History

Captain John Watson

In Horace Laffaye’s book Profiles in Polo (McFarland & Company, Inc., 2007) we get a look at the revolutionary changes Captain John Watson brought to the game and displayed in the first Westchester Cup in 1886. Lt. Col. Edward Miller was cited from Fifty Years of Sport (London: Hurst & Blackett, 1925) as stating:

Watson taught No. 1 to ride the opposing back and to leave the ball alone. The two other players were called No. 2 and half-back; they were taught to stick to their places vigorously, and the back remained purely as a defender, and acted as a sort of long stop, simply serving the ball to his forwards. Polo was played on these lines for some years, and Watson’s teaching went right through the Army, soldiers being almost the only players in those days.”

The team play displayed by the British team in 1886 was a stark comparison to the individual efforts of the American players. The disciplined and coordinated efforts of the British team took control of the game from the first, and it seemed that the visitors could nearly score at will.

Captain Watson was also credited with the “revolutionary” introduction of the backhand shot to the game, a feature unseen by the Americans in that first Westchester Cup match, causing much confusion for the US team members. His creation of the “ride-off” has become a staple in polo and remains to this day, a necessity.

Recognized by many as the “Father of British Polo”, his approach to the game and the assignment of specific duties to the individual players transformed the game of polo from an informal melee of mounted scrums and individual efforts to a game with discipline, direction and form.