It is not often that we learn of international matches that we are unaware of.

We recently received an enquiry from a regular contact in Dublin, asking if we had any information on the British teams that visited Europe in 1935 and 1937. We certainly had not as, in our records, the first British team was at the London Olympics of 1948 and, even then, not without a great deal of persuasion. Participation in the 1908 and 1920 Olympics had been as England and until 1948 no agreement could be reached to enable a British team to take part.

Research in the Museum discovered a four-page article by EAC Thompson in the 6 September 1935 issue of Hockey World on a European international tournament between 4-11 May, held under the patronage of the Brussels Exhibition that year. The event was organised by the Belgian Hockey Association and 'controlled' by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The British team was organised by the Hockey Association (HA).

It was described as "The most important of its kind yet held in Europe in the history of the game as, for the very first time, all the hockey countries in Europe were competitors": Austria, Belgium, a British International XI, France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. The grounds used were the Heysel Stadium and the Stade de l'Union St Gilloise.

The British team comprised 15 players, including four Irish and one Scot.

The article stated: "It was the first time a representative British hockey team had participated in a tournament comprising all the other European hockey playing nations and so carried a world-wide hockey interest. This tournament, of course, easily transcended in general interest the past Olympic hockey games, in-as-much as, although the Indians were absent at Brussels, a representative International British XI was included, thus creating the main interest."

The British team won all their games, beating Belgium 2-0, Austria 4-0, Spain 4-0 and Holland 1-0 before winning the final against Germany 3-2 with a goal in extra time. After 70 minutes the score was 2-2 with two ten-minute periods of extra time producing no further goals, and during which the Britons lost a forward with an eye injury. Bowing to the pleas of the spectators, it was then decided to play on until a goal was scored and R Whitlock obliged.

The article's author placed the teams in order of playing merit: the British and German teams equal, 3^rd Holland, 4^th France, 5^th Spain, 6^th Belgium, 7^th Switzerland, 8^th Austria. However, the FIH official classification was 1 England, 2 Germany, 3 Netherlands, 4 Spain, after semi-finals, 3^rd place and final were played.

A similar tournament was held in 1937 in Paris in conjunction with the Paris Exhibition but it was impossible to collect a representative British team. An effort was made to raise a wholly English team but the HA were unable to accept the invitation as a consequence of a previous ruling that only one foreign international match per annum could be played.

The German Hockey Association’s statistics also record a game in Munich in June 1938 between a British team and Germany, won 2-1 by Germany, but we have so far been unable to discover any more information on this event.

Although the Great Britain Hockey Board was not formally set up until 1947, in preparation for the London Olympics, all of the matches above appear in the international records of the countries concerned. These results are also verified and recorded by the FIH in their annual report of 1949. It is therefore a matter of very important debate as to how these matches are treated.

Photograph 1: The1935 British International team.

Photograph 2: The British team, about to board a German-built aircraft of SABENA, the Belgian airline.

Mike Haymonds, August 2015

The Hockey Museum (THM) Trustees are delighted to announce that the FIH Foundation for the Promotion & Development of Hockey (the FIH Foundation) and THM have signed an agreement (a Memorandum of Understanding) that formalises the collaboration between them to work together to preserve hockey’s heritage. The key aims are as follows:

• To provide opportunities to increase the visibility of the sport and to effectively celebrate the achievements and progress of hockey;
• To preserve an accurate story of hockey and provide access to authoritative historical archives and statistical data;
• To preserve and make available historical information and materials for use in a wide variety of ways e.g. for educational purposes and enquiries from hockey fans; and
• To work towards creating an international hockey museum and archives.

The agreement was signed in Antwerp during the recent ‘Road to Rio’ Olympic Qualifying Tournament and where THM had been invited to present to the FIH Foundation Meeting. This presentation outlined our vision - Giving Hockey’s History a Future - and key aims for the next five years. The presentation also detailed proposals for projects that will put THM on a sound and professional Museum footing and give us more clarity for how we take on the new international dimension to our remit.

The official press release can be found on the FIH website.

The FIH had considered setting up an FIH Museum in Lausanne but when their President, Leandro Negre, visited us in Woking during 2014 and saw what the Museum had already achieved through the efforts of an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and professional volunteer team with a ‘can do’ mentality there was a rethink. He then encouraged the FIH to put its support behind The Hockey Museum setup to take a lead in tackling hockey’s worldwide heritage challenge. The fact that the FIH, hockey’s world governing body, has gone into partnership with us is a fantastic vote of confidence in THM and its ability to bring something unique and worthwhile to the table.

The Museum’s first task under this new partnership will be to review the current position worldwide in relation to the collection, cataloguing, preservation & display of hockey’s heritage with a view to developing a collaborative approach to ensuring that more of our sport’s fascinating heritage is saved and made available to the wider hockey family and beyond. The work, to be led by an academic, will also set the framework for an exciting project to research, collate and publish an authoritative history of hockey ahead of the FIH Centenary in 2024.

Katie Dodd, 15 July 2015

Jean-Pierre Strebel (FIH Foundation Treasurer), Katie Dodd (THM Chair) and Leandro Negre (FIH President) sign the MOU.

On 10^th June a sports exhibition titled Team Spirit opens at the Orleans Gallery in Richmond. We have provided some material relevant to their area. Also, at the moment, we have material in an exhibition in Alford Manor House in Lincolnshire to celebrate their local patron who was a hockey enthusiast. So, very soon our little museum will be helping two exhibitions with their displays. Not bad, in my opinion; and in August it will be three.

Mike Smith, 2 May 2015

FIH President Pays Whistle Stop Visit To The Hockey Museum

Players in the Mercian Home Counties Colts Hockey League Finals at Guildford received a surprise visit when the International Hockey Federation (FIH) president, Leandro Negre, called in to make some presentations. He then went on to Woking to visit The Hockey Museum, where he toured their new premises and met volunteers.

The visit, which was masterminded by Mercian League President and founder of Mercian, Mike Smith, was as a result of his asking Leandro if he would consider an award to recognise the work of Mercian League Secretary, David Gunn, and Treasurer, Janet Gunn, who have been organising the Mercian League for 40 years. The FIH President was due to fly to India via Heathrow and offered to make the presentations himself whilst in England. Before leaving for India Leandro returned to Heathrow via The Hockey Museum.

Photos: www.hockeyimages.co.uk
Mike Haymonds, 1 May 2015

Leandro Negre meets some of the team at The Hockey Museum. From left to right: Mike Smith (Curator), Marcus Wardle (volunteer), Lynne Morgan (Chair of the Management Committee), Leandro Negre (FIH President), Martin Ellis (volunteer) and Doreen Brown (volunteer).