Ernie Scott OBE
Neil May suggested that the archives should be searched to see what could be discovered about Ernie, who was a great Poly man for many years, the only one to become ASA President, and the first to receive an OBE for services to water polo. This is what could be found.
Ernie was born in Cardiff in 1897, so was just 17 when the First World War broke out. He served with the Bedfordshire Regiment and was a second Lieutenant in 1918 when he was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. The citation says that he displayed great powers of leadership, constantly encouraging his men under heavy fire until he was wounded, and it was largely due to his efforts that the front line was held intact.
According to the Olympedia website Ernie started swimming with the Cardiff Polytechnic, before joining the Cardiff water polo club. He was also a Welsh international and was captain of a side which contained the country’s leading player Paul Radmilovic. He was also a fine rugby player and played for Penarth and the Glamorgan Wanderers. After his job took him to London in the 1930s, Scott started swimming with the London Polytechnic and playing rugby for Finchley.
This is consistent with the records in the Poly Magazine. The first mention of him occurs in 1931, already a Poly Committee Member, and on the Polo Selection Committee. In 1933 he was appointed the new Club Captain, in what was described as a popular and wise choice. A year later, along with De’Ath and Field, he was reported to be part of a formidable darts team that had taken a highly prized scalp in a pub somewhere south of the river.
He continued to serve on the club committee for many years up to World War II and in April 1939, at a players meeting involving all teams, he “gave a most instructive talk on polo law and tactics, keeping an appreciative audience fully interested for an hour and a half”. Clearly he was an excellent speaker who was in great demand at club functions, as well as with wider audiences. In 1944 he was made Chairman of the Middlesex County ASA, before becoming President of the London Water Polo League in the following year. By 1946, Ernie was a vice president of the club, and he chaired the newly appointed Water Polo panel, which was trying to refresh and rejuvenate the post-war club. He was evidently revered for his water polo tips.
Ernie was already a well established referee by this time, having refereed international matches during the inter-war years. As the rules were changing to make the game more dynamic, he refereed a match between Holland and Belgium in Amsterdam in 1947, before going on to officiate in the European Games. In June 1948 he accepted an invitation from Yugoslavia to referee their match against Hungary, which must have been a huge honour given the water polo status of those two countries. He then became a FINA selected referee for the 1948 Olympics in London, where he refereed three matches including the 4-4 draw in the final pool between Hungary and the Netherlands, the eventual silver and bronze medallists. Neil remembers him being involved with organising the preliminary matches that were held in the Finchley Open Air pool, not far from his Totteridge home. He still has a set of caps that Ernie gave him that were used in the 1948 Olympics, obviously without ear guards which had not yet been invented.
Ernie took charge of four matches at the 1952 Stockholm Olympics and then, at Helsinki, he represented Great Britain on the International Water Polo Board, of which he later went on to become the secretary. By June 1955, he was on the ASA Council and, in November 1956, he was reported to be the FINA representative to supervise Water Polo and Water Polo Referees at the Melbourne Olympics. As such he must have been heavily involved in the aftermath of the game between Russia and Hungary (the “Blood in the Water” match) which was abandoned before completion, and awarded to Hungary. Sadly there is no account of his time at those Olympics, so it is hard to know what he made of all the shenanigans.
In the 1960 New Years Honours list, after more that 40 years involvement in the sport, Ernie was awarded the OBE for services to water polo. It was surprising to find this out, as Peter Pass’s MBE seems to have grabbed lots more attention, probably just because it was more recent. In his working life Ernie had joined Bluemels, the famous motor vehicle and bicycle accessories company, in 1929. He was made a director in 1934. and eventually became chairman and managing director.
Clearly all his involvement with committee work, refereeing and administration was a prelude to becoming President of the ASA in 1967. Neil May writes that Poly brought the Czech team Pilsen over to this country around this time. Ernie came to the match and afterwards invited all involved back to his house for a few beers. During the evening someone asked to see the President’s chain of office. Ernie said that he hated the bloody thing and that he’d only ever worn it once. He then showed everyone a photo of himself standing in his garden knee deep in snow, wearing the chain stark naked.
That was our Ernie.
