John Foy

John Foy was an outstanding defender and captain. He played his club lacrosse for the Cheshire club Mellor, joining them as a teenager in 1926, and progressed through the ranks, eventually making the first team in 1934. In the three years from 1935-37, Mellor won both the Northern Senior Flags and England Championships. Foy played continually for Cheshire from 1935-52, and in 1937, scored in the 18-3 win over Middlesex that secured the County Championship. That same year, he played against the visiting American All Stars three times, for Mellor, The North, and England. He also played for England against the United States at the White City, in the first recognised international match in England since 1908. During the War, Foy served in India and on resumption of his lacrosse career after the hostilities, he again both won the Northern Flags and England Championships with Mellor in 1948, when he also competed at the Olympic Games, when lacrosse was seen at the Olympics for the last time.

Appointed captain of Cheshire in 1949, Foy captained England v Lord Robinson’s XII at Lord’s in both 1950 and 1951, and also skippered Great Britain, the North of England, and Cheshire three times against Yale University, during the American’s visit to Britain in 1950. Foy continued playing for the Mellor first team in the top division of the North of England, until 1960.