the official dinner and, when he played for the last two periods against the Russians, the crowd gave him a tremendous ovation. Without Neil none of this would have happened. He has corresponded with the European Water Polo Board, the referees, hired Crystal Palace, had programmes and tickets printed and sent out to almost every club in England, organised the officials for this event, organised transport and met teams at their various termini and dropped them off again, and even found time to play for a couple of periods. Others have obviously helped, but without Neil none of it was possible.

Neil subsequently went on to repeat the process for the next two years before his masterpiece, the hugely successful Aquafresh Tournament, to celebrate the club’s centenary year of 1974. Of this Peter said:

Without doubt, the Poly scored a great first in Water Polo, something old members and members in the future will look upon as one of the turning points in English Polo. Praise can never be too high for the man responsible for the organisation and that, of course, was again Neil May. It was he who did most of the organising and liaising with Mark Barker and the TV people and he was also called upon to play in goal. I have no doubt in my mind that, without Neil, this tournament would not have taken place….

Truly a giant of the game during his playing career, his huge commitment to the administration and development of the club was just as impressive. Now a young 89-year-old, Mother remains keenly interested in the club and was delighted to attend the final of the 2023 British Water Polo League, when Poly finally regained the title after 28 years.

A further contribution on Neil’s career and background is being prepared by David Chapman.