Posted Jul 27th 2007, 2:28pm

Farewell to Lambs

It was an emotional end of an era at Lambs club last night, as the "Wimbledon of Squash" hosted its last professional match before its courts are demolished to make way for an apartment block.

Over the years the game's greatest have performed at the club - tucked away in the heart of the City of London.

Its fabled number two exhibition court is one of the best places to watch - and play - the sport. From the portraits of champions hanging over the action, to the resounding thwack a well-struck ball generates from
its walls - this is an arena that Time magazine described as "the closest thing to a spiritual home for the game of squash".

Incredibly sad then to see it go.

But even though Thursday's exhibition - between former world number one Peter Nicol, and his friend, former world top 20 player and Lamb's general manager, Tim Garner - was a farewell, there was plenty to celebrate for supporters of the sport.

A vigorous campaign is underway to find a new venue for members - and every success to it. Because I think it proves that the soul of the game can never be bulldozed or sold, as it is something carried by its
players.

For me, the real guardians of the sport are its enthusiasts. From the outside, even the best squash can be dismissed, because it is not understood. Only when - through bitter experience - you know how hard it is to hit those shots or chase them down - can you be spellbound that it can be done so consistently, and in the face of such pressure.

So in the years to come, when Lambs has long been erased by condominiums - I believe the club will still be thriving.

And in the soon-to-be apartment block itself, perhaps the poltergeists of members past will keep alive the memory of battles fought there - great and insignificant, of the friendships forged, and of a game loved.

I like to imagine a future tenant, woken late at night by the crack, crack of a rally deep in the bowels of the building; finding the ghosts of champions fighting for a point, and a packed gallery roaring approval as a ferocious scramble ends with the ball buried in the nick.