MARLOW Hockey Club are celebrating arguably their greatest ever accolade this week after winning England Hockey’s Team of the Year award.

Their men’s second team were nominated last year but went one better this year by taking the gong outright at a prestigious ceremony at Bisham Abbey.

They were recognised as the most deserving team throughout the country after wrapping up an unprecedented sixth promotion in a row this season.

The journey began in 2008/09 when they won the MBBO Regional Division Five. They haven’t paused to look around since then though and have just won promotion to the MBBO Regional Premier 1, coming through a division including seven first teams.

Richard Clee, who captained the side for the first three seasons of their remarkable rise and, along with Robert Gerrits and Trevor Jackson, has played every year of the run, said: “It has been the Indian summer of my hockey playing life and one that I would never have imagined six seasons ago when I stepped down from the first team to captain the second team.

“We were disappointed not to win the award last year, so it was a sweet moment to hear Simon Mason [ex GB keeper] read out our name.”

Marlow’s record in the last six years is phenomenal, going up four times as champions and twice as runners up.

From 130 league games played, they have won 103 with a win ratio of just shy of 80 per cent.

They have also scored 533 goals in that time, averaging more than four goals a game.

Just to cap off their achievement, Marlow also reached the last eight of the National Second Team Cup and won the Bucks Cup.