The official Launch Party for the long awaited first hockey museum in the world, The Hockey Museum, took place at Woking in England today. A large gathering of leading hockey officials, local dignitaries and archive enthusiasts attended the opening held at the Museum which is at Butts Road in the Surrey town of Woking.

The Museum's trustees were able to announce that the Museum has been granted charitable status. They also received their first donation, a cheque for £3000 from the family of the late Barbara and Nevill Miroy. The Miroys have made the biggest contribution to the Museum so far, a huge collection of archives.

Most aspects of the Museum's already extensive collection of archives were on display today. Pride of place was given to the biggest ever collection of medals won by British players at the Olympics. It included gold medals from 1908 and 1988 and the bronze medal won by Britain's Helen Richardson at the 2012 Games.

Thanks to the many generous gifts received, the collection includes archives representing every aspect of hockey. Today's visitors were able to watch hockey videos, and saw specialist displays relating to the Miroy collection, the 2012 Olympic Games, the Wembley internationals and, uniquely, a display on the early days of mixed hockey. The Museum already contains the world's biggest collection of hockey books and magazine, some dating back to 1893. Every aspect of our great sport was also featured, including sticks of all ages, balls, uniforms, equipment, photographs, pictures and prints – some illustrations over 100 years old – trophies, programmes, brochures, club histories, stamps, postcards, pins and pennants.

The six Trustees and founders of the Museum are Katie Dodd (Chair), Dil Bahra, Patrick Rowley, Mike Smith, David Wareham and Ian Wilson. Katie Dodd is a non-Executive Director of the England Hockey Board and a former England indoor and outdoor international; Dil Bahra, a former Secretary of the Hockey Writers Club and webmaster; Patrick Rowley a hockey author, broadcaster and journalist; Mike Smith, the Founder of the well-known sports goods firm Mercian; David Wareham a chartered surveyor and former hockey umpire; and Ian Wilson, the Treasurer of the England Hockey Board.

The Museum is open only by appointment at the moment.

British hockey olympian, Sir Derek Day carried the Olympic Torch at Copthorne, near East Grinstead on 17 July 2012. Sir Derek, who won a Bronze medal playing for Great Britain at the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952 played hockey for England, Cambridge, Southgate and East Grinstead hockey clubs. He played in goal.

The photograph shows him playing in goal for England against South Africa at Reading on 23 March 1957.

Dil Bahra, August 2012

At the time of writing, forty-two countries have played men's hockey at Olympic Games since hockey was first played at the London 1908 Olympic Games. These are the leading nations in terms of Olympic Games appearances: India top the table with 19 appearances followed by Germany with 18; Netherlands have played 17 times, as have Great Britain (15 times as GB and twice as England); Spain and Pakistan have 16 appearances each; Australia have had 14 appearances; Belgium have played 13 times; New Zealand, 11; and Argentina,10.

Dil Bahra, August 2012

Wansbrough is a well known name in Australian hockey circles. Father Colin used to be the Australian manager and son, David, was a highly successful player for Australia. What no one knew was that Colin Wansbrough played against the great Indian centre forward Balbir Singh. This was only revealed when we ran our story "Hockey At The Royal Opera House" earlier this month.

Our item pointed up that Balbir is one of 16 great Olympians whose personal stories are featured as part of The Olympic Journey: The Story of the Games at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden from Saturday 28 July until Sunday 12 August.

Colin, now aged 76, was Vice President and Treasurer of the Australian Hockey Association from 1984 to 1993. He writes:

"You may find this hard to believe, but I actually played against Balbir Singh in a practice match between my club Camberwell and India prior to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. I took the day off work, illegally, to play at Elsternwick Park and they beat us 13-0. I was centre half and Balbir led the Indian attack. He scored eight goals. The Indian goalkeeper played for us in the second half. Balbir presented me with his stick after the game. How good was that?

"That night the Camberwell team were the guests of the Indian team for dinner at the Olympic Village in Heidelberg. This was my first very hot curry. Charlie Morley organised it and Mike Craig, Ric Purser, Bill Horman, Ron Legg, Al C, etc. all played. The next day there was a photo of Balbir and I in a newspaper. I was unaware of that and got caught out as I was supposedly at my grandma's funeral."

Dil Bahra, July 2012

The Royal Opera House and BP have joined forces with The Olympic Museum in Lausanne to create a unique exhibition telling the Olympic story through the endeavours of ancient and modern Olympians. Hockey is represented in the Olympic story by the experiences of Balbir Singh 'Senior', the triple Olympic gold medallist, who is one of 16 iconic olympians featured in this free exhibition.

Balbir rose to fame at the London 1948 Olympic Games where he spearheaded India's attack in the final at the old Wembley Stadium against Great Britain. India won 4-0 and Balbir went on to win further gold medals for India at Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956 where he was captain. Balbir's five goals in India's 6-1 win over Holland in the Helsinki Final is still an Olympic record which is featured in the Guinness Book Of Records.

The Hockey Museum were delighted to co-ordinate Balbir's visit to the Royal Opera House last week and other events during his short stay in London.

The exhibition will run from Saturday 28 July to Sunday 12 August 2012, 10am to 7pm each day.

Dil Bahra, July 2012

Gerald Logan (born 29 December 1879) played hockey for England at the London 1908 Olympic Games, scoring 3 goals in England's 8-1 win over Ireland in the Final.

His gold medal has been loaned to The Hockey Museum (THM) by his great nephew, Nigel Bates. It was left to Nigel by Gerald Logan's wife, Alix, in her will as he was the only member of the family that played hockey.

Nigel Bates is currently living in the Cayman Islands and is the Vice President of Cayman Islands Hockey Club. He played for St Albans Hockey Club and Broxbourne Hockey Club before moving to the Cayman Islands nine years ago.

The gold medal was brought to THM today by Nigel's parents and the Museum were able to show them the team sheets of Gerald Logan's 9 appearances for England between 1906 and 1909. Gerald played for South, Surrey and Hampstead Hockey Club. THM presented Mr and Mrs Bates with a team photo of the 1906 England team taken before the England v. Scotland match.

Dil Bahra, June 2012

Shinobu Akimoto, an Associate Professor from Kobe University in Japan, who is a specialist in hockey history with particular interest in mixed hockey in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, visited The Hockey Museum yesterday. Akimoto is a visiting researcher at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University, Leicester.

During his research, he found a 1906 article in Illustrated News on mixed hockey being played at Bath Hockey Club. His research at The British Library, London, was fruitless as they did not have any material on Bath Hockey Club. He found our website, contacted us and was very pleased to discover that among our Club History collection we had the History of Bath Hockey Club, 1889-1989.

Akimoto was so impressed with our collection that he extended his visit and has arranged to come for a whole day on 19 June. He stated that he had never seen so many hockey items under one roof and said this was a researcher's paradise!

Dil Bahra, June 2012

Around 50 former hockey players, including eight olympians, will turn out to play in a charity golf tournament at East Berkshire Golf Club (EBGC), in aid of the On Course Foundation, on Thursday 24 May.

The day has been organised by Chris Langhorne, the 1964 and 1972 Olympian who is this year's captain at EBGC. The charity was created to provide injured servicemen and women the opportunity to participate in golf and ultimately provide employment within the golf and other related industries. On Course was the brainchild of John Simpson who is a former Senior Vice President of International Management Group (IMG) and former manager of Nick Faldo (among many others). Simpson was inspired to found the On Course Foundation after visiting Headley Court (the British Military rehabilitation centre) in 2009 and being moved by what he saw.

The hockey olympians joining Langhorne on Thursday are Freddy Scott (1956 and '60), Mike Corby (1964 and '72), Alan Page (1964), Malcolm Read (1968), Keith Sinclair (1968 and '72), Graham Evans (1972) and John French (1972). French who plays these days for England Veterans, scored the fastest recorded goal in an international hockey match. He gave England the lead against Germany at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in April 1971 in seven seconds. It proved to be the only goal of the game.

Patrick Rowley, May 2012

Stephen Hammond MP and Philip Alexander scored for Parliament as they beat Blackheath Hockey Club 2-0 in a game played under the 1861 rules to mark the 150^th anniversary of hockey. The game was played on Blackheath Common, the site of the original pitch north of All Saints Church.

1861 Rules (Union)

1. The pitch shall be 180 yards long by 80 yards wide. The Length and Breadth shall be marked off with flags.
2. The goal posts shall be 10 yards apart, 7 feet high with a tape across the top.
3. Sides shall comprise of 15 players: a goalkeeper, 2 backs, 2 three-quarter backs, 3 flagmen, and 7 forwards.
4. The game shall be commenced and renewed by a chop in the centre of the field.
5. The bung shall be of rubber with shaved corners and must be struck with the stick. In the general game it may not be kicked or thrown. The bung may be stopped but not carried or knocked on by any part of the body or stick.
6. No player may raise his stick above his shoulder.
7. The ball shall be played from right to left and no left or back handed play, charging, tripping, collaring, kicking or shinning shall be allowed. There shall be no cross hitting or hacking, particularly during niggling.
8. If a player should hit the bung into touch, a member of the opposite side shall roll the bung in from the touchline at the point where it went out, at right angles to the touchline. It must go 10 yards and touch the ground before it is in play. The player rolling in may not touch the bung until it has been touched by another player, every player then being behind the bung.
9. When the bung is hit over the goal line by a member of the attacking team, other than when a goal is scored, it shall be brought out straight 15 yards and started again with a chop.
10. If hit behind by a player whose goal line it is, it shall be hit out by a member of the opposing side from within 1 yard of the nearest corner post, and no player shall be allowed nearer than 20 yards until hit out.
11. No player shall be allowed to loiter within 40 yards of the goal of the opposite side unless the ball is between him and his opponents' goal.
12. The Umpire shall blow a whistle to halt play in the event of an offence. A chop shall take place at the point of the infringement. If, in the opinion of the umpire, the offence is serious or in cases of persistent transgression, a hit will be awarded.
13. The punishment for a dangerous breach of the sticks rule, or persistent foul play, will be a shinning. The offender will be struck on the shins with a stick by a member of the opposing team. Any player proved wilfully to have struck another is at once excluded from the game.

Dil Bahra, May 2012

Earlier today a record was broken at Haslemere Hockey Club during the South League Playoffs. The first Semi Final match between Fareham 2^nd XI and Horsham 1^st XI was interupted by heavy rain and eventually the took four hours and three minutes to complete. We believe that this is the longest game in the history of the South League; unless you know better? For the record, the final result was a 7-5 victory for Horsham.

History is not just about what happened ages ago. What happens today is the history of tomorrow. At The Hockey Museum we are trying to collect together and record everything we can form the long and rich history of hockey, right up to today. If you have any information or would like to be a part of The Hockey Museum, do please contact us.

Mike Smith, 29 April 2012