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23/12/07 - Nathan French has been selected in the England Junior squad for the up-coming European Championship qualifiers. The squad travel to Denmark on 2nd January to take on the hosts and Montenegro. Also in the squad is Nathan's old Brentwood team mate Tim Reynolds who has also trained with Docklands in the past.

The full squad is: Sam Allen (Captain), Adam Brewer (both Newcastle Staffs), Peter Bakare, Tim Reynolds (both Brentwood), Nathan French (Docklands), Adam Kendray (Haughton), Marc Richardson (Reading), Kyle Dickson, Lewis Messam, Jim Miller, Simon Mintoft (all Sheffield), Dan Hunter (Wessex)

18/12/07 - Efe Eruero has been selected in the first England squad for seven months. He will add to his 51 caps at the International Volleyball Challenge in Glasgow later this week. Coached by Ian Legrand England will take on Scotland and Northern Ireland. A women's tournament is also running in parallel with the men's matches.

The full squad is: Alex Bialokoz (Capt), Mark Brown (both Malory), Efe Eruero (Docklands), Andy Sinclair, Kieran O’Malley, Dave Clayden, Joel Miller, Wayne Davies (all Sheffield), Antonio Codrington (London Lynx), Michas Saller, Andrzej Saller (both Polonia), Dami Bakare (City of Bristol).

17/12/07 - Docklands and Swiss Cottage held a joint Christmas party on Monday 17th December 2007. After doing all the organisng Danny Primus was ill so missed the meal at Nando's in Islington.

Click here for more photos.

24/10/07 - Karen and Alexis Blair became parents for the first time yesterday after the birth of Amelie Mary Blair. Her proud father said that mother and daughter were both doing well and daddy was OK too. She was born at 21:58 and weighed 7lbs 4oz. Congratulations to all!

14/11/07 - It was confirmed today that Docklands' opponents in the 3rd round of the cup will be Reading VC. They beat Wandsworth White Eagles 3-1 in the previous round and are currently top of Division 2 with seven wins from eight matches. The tie will be held at Bacon's College on 12th January 2008.

The path to the final of the current champions has now become a bit clearer with the winners of the 3rd round match facing a trip to either Sheffield 2 or Brentwood Estonians in the quarter final and then Warwick Riga/Manchester or Sheffield/City of Bristol 1 in the semi final at Keele University.

27/10/07 - Docklands have been boosted by the news that fund management company Aspect Capital have agreed to continue their support of the club. This is the fifth consecutive year that the company have supported Docklands financially, a period in which Docklands have enjoyed their most successful period on court. The assistance provided by Aspect has unquestionably been a factor in Docklands' recent successes.

23/10/07 - Nathan French has been nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award. The 17 year old received the nomination after his performances at the UK School Games, National Cup Finals and with the England Juniors. Nathan is joined by GB Women star Rachel Colley on the nomination list. Previous winners of the award include Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott. And all this came in the same week he passed his driving test!

11/10/07 - It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Tim Stocks on Wednesday 10th October. He was 33. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year and despite extensive treatment he passed away yesterday. Tim played in Docklands' first ever match when the club was called Crofton and starred in the club's first promotion to Division 1. He would later play for Malory before moving away from London. His enthusiasm and humour will be fondly remembered by all that knew him. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.

25/09/07 - When Ian Legrand was asked to select his ultimate all time team for 3Touch magazine he jumped at the chance. However, once he sat down to make his choice he realised how hard a job he had let himself in for. He managed to widen the scope of the list from his best six to a full squad but he has still nominated his first six plus a libero. The list is restricted to those athletes Ian has known and worked with over the years but after a career spanning three decades he had plenty of great players to choose from.

His selection is printed in this month's 3Touch magazine. Click here to read the complete, unabridged version.

17/09/07 - Four ex-Docklands players have been named in the first GB squad to compete in the Dutch Pro A League. Alex Porter, Andrew Pink, Yassir Sliti and Danny Weemes will all make the move over to the Netherlands next week ahead of first league match on 13th October. Playing as Club Martinus, the side will compete amongst some of the top domestic sides in the Netherlands, training and playing together full time under GB Head Coach Harry Brokking.

The full squad is: Andrew Pink, Alex Porter, Danny Weemes, Yassir Sliti, Alistair Galloway, Jonathan Herley, Matthew Howe, Christopher Lamont, Slawomir Master, Mark McGivern, Stewart McGrenary, Ben Pipes, Craig Richardson.

Off course Pink and Porter both played for Docklands last season while Weemes was in the Malory side that lost to Docklands in the KO Cup final. Sliti last played for Docklands in 2001 before spells in the US, Sweden and Holland. Two other English NVL clubs are affected with Sheffield losing Howe and Richardson while Polonia will have to do without Master. However, Sheffield have been boosted by the return of Andy Sinclair who will play for them for the first time in three and a half years when they visit Docklands on the 29th September.

09/09/07 - Alexis Blair completed his first Duathlon today in London's Richmond Park. He took on the Challenge distance which consisted of a 9k run, a 20k cycle ride, ending with a 5k run. He completed the course in a time of 1 hour 54 mins and 33 seconds, making him 717th out 1,638 finishers in the Challenge event - well done Alexis.

Click on the photo for more images.

04/09/07 - Docklands' training returned to Bacon's College last night following the refurbishment of the sports hall. The hall has a brand new floor with dedicated volleyball colouring. Further improvements have been made to the lighting and decor. Francesco Riginelli commented, "It's like playing on Lego but I like it".

03/09/07 - The VEBT season ended at the weekend with the final event in Brighton. Ex-Docklands pair Nik Ruh and Albrecht Glitz could only finish 7th in Al's final farewell to English volleyball (at least until next summer anyway). However, Al picked up the prize for the best male server during the whole summer. Docklands' Italian pairing of Francesco Riginelli and Enrico Savoia came 9th. The event was won by GB pair Jody Gooding and Steven Grotowski.

Click here to see a BBC report from the event.

The final rankings saw Frank gain a bronze medal (shared with Aaron Stolberg) behind Richard Payne and Brett Goslett. Al finished joint 7th with Steve Fee, Enrico was joint 11th and Nik 41st.

26/08/07 - Albrecht Glitz celebrated with his team last night to mark his second and, sadly, finally departure from London. Al fought back the tears as his team mates presented him with a signed volleyball to remind him of his time with Docklands. Click on the photo for more images from the night.

Al first joined Docklands in 2001 and it's far from a coincidence that the six years since then have been the most successful in Docklands' history. Other athletes have played their part but Al has frequently been the difference in Docklands' must crucial matches. He ended his Docklands career on 98 appearances, so maybe one day he'll be persuaded to come back to make his century.

Al says farewell to English Volleyball this weekend at the final beach event of the year. He will be partnered by Nik Ruh, another German leaving Docklands this summer. Nik's work has taken him to Oxford, where he has joined Oxford Students in NVL 2. Nik has also been a critical part of Docklands' recent success. His versatility and all round athleticism will be sorely missed by Docklands.

Watch this space for news on the new Docklands stars that are hoping to fill the massive gaps left by Al and Nik.

31/07/07 - Docklands will start the defence of their KO Cup title with a home tie against either GNG Bedford, Stowmarket or Boathouse Dewsbury. The 2nd round match on November 10th will be followed up by another home fixture in January. Docklands' quarter final will be away from home. Our likely opponents are as follows:

3rd round - Brentwood Partners, White Eagles, Newcastle Staffs 2 or Reading

Quarter final - Probably Guildford International, Sheffield 2 or Brentwood Estonians

Semi final - Probably Warwick Riga, City of Bristol, Sheffield or Manchester

Meanwhile, Swiss Cottage have been given a much tougher draw with an away tie against Chester & Ellesmere Port Eels in round 2 followed by a trip to current Women's Cup holders Loughborough Students 1.

29/07/07 - Albrecht Glitz reached his third Weymouth Classic final in a row but with partner Steve Fee he unfortunately missed out again on a second title. Albrecht won the title in 2005 with Hendrik Neubert but has failed to close out the final with Fee for the last two years. They lost to Fee's Malory team mate Morph Bowes and Bristol's Robin Meidzybrodzki 2-1 in the final (15-13 in the deciding 3rd set).

Meanwhile elsewhere in the competition Docklands had five other current or ex-players competing. Francesco Riginelli and Enrico Savoia formed an emotionally explosive partnership while Nik Ruh and Cyril Kubr showed a more measured and controlled approach. These two pairs faced each other in a do or die match which saw Ruh/Kubr come out on top in a thrilling three set encounter. Click here to see some of the action.

23/07/07 - Francesco Riginelli took advantage of the cancellation of Whitefield to enter the Skegness Open. He and his partner Richard Payne made it to the final but unfortunately lost out to David Fischer and Jack Quinn.

Next weekend Francesco teams up with Enrico Savoia again for arguably VEBT's biggest event of the year, the Weymouth Classic. The event will also see Docklands old boys Nik Ruh and Cyril Kubr pair up for the first time. Docklands' final participant is Albrecht Glitz who with partner Steve Fee will be one of the favourites to win the event that they were runners up in last year - Albrecht won the event in 2005 with Hendrik Neubert while Fee also won it back in 1998 with Tim Hollis.

19/07/07 - Two of Docklands' double winning squad have been selected in the new GB coach's first squad. Harry Brokking chose Alex Porter and Andrew Pink for the trip to Egypt where the young GB side will train and face a series of matches against their hosts. Ex-Docklands players Danny Weemes and Yassir Sliti were also picked for the squad's first overseas tour since Brokking took over in June. The trip is from 21st to 29th July.

19/07/07 - Docklands are set to remain Whitefield champions for another year after the 2007 tournament was cancelled due to the recent bad weather. With only two days to go to the tournament, the organisers were forced to make a tough decision after the local council prevented them from making full use of Bath Recreation Ground. After much deliberation the committee decided to cancel what would have been the 34th annual event.

12/07/07 - In nine days time Docklands are aiming to make it five Whitefield Premier Division wins in a row and today they learnt who they will face in their pool matches. The matches are:

1 Ham (from Belgium)

2 Cambridge

3 England Juniors

4 Warwick Riga

The opposite pool is like a mini London League with Malory, Polonia, Aquila and White Eagles joined by Team Kapnah.

Docklands will be boosted by the return of veteran Andy Vincett who is looking forward to rejoining his old team mates. The tournament is also likely to be Albrecht Glitz's last competitive outing for Docklands. This will be the first time in five years that Docklands will be without Danny Weemes as he is likely to be on international duty with the GB team.

Swiss Cottage are also defending the women's title that they have won as Team DR for the past two years.

09/07/07 - The 3rd and 4th VEBT events of 2007 have now taken place but unfortunately Docklands can only boast an ex-player on the top of the podium.

Newly crowned King of the Beach, Albrecht Glitz, had to settle for 3rd place with his regular partner Hendrik Neubert at the Margate Open on the 1st July. Ex-Docklands player Aaron Stolberg took the title with Steve Fee.

Meanwhile last weekend, Francesco Riginelli teamed up with fellow Italian Enrico Savoia for the Ruislip Shootout. The pair put on a great show to finish 4th out of 20 pairs. Stolberg had to make do with 2nd place after he and his partner Danny Wol were defeated by Polish newcomers Piotr Sznicer and Mateusz Michalski.

25/06/07 - The fixtures for the 2007/08 season have been confirmed and Docklands will begin the defence of their Division 1 crown away at London Lynx 1. The match at Bethnal Green SC on Saturday 15th September is a repeat of last season's cup quarter final which saw Docklands win 3-1. Lynx spent last season in Division 2 and return as league champions after just one season in the second tier. They are one of Docklands' oldest rivals and it is bound to be an exciting start to the new season. Docklands then travel to newly promoted Guildford International. Guildford have been on the cusp of promotion to the top flight for the last few seasons. After finally making it they will be keen to put up a good fight. Docklands must wait till their third match for their first home fixture, a tough match against Sheffield.

Click here to see the full fixtures list.

Next season sees Docklands and Swiss Cottage ladies paired together for their home matches. This is the first visible tie between the two teams and one they hope will develop over the next few seasons. Of course Swiss Cottage are coached by Docklands' star Danny Primus. He has guided them though successive promotions to reach the top flight of women's volleyball.

18/06/07 - After helping to seal the league and cup double Albrecht Glitz and Francesco Riginelli have set about dominating the Beach season. At last weekend's King of the Beach tournament in Croyde they both qualified for the final shootout. As King of the Beach in 2004 you would have expected Albrecht to be the leader as they entered the final. However, it was Francesco who had first pick for his partner in the final. He chose South African Richard Payne while Albrecht picked old Malory foe Steve Fee. Francesco and Richard led for most of the match until Albrecht and Steve took the lead at 10-9 and closed out the match 15-9 (they use sideout scoring in this tournament).

Albrecht won a holiday but has refused to say who he will be taking away with him. Click on the photo for more images.

10/06/07 - Albrecht Glitz and Nik Ruh are celebrating tonight after winning the Volleyball England Beach Student Cup this weekend in Brighton. They beat Rob Flay and Barry McGuigan of Bath in the finals 2-1, coming back from losing the first set (the only set they dropped all weekend).

Nik's partner Kathleen helped make it a ULU double by winning the women's final with Gabi Medricka. They defeated defending champions Vicky Palmer and Kerri Olding of Bath. Kathleen and Gabi also lost the first set but came back to take the third set 15-6.

06/06/07 - Boris Halatchev and his wife Gergana are now the proud parents of Natalia. She was born on the 5th June and is 3.225 kg and 50 cm long. Mother and baby are both doing well. Danny Primus already has first signing rights for her first volleyball contract.

30/05/07 - You can read Andy Vincett's fourth letter from America here.

29/05/07 - Volleyball England's official magazine 3Touch Volleyball was relaunched this week with Docklands' cup final victory the main feature on the front page. The magazine also covers the awards night and has a special piece on volleyball in London.

Click on the front page to enlarge it.

If you would like access to the electronic version of 3Touch please let Andy Hopper know.

03/05/07 - Docklands' players and supporters gathered last night in the Blacksmiths Arms to watch the Cup Final on TV. In a specially arranged viewing Docklands took over half of the pub to celebrate their victory and re-live their double winning moment again.

Thanks to Gordon and all his staff at the Blacksmiths for their hospitality.

Click on the photo for more images.

29/04/07 - Last night Docklands were presented with the Division 1 trophy (looking suspiciously like the KO Cup). Danny Primus and Dejan Miladinovic were in Kettering to receive the trophy. Dejan also picked up his NVL MVP award.

Docklands were also joint runners up in the NVL promotional award with City of Bristol - congratulations to Newcastle Staffs who won the first prize.

Along with Cris Madeddu and Irene Croceri, Danny also collected the Women's Div 2 trophy for Swiss Cottage.

Click on Danny and Dejan for more photos.

24/04/07 - He won the MVP award for his performance in the Cup Final and now Dejan Miladinovic has achieved his own personal double after winning the NVL award as well. He shares the award with Manchester's Riccardo Senatore who also received 8 votes from opposition teams during the season.

Dejan will collect his award this Saturday at the Volleyball England Awards Dinner. Docklands will also receive their National League Division 1 trophy at the same event.

22/04/07 - The day after he scored the winning point in the cup final Albrecht Glitz said an emotional farewell to his Docklands team mates. Just over four years earlier he had received the first ever Black Knight award in Docklands' previous Cup Final win in 2003. He then donated the figure back to the club to act as the team's regular man of the match award. Therefore, after 98 Docklands appearances and a record 15 Black Knight awards it was only fitting that he received his very own Black Knight. He said, "He will have pride of place on my mantlepiece." He ripped open the box like an excited child on Christmas Day but had to get some adult help to release BK from his box. Click on the photo for more details.

The club and English Volleyball will miss Al. We all wish him well in Barcelona and hope to see him back again soon.

16/04/07 - It was announced today that Docklands' final against Malory will again be on Sky Sports. The schedule is:

2nd May 2007
8am Sky Sports 2
12pm Sky Sports 3
7pm Sky Sports Xtra
10pm Sky Sports Xtra

3rd May 2007
2am Sky Sports 3

29/03/07 - Inspired by Albrecht Glitz and Boris Halatchev's collection of training kit, Docklands held a retro training session tonight. Everyone managed to dig out their most garish kit from the past and wore it with pride. Otherwise training was as normal.

Click on the photo to see more.

26/03/07 - Following Docklands' first ever Division 1 title the messages of congratulation have been flooding in. Here are a few selected quotes:

Difficult to describe exactly how proud I am to have been part of what we did this weekend guys. I am obviously beyond gutted not to have been directly involved in any way this year but the regret and disappointment is so heavily outweighed by elation, pride and happiness for you guys so as not really to be worth worrying about.
Andy Vincett (Docklands 1996-)

Congratulations Ian and the rest of the squad for at last winning the league, its been a long time overdue and well deserved … pass on not only my congratulations but from all at City of Bristol.
Gary Burton (City of Bristol)

Guys - a momentous day! I knew you would do it this year but I am still awestruck!
What an amazing team. I am happy to count myself Docklands number 1 supporter in Sydney. (Nathan is number 2 but I have to pass him the updates). We'll down some beers for you - do the same for us.
Mike Lams (Docklands 1994-2004)

YiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I'm kind of speechless - great job guys!
Cyril Kubr (Docklands 2006)

Just wanted to offer my congratulations to all you guys. Well done for winning the league. Looks like I hung up bandanas one season too early. Classic Inglot timing.
Alex Inglot (Docklands 2005-2006)

Well done guys, dream came true!
Oleg Rak (Docklands 2000-2003)

PRIDE AND GLORY TO THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!! Now I want the Champions League! When and where the champions' party??? I miss U all
Patrick "the Helicopter" Cappellini (Docklands 2001-2002)

Congratulations guys, a job well done. I'm proud of the lot of ya.
Alex Porter (Docklands 1999-2000, 2006-)

Could you pass on our congratulations to the squad and coaching staff for his momentous achievement.
Mike Simmonds (Tower Hamlets Recorder)

Congratulations to you and your team for winning the league, you guys deserve it. However Riga will gladly take the title of your hands next year for you if you like!!!!
Chris Anderson (Warwick Riga)

13/02/07 - You can read Andy Vincett's third letter from America. Click here to read it!

04/02/07 - Albrecht Glitz has been visiting Andy Vincett in New York and shared in Docklands' thrilling five set victory over Warwick Riga yesterday. On a beach court "Al and Vince" re-enacted what they presumed was the final point ("Blakey sticking it to Riga through the middle...") - in fact the final rally saw Blakey blocking Kees de Hoogh. Then later Vincett also kindly summarised the result again high above Manhattan! Click on the photos to enlarge.

Glitz returns for Docklands' cup quarter final against Aquila Lynx next Saturday while Vincett still has another eleven months on secondment in NY.

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