This trophy is officially called the `Austria Trophy’. The reason for this is because it came from the town of Klagenfurt in Austria. It was originally a trophy won by a man called Stefan Modrisch for downhill skiing. So what’s the story behind it? Well in 1945 a young lady called Judit Brigitte Modrisch left Austria to make a new life for herself in England and, to cut a long story short, was taken in by my Mother-in-Law and given a home. Eventually, Brigitte (as she preferred to be known) changed her name by deed-poll to Angwin (my mother-in-law’s name). Stefan, Brigitte’s brother, died in the mid 90’s and Brigitte asked me if we had any use for a trophy. I thought it might not be a bad idea to present it to the winner of the Downhill Competition. I had the very great pleasure of meeting Stefan once in the mid 60’s when he was visiting Brigitte. He was a football referee and worked as a sports reporter for the Klagenfurt newspaper. He couldn’t speak a word of English and I couldn’t speak a word of either Austrian or German, but I remember we had a wonderful evening. Soccer and alcohol are great levellers.
The Downhill Competition was introduced in 1980. Ethel Broadbent and Ron `Nodder’ Johnson held the record with 4 victories apiece. This record has been eclipsed by Phil Fern who has won the trophy 9 times – an achievement he’s not too proud of! The current Trophy wasn’t introduced until 1993 when Dave Lay became the first holder.
Pete Levene.