Nuffield St Albans were handed the Herts Division One Squash League title when Bishops Stortford failed to put a team together.

Nuffield team captain Tom James offered to reschedule the match but the league authorities were strict in applying the rules which provided the team with maximum points.

James said: “Especially after our magnificent win against Broxbourne, the result against Stortford was a bit of an anti-climax. But, we’ve proved that we are the best team in the league with only two losses over the whole season. We deserve to be champions.”

It is over 20 years since a St Albans team has even been in a position to win the championship, but Nuffield have been active in developing squash through their international world-class coach John Milton. He has been backed to introduce a long-term athlete development plan that caters for squash players from an introductory age of three, all the way up to professional level. It even goes beyond that with several octogenarians regularly playing at the club.

Over the last few seasons the Premier Squash League in Hertfordshire has seen a steady rise in standard.

Now it includes several teams that have professional players playing for them, which has increased the level of interest in the league and attracted a larger audience to most games.

Winning the league is an important step in the plan. It allows Milton’s young professional players to develop as a team and as individuals, experiencing some of the pressures they will have to get used to in their professional careers. He has helped produce five world top 10 ranked players during his career, including the current world number six, Borja Golan from Spain.

The club will compete in next season’s national club championships, whilst Milton is also looking to enter a team into the PSL (Professional Squash League), which is the world’s premier squash league.

The club are actively looking for sponsorship for this project, which would see most of the world’s top players visiting the club.