Yorkshire Nations Cup International Tournament 2008
6th, 7th, 8th June, Beverley Polo Club - East Yorkshire.

The Beverley Polo Club’s number one pitch provided an amazing natural amphitheatre treating corporate guests and the general public to an international festival of Polo.

Friday 6th June was Ladies Day and over 250 corporate guests arrived to a champagne reception and watched a Scottish Bag Piper, Miss York and Miss Scarborough lead two all women teams onto the pitch for a ladies polo demonstration. Ladies Day guests watched polo qualifier matches throughout the day interspersed with VIP hospitality and champagne in full flow!

The first qualifying match saw our home team Yorkshire captained by Andrew Foreman, play against our international guests, Cyprus. Cyprus put up a good fight but the Yorkshire team took it home winning by a single goal. The second qualifier saw Argentina, winners of The Yorkshire Nations Cup 2007 take on the ever zealous Indian Team. Argentina were determined to hang on to their title and pulled it off with a victory confirming a place for Argentina in Saturdays final. The third and final qualifying match brought New Zealand against Scotland. Both teams statistically had lower handicaps compared with the other 4 teams and with sheer determination New Zealand confirmed their place in Saturdays final. With Argentina and New Zealand set for the final in the Nations Cup, it was time for a little après polo partying!

The Nations Cup Feather Ball kicked off at 7:00pm with a champagne reception hosting over 300 VIP’s. Guests watched a London fashion show with collections from Dolce & Gabbana, Barbour, Jaegar, Emma Somerset and gowns from Yorkshire’s own Couture Designer of the Year Jamie Stewart. Cutting edge new designers included Ansarino and Looking Glass. Guests also enjoyed a London West End performance from Liam Mower who won the Lawrence Olivier award for his role in Billy Elliot. Hair and Make-up was done by Mac & the Nicky Clarke Red Carpet Team. Flown in from Dubai, the Beverley Polo Club hosted a UK Debut performance of The String Divas, 3 classically trained violinists whose performance was spectacular. The ball was in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care as part of their 60th anniversary and raised in excess of £5,000.

The gates opened on Saturday at 11:00am and as the families set-up their picnics around the pitch over 250 VIP guests arrived for the finals day of the Nations Cup. The first match was to determine 3rd & 4th place in the tournament with Cyprus taking 3rd place against home team Yorkshire.

Next up was the Pro-Am curtain raiser seeing the Trojans trained by Ben Foreman at the Beverley Polo Club play against Team Pegasus trained by Tony Wesche at White Rose Polo Club. The pro am match saw 6 local people with very little riding experience go through 10 weeks of intense training along with their instructors to then make their debut on the Nations Cup Finals day. VIP and public watched the recently trained polo novices play with such passion, in a close game resulting in Team Pegasus taking the lead by just half a point!

With the clods of earth returned delicately by the obliging spectators during treading in the ground was ready for the main event, a final which would see Argentina battle against New Zealand.

The final was the perfect showcase for the players from both sides to compete and the crowds were delighted by a feast of open polo, and team work which blended perfectly with individual displays of brilliance. New Zealand put up an amazing fight against Argentina especially when taking in to consideration that their handicap was 3 goals below that of Argentina. The spectators were on the edge of their seats with such a thrilling game to see. The teams headed into the last chukka 6 all with the infamous Sebastian Funes scoring a goal in the last 30 seconds sealing the victory for team Argentina.

Playing for the 5th & 6th place in the Nations cup saw Scotland V India. India who had travelled from Delhi to play in the tournament fought hard in the uneasy ground conditions and secured a win by 1½ goal’s.

The crowds were constantly entertained and even during the intervals between matches were treated to a variety of activities and demonstrations including a Horse & Carriage display courtesy of Settrington Carriages. Beautiful black Shire horses paraded The String Divas, Miss York and Miss Harrogate as well as Mr & Mrs Foreman around the pitch.

With coverage from BBC Look North, ITV Calendar, an onsite broadcast from Minster FM and a variety of national and regional press the weekend was certainly confirming Andrew Foreman has brought Polo to Yorkshire!

This International competition had significant backing from both the local council and the Yorkshire Tourist Board and the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce. “The Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce is delighted to be supporting Andrew Foreman and the Beverley Polo Club, in their endeavors to bring world class polo to Beverley “said Pauline Wade, Head of International Trade at the Chamber who worked with Andrew to bring the Indian National Polo Team to Beverley. “Events like this enhance our Region and provide very useful networking opportunities for developing and cementing international relationships which in turn open the doors for business”.

With the event’s success and visitor numbers firmly establishing it as the North of England’s premier Polo event all eyes are on next year where we look forward to the continued support of our major sponsors St James’s Place Wealth Management, Mercedes Benz North Yorkshire, and McClarron Insurance. Andrew Foreman would like to thank everyone who was involved including, David Leyden Dunbar, Fiona Sidwell and all the team at Beverley Polo Club.