Cliff Spooner

Forward Cliff Spooner was the only Welshman in the 1956 Great Britain Olympic water polo team. He was also the youngest member of the GB squad. Spooner played in three games at Melbourne; the 6-1 defeat by Hungary in the group stage, and then the two 5-2 wins over Romania and Australia in the classification round, which saw Great Britain finish in seventh place.

At the time of the Olympics, Spooner was doing his National Service and served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) with fellow Olympian Gerry Worsell. Coincidentally, both were stationed at the same air force base in Buckinghamshire. Also in 1956, Spooner scored one goal in the 8-1 win over Scotland at Rhyl in what was their first win over the Scots since 1947. More significantly, it was Wales’ biggest win since 1906.

Spooner was also a fine 100 yards freestyle swimmer and originally swam and played polo for Newport Swimming Club before a move in 1955 to the Sutton and Cheam club. Originally a blacksmith, Spooner later became manager of the swimming baths at Imperial College. Following a move to the West Midlands, however, he played for the Wolverhampton-based Heath Town Water Polo club, which resulted in him eventually becoming manager of the Heath Town baths in 1968

Spooner was a former Welsh captain and his son, Cliff, junior, also became a Welsh international water polo player. Because of his build Cliff senior had ambitions to be a rugby forward and in 1958 joined the Welsh side Cross Keys RUFC.