Is this the beginning of the end of hockey as we know it?
The introduction of Hockey 5s for the first time at a senior international tournament in the Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea this summer was a potentially ground-breaking moment in the history of hockey. It is a format that was also used in last year’s Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China, although the International Hockey Federation (FIH) have since moved to introduce a six-a-side format for such future competitions.
It could be the start of a move away from the traditional eleven-a-side hockey that is currently regarded as the norm.
With continued pressure for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to curb athlete numbers at Olympic Games, could this new version of hockey replace the current version at Games in the future?
Click the icon to the right to download a transcript of Richard Ewart’s article, published in Field Hockey Magazine on 17 July 2015, titled "New Format The Key To A Brighter Future For Pacific Hockey?"
Pat Rowley, 14 December 2015
The Hockey Museum (THM) is delighted to announce that Karen Clarke will be joining us early in the new year to become our Collections Management Officer. Karen has a superb pedigree in the field of museum accreditation and collections management. She comes to us from the Hampshire Cultural Trust where she has been Museum Registrar for the past year. Before that she spent 14 years as Museum Registrar in the Hampshire Arts and Museums Service.
In those roles she has project managed the delivery of Accreditation and advised independent museums on their accreditation documentation and has managed a substantial MODES (the museum cataloguing software) database of over 230,000 records and 80,000 images, maintaining standards and implementing terminology control. Karen also has a depth of experience in training and managing volunteers and in developing and implementing collections management policies and plans.
The position of Collections Management Officer is THM’s first professional appointment and this very positive move has been possible through the support given to us by the International Hockey Federation. THM is looking to achieve Museum Accreditation during 2016 and Karen is just the person we need to take us through this process and on to the next stage of our development as a fully functioning and innovative museum.
We know you will all give her all your support and we look forward to a very progressive and bright year ahead under her guidance.
Katie Dodd, Chair of THM Trustees
Organisation: The Hockey Museum
Location: UK, Surrey, Woking
Closing date: 27 November 2015
Job type: contract
Salary: budget in the region of £10,000
The Hockey Museum (THM), supported by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), plans to carry out a scoping study that will define an approach to the task of developing a worldwide network of hockey archives and researchers. This network will then need to support the collation and publication of an authoritative history of the world game. THM is looking for someone who is interested in leading this innovative and exciting study. The individual should have demonstrable academic research skills, experience of working in the heritage sector and a proven record of running challenging projects of this nature.
The work is expected to take in the region of 6-9 months and will be overseen by Katie Dodd, Chair of THM. A budget in the region of £10,000 has been allocated for this contract. The fee is to include all expenses, including travel. The work will need to be completed by 12th November 2016 ahead of the next FIH World Congress in Dubai.
The full study brief can be downloaded by clicking the pdf icon to the right.
The closing date for applications is 27 November 2015 with interviews in mid December.
Please submit your tender, to include your response to the brief, a method statement, relevant experience, fee and timetable in no more than two sides of A4 along with the names and contact details of two referees to Katie Dodd (see contact form).
As the clocks go back The Hockey Museum continues to move forward. Grab a cuppa and enjoy the read...
What an exciting and successful summer for The Hockey Museum! In early July we went into partnership with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to support them in one of their stated aims of preserving and celebrating the world-wide heritage of hockey. We were also successful in a bid to the FIH for funding to employ a Collections Management Officer (CMO) who will lead our work to gain Museum Accreditation status in early 2016. We advertised earlier in the autumn and hope to have someone in post by late November. The FIH has also supported us in a project to help define an approach to the task of developing a worldwide network of hockey archives and researchers that will enable us to collate and publish an authoritative history of our game. A challenging task in itself but one that we’re looking forward to taking on. Look out for the advert in the near future.
August saw us put on our biggest Museum Exhibition stand to date at the European Hockey Championships held at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. With 16 men’s and women’s national teams competing, it was the biggest hockey event that England Hockey (EH) has staged and over 35,000 spectators attended over the 10 days. The Museum had a very smart Exhibition stand and we were able to display a wide selection of items from our collection including hockey outfits from different eras of hockey fashion, a selection of original ‘hockey in art’ items, a display of 125 years of Wimbledon LHC, original archive material from the beginning of the 20th century, displays of pin badges, stamps and postcards and the ever popular range of old hockey sticks and balls. We also had a large screen TV where we showed cine-film footage of coaching sessions and matches from the mid 20th century.
One of the biggest impacts we made at the event came from the 60 metre (yes, 60 metres!) Hockey Timeline that was displayed along one whole wall of the Spectator Plaza. The series of images over 19 panels represent key points in the development of hockey from the Egyptians in 2000BC to the present day. The Timeline was a real show stopper and was designed and produced by a team from THM and EH that was lead by Martin Ellis, one of the Museum volunteers. The whole timeline can now be seen on this website.
Another new innovation for us was to include an Oral Histories booth as part of our stand. With the support of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, we have recently started an Oral Histories project and Evelyn Somerville, our volunteer lead, managed to complete 17 interviews with people with a range of hockey backgrounds: from Leandro Negre (the current FIH President) to Monica Pickersgill (the former AEWHA President); from Hamish Jameson (a current FIH Umpire) to Robert Adams who at 85 is the oldest known hockey player. A great start to what will be a very exciting project for us.
Over the whole event, we had in excess of 4500 visitors to our stand. They were of all ages and came from around the UK, across Europe and even some from Australia and the USA. We made some excellent new contacts and promises of some fascinating new archive and artefact material. People are obviously expecting to see us at these events as we received over 20 small collections. It was particularly fascinating to hear some of the stories sparked by the sight of a photograph or a match programme or kit from the 1930s. We heard about four generations of hockey players from Spain from the current ladies captain on the pitch that day, through two other generations who were there supporting and another one at home watching the TV – we saw photos of them all. Many more stories and images can be found on THM Facebook page.
Back in Woking, the work of the volunteers continues apace this autumn as more archive material and fascinating stories continue to arrive every week. Look out for new stories and features as we post these on our newly launched website. There will be regular ‘Hockey in 50 Objects’ and ‘Hockive Facts’ features as well as the usual News items and other feature articles. Please get in touch with Mike Smith, the Curator, via our contact form if you have any items or news stories that you would like to share with us.
Our next event at the Museum will be on Thursday 5 November 2015 when Janet Beverley, a former Australian international, will be speaking on the subject of “Australian Women’s Hockey: from England with Love”. Janet is currently registered for a PhD at the University Of Queensland and will be over in England spending a week at The Hockey Museum as part of her research. The talk will start at 2.00pm and all are invited to attend; click here for more details. Please contact Katie Dodd via our contact form if you are interested in attending.
Katie Dodd, Chair of THM Trustees
One of The Hockey Museum’s (THM) volunteers, Peter Jackson, has been involved in the hockey research that supported the recent publication of the book Ireland’s Call: Irish Sporting Heroes Who Fell in the Great War, (published by Merrion Press) written by BBC journalist, Stephen Walker.
The book follows the fascinating stories of 40 Irishmen who swapped the sports field for the battlefield; household names who gave up their careers to volunteer for war. Using letters, memoirs and newspaper reports, it features the stories of international footballers, rugby players, cricketers, GAA stars, athletes and hockey players, whose lives ended in the mud of the Somme, the despair of Ypres and the heat of Gallipoli.
The charming yet poignant stories includes one about the Rev. Cecil Morrison, his hockey journey and the subsequent calling from his church ministry at All Saint's Church in Hoole to becoming 2nd Lieutenant in the Cheshire Regiment before being killed in action on 13 November 1916. It is a very moving story. On joining the army, his parishioners presented him with a communion set. It was returned to All Saint's after the war by his family and is still in use today.
The Ireland Hockey team that played Wales in 1912. Robert Morrison is sitting at the front on the left. Beside him is Harold Simms and behind him sits the captain, Edmund Smyth. All three would die in the Great War (picture courtesy of Irish Hockey).
Among other stories, the book also follows the remarkable journey of Basil Maclear, the rugby centre who capped 11 times for Ireland and captained Munster when they played the All Blacks in 1905; Frank Browning, an Irish international cricketer and President of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) who went on to set up the 'Rugby Pals' Battalion based in Lansdowne Road; and the story of Barney Donaghey from Derry who played for Man Utd, Burnley, Celtic, Hibs, Belfast Celtic and Glentoran, and who was ultimately killed at the Battle of the Somme. A century on, their sacrifice is recorded in this unique and moving chronicle. A full review of the book appeared in the Belfast Telegraph.
Peter Jackson has been very active with others, such as Peter Agnew, in the campaign to document and preserve Ireland’s hockey heritage. There is now a Facebook page dedicated to Irish Hockey Archives. Peter is a current member of the Irish Hockey Board and has held many positions in Irish hockey over the years including the Irish men’s First Team Manager. Hockey is very much a Jackson family passion as wife Jennifer is a medical officer for the Irish men’s setup and son John, has 185 caps for Ireland and is a member of the Reading squad.
Mike Smith, THM Curator, is also undertaking a project to record Hockey’s Military Stories (HMS). He already has many fascinating and amazing stories of both hockey men and women who were involved in some way with not only with WW1 and WW2, but in other major conflicts since the Boer War. If you know of any such stories, please contact Mike Smith using our contact form.
Katie Dodd, 18 October 2015
Photo: Australian touring team 1970. Janet Beverly is in the back row, third from the right.
On Thursday 5 November 2015 Australian international hockey player Janet Beverly will be presenting a talk entitled Australian Women's Hockey: From England With Love at The Hockey Museum, Woking. For more details visit the Upcoming Events page or download the flier by clicking on the icon below.
The Hockey Museum, Woking, Surrey.
Collections Management Officer
Average 3 days a week - flexible
Expected remuneration: c. £20k - 23k pro rata
Fixed term 1 year, with potential to extend. Freelancers welcome to apply.
The Hockey Museum (THM) opened in late 2011, achieved charitable status later that year and is working toward Museum Accreditation. There is now an urgent project to have the collections management policy well embedded through documented and managed procedures, the existing backlog of collections accessioned and catalogued to SPECTRUM standards, and a team of trained volunteers able to carry on the work.
We are looking for an enthusiastic Collections Management Officer with proven collections management skills, a meticulous attention to detail and outstanding organisational skills to oversee this project to standards required by Accreditation Section 2: Collections. This will extend to overseeing the digitisation of the Museum’s extensive collections across all media platforms, including specifying the protocols for metatagging and enhancing the user experience.
To apply please email a covering letter and a CV to Evelyn Somerville (THM HR manager) via our contact form.
Closing date for applications: 4th October 2015. Interviews will be mid October 2015.
Full job specification downloadable below.
Wednesday 9 September 2015, the day that our Queen Elizabeth II became the longest serving monarch in British history. Very significant coverage has been given to this event in all forms of the media.
On the morning, BBC Radio Five Live had a wide ranging feature that included an interview with Ric Charlesworth, the well known Australian hockey player and coach, live from Perth in Australia where it was 5.30 in the afternoon.
It became clear that the reason for the interview was that Ric was born on the exact day that the Queen became our monarch – so he is as old as the Queen has reigned.
Mike Smith, September 2015
As the Champions of Europe were triumphantly crowned on the field, we celebrated (off the field!) our largest ever exhibition.
We hope you enjoyed watching the Unibet EuroHockey Championships 2015 either on TV, through the various website channels, or live at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
If you visited The Hockey Museum (THM), either at the Olympic Park or at the Masters tournaments held at Old Loughtonians and Southgate Hockey Clubs, thank you.
The Museum’s EuroHockey exhibition, which featured historical video footage and artefacts from the early years as well as a giant illustrated timeline that charted the history of hockey and stretched the length of the stadium (below), was a fantastic success. Manned by a team of Museum volunteers, it welcomed an estimated 4,500 visitors during the ten day tournament and we received some fantastic feedback which made it all worthwhile.
A number of hockey artefacts were donated and will augment our collection, as well as promises of additional items that are currently languishing in cupboards and lofts as well as a number of old club records. Members of many of the competing teams and national associations, including the FIH and EHF, visited and promised to donate items. Wolfgang Hillmann, President of Deutscher Hockey Bund (DHB), donated a set of indoor goalkeeping kit from the 1970s (above left with THM Trustee Dil Bahra) and the Polish delegates added a number of hockey stamps to the Museum’s collection. We will certainly give them all a safe home.
During the tournament, we received nearly 200 enquiry forms. If you were one of these, we aim to respond to all enquiries by the end of the month, and to offers to donate artefacts to the museum in this timescale too.
The Championships also provided the Museum with a platform to launch its Oral Histories project which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Oral history is the recording of a person’s memories. It is the living history of a person’s unique life experience and preserves their past for the future. A booth was set up in the exhibition stand and a number of hockey personalities including Leandro Negre, Roger Self (right with THM Oral Histories lead Evelyn Sommerville), Anne Ellis, Martin Gotheridge and Bernie Cotton were interviewed.
Once again, many thanks for your support for The Hockey Museum and we look forward to seeing you soon. On Wednesday 30 September, as part of National Heritage Day, THM will be hosting an Open Day at Woking and we plan to be open on a regular basis in the New Year; we also hope to be exhibiting at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in June 2016 during the Women's Champions Trophy.
Mike Smith and Dil Bahra, September 2015
Our latest newsletter is now available to download. Catch up on all the latest going ons at The Hockey Museum by following this link.
Shane Smith, 20 August 2015
The Irish have done some great research work to pull together a full record of all the men’s international matches since the first game in 1895. The task has been completed by Steve Hines who admitted that it had been a labour of love to develop the database since he took over as senior men’s manager in 2001 and realised how poor the records were. He has also presented some fascinating analysis of the statistics and you can read his report in full by clicking on the PDF icon to the right. This report first appeared on the Irish Hockey website earlier this year.
The Hockey Museum is hopefully not too far behind as we have embarked on a project to digitise all the England and Great Britain men’s and women’s match and player records from the manual records developed in the 1980/90s by Bob Mason and Teresa Morris. We are aware that Hockey Australia has computerised its match records but we would be very interested to know of other Countries who have got their historic match records on computer as this will be invaluable when we begin to work with the International Hockey Federation to try and compile a record of all international matches ever played.
Contact the Museum if you have any information (contact form).
Katie Dodd, 14 August 2015
Blasts From The Past: An Introduction
This features page includes articles from hockey's rich history. With the ever increasing activity of The Hockey Museum, our research is constantly coming across fascinating stories from throughout the sport's history and across the hockey world. These are not current news stories although some may have been when they occurred....
AWRE Hockey Club: Explosive Hockey Played in 1950s Berkshire
Last weekend saw the release of the much-anticipated biographical film Oppenheimer, which tells the story of the American nuclear physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, often recognised as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’. Situated in a remote part of New Mexico, USA, the secret Los Alamos Laboratory was established by the...
An ‘Anglo-Welsh’ hockey honours cap
A recent addition to our ever-increasing collection at THM, a beautiful Welsh honours cap, has come to us from the family of William Richard Edwards who played for Wales between 1929 and 1931. William was born, lived and died in England but with Welsh ancestry he played hockey for...
A postcard home … to France in 1906
Whilst looking at this picture, consider that the first ladies’ hockey in England – indeed the world – began less than twenty years before this photograph was taken. This really was at the dawn of women's hockey! The postcard is from a French girl writing home to her...
Sikhs, Lord’s and Hockey
The following article was written and researched by former trustee of The Hockey Museum Dil Bahra for fieldhockey.com. It is reproduced here for posterity. Dil is author of the website sikhsinhockey.com which highlights the contribution and achievements of Sikh hockey athletes. The names of Sikh players are emphasised in bold...
The hockey story of Shalford church’s ecclesiastical cloth is not fabricated
The altar at St Mary’s Chruch, Shalford in Surrey.Photographs courtesy of St Mary’s Church Shalford’s vicar, Rev’d Sarah Lloyd, and parish administrator, Kate Waldock. Steve Woodward, a hockey player and international umpire, who died in 1992, has an unusual memorial: an altar cloth in his local church....
Core of 'The Apple' reflected in Hampshire church window
If you ever have cause to visit St John the Baptist Church in Burley, Hampshire, in the UK, be sure to look out for the hockey sticks! For among its many memorials is a stained-glass window dedicated to Constance Applebee, the British woman credited with popularising hockey among women in...
Len Smith’s Sportswear and designs on further clothing research
Royal Ascot Hockey Club's Royal Stewart tartan skirt, produced and sold by Len Smith's. From The Hockey Museum's collection. Following on from mention of Len Smith’s Sportswear Ltd. in a recent article about the introduction of VAT in 1971, several volunteers at The...
Maurice Turnbull: Britain’s most complete all-round sportsman?
August 2024 will mark the 80th anniversary of the sad death of a long-forgotten Welsh sportsman, the unique Maurice Turnbull, who was killed in action in France at the climax of World War 2. Why unique? Maurice has the distinction of having been a ‘quadruple international’ gaining honours for...
Eustace E White: Hockey Field’s Educator Editor
Eustace E White. The life of Eustace E White Mr Eustace E White was the Editor of Hockey Field and Lacrosse magazine (aka Hockey Field). The magazine was shocked to learn his sudden death on 8 December 1922, due to a second heart attack whilst in Nottingham during...
How the introduction of VAT impacted club hockey in the UK
Len Smith’s was a renowned shop in Twickenham, Greater London, which sold women’s sporting attire to hockey clubs. It is perhaps most famous for its skirts (pictured), even fitting out the England national team. The introduction of Value-added tax (VAT) into the UK on...
Women’s History Month 2023: Biddy Burgum’s fascinating life in hockey
Biddy Burgum's scrapbook which chronicles England women vs Belgium at Empire Stadium, Wembley in 1953. March 2023 is the 70th anniversary of England women’s thumping 11-0 victory over Belgium at Wembley Stadium – a match played in front of an impressive 50,000-strong crowd of mainly schoolgirls....
The British and the Origins of Hockey in Italy
This article is inspired by the research of the writer and journalist Pier Angelo Rossi, whose work was shared with The Hockey Museum by our Italian friends at HockeyLove.it, Riccardo Giorgini and Luciano Pinna. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the region of Liguria in north-western Italy witnessed an influx...
50th anniversary of the introduction of substitutes
The International Hockey Rules Board minute book. The book is held in the collection of The Hockey Museum on loan from the International Hockey Federation (FIH). In March 1973 at its third meeting held in London, the International Hockey Rules Board approved a new rule introducing up to...
The creation of umpiring structures for women in 1923
“Men have helped us in the past … until we are able to stand on our own legs, and we now look to them to encourage women to umpire. There is no doubt … that women will not trouble to learn to umpire as long as there is a man...
Kingston Grammar School 7-5 Staines Hockey Club
“Kingston School maintained their unbroken record on their own ground by defeating Staines. During the first half, Staines pressed continually and scored three goals. The School forwards, on the other hand, did not seem able to play together, and only succeeded in getting one goal (Shoveller). At half time the...
A Fashion Faux Paus? England vs France, 1923
An action shot of England women vs France on 3 February 1923. Image from the Marjorie Pollard collection, The Hockey Museum. 100 years ago on 3 February 1923, England women played their first international match against France. The game was played at Merton Abbey, Battersea and Chelsea Polytechnic...
'Combination' in Hockey: the Difference between English and Irish Styles?
England vs Ireland during the Olympic final of 1908. In January 1948, Hockey World magazine published an extract from the book Hockey in Ireland by TSC Dagg. In it, Dagg compares the ‘traditional’ playing styles of the English and Irish men’s national teams by drawing on previous literature....
Overcoming the Elements: Hockey during the Big Freeze of 1962-‘63
In these days of global warming and only occasional flurries of snow in winter, it perhaps seems unbelievable that it could start snowing on Boxing Day and for the frost and snow to remain for nearly three months! That is what happened in the (real) winter of 1962-‘63. Today, water-retaining...
The Astonishing Role of Hockey Boots During WW2
There are few things in everyday life that could be described as ubiquitous hockey items. However, one exception are the canvas and rubber hockey shoes that were widely worn in the ladies and school game from the 1930s onwards. Men’s hockey of the era preferred the more substantial football or...
The History of I M Marsh College of Physical Education, Liverpool
The I M Marsh campus of Liverpool John Moores University has a long history. The college was founded in 1900 by Irené Mabel Marsh under the name of Liverpool Physical Training College. From small beginnings the college grew over the years and by the 1960s I M Marsh College of...
“Get Off My Pitch”: A Memoir of Don Gallacher
In August 2022, The Hockey Museum (THM) featured a piece about Wembley Head Groundsman Don Gallacher and his son Colin’s efforts to document his father’s memories in a new book. Don oversaw the Wembley pitch between 1974 and 1985 when hockey crowds were at their highest. The vibrancy and the...
Centenary of Australia and New Zealand's First International Matches
27 September 2022 is the centenary of Australia and New Zealand men’s first international matches. It is unusual for two nations to have their first international matches occur simultaneously, but the geographical distance of Australia and New Zealand from other hockey-playing nations of that era led to this exceptional first...
A Brief History of Women’s Headwear in Hockey
At a recent event at Great Comp House & Gardens in Kent, we presented Sue Chandler (former Great Britain (GB) Captain with 25 appearances) with her GB honours cap alongside a group of ladies from Sevenoaks and Teddington hockey clubs who were re-enacting hockey as it was played in the...
Correcting Hockey History: The Hunt for Harvey Wood
Harvey Wood, England men's 1908 Olympic gold medal-winning goalkeeper. The Hockey Museum volunteer James Ormandy spent a large part of 2019 researching hockey in Yorkshire to produce an article “When Hull Got Hooked on Hockey” for the Playing Pasts website. When Hull Got Hooked on Hockey | Playingpasts.co.uk...
Unearthing a Groundsman’s Special Memories of Wembley Stadium
The Hockey Museum (THM) regularly receives interesting enquires from the public and sometimes even an exchange of information. Back in April 2022 there was one such enquiry from Colin Gallacher. His father Don was Head Groundsman at Wembley Stadium between 1975 and 1985. Colin is planning to publish his...
The First Mixed Hockey International Tour by a British School: Australia 1997
International touring has a long and distinguished sporting history. Within British hockey, Australasia has been an attractive location to tour to as far back as the early twentieth century. An England women’s side travelled to Australia and New Zealand in 1914, in an era before UK women had the vote...
Whistle While You Work: Researching Umpiring Whistles From The 1920s
Mike Smith, Hon. Curator and President of The Hockey Museum (THM), describes the process of uncovering hockey’s history as being like a jigsaw puzzle: “Putting together the history of hockey is like doing a jigsaw puzzle where many pieces are missing. Ultimately, we hope to find enough pieces to make...
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Attends The Women's Hockey At Wembley Stadium in 1981
Following the Platinum Jubilee last weekend to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s record breaking 70-year reign, we look back on what is arguably her most iconic hockey moment: the visit to Wembley Stadium in 1981. The Queen made an appearance at the England vs Wales women’s international match at Wembley,...
Discovering Vera Cox's Missing Scrapbook
Joyce Hatton, Vera Cox (wearing her AEWHA blazer) and Frances Heron-Maxwell.This photograph was colourised for Frances Thompson's talk at The Hockey Museum. Last Wednesday 4 May, Frances Thompson travelled from Australia to The Hockey Museum (THM) for a rather personal research visit, and we asked her to give...
Peter Johnson: The Great Britain Hockey Player With Only One Cap
A total of 581 players (men and women) have represented Great Britain (GB) over the years. Many of these players have enjoyed illustrious international careers with seven men and 13 women having exceeded 100 appearances – yet this piece is about those players who only made one single appearance. To...
Echoes Of The Moscow Olympic Hockey Boycott 42 Years Later
The Hockey Museum recently received a 42-year-old document that has a particular resonance with contemporary events that are consuming the world’s media today. The document in question is a copy of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s letter of 19 February 1980 to Sir Denis Follows, CBE, Chairman of the British Olympic...
A Mother's Pride
The first England women's hockey team (1896).Mary D’Oyley is seated middle row, right of centre next to the lady holding the ball. Mary has her cap on her stick. When England’s Mary D’Oyley (nee Piper) lined up against Ireland at Alexandra College, Dublin, on 2 March 1896, she...
Hockey: A Political Symbol In The Punjab
Punjab Lok Congress Party symbol The image shown above is being used by a political party as its logo (see here). This may seem a rather strange adoption, yet it has occurred in the Punjab in Northern India. Not only is hockey the national sport of India...
The Evolution of Hockey Honours Caps
The ongoing series of Great Britain (GB) honours cap presentations to current and former GB players is a direct outcome of THM’s Playing Statistics Project. These presentations are really a 'bolt on' to the stats project, perhaps triggered by THM's small collection of various historical hockey...
The First Ever "Hockey" Magazine
"Hockey" magazine, 15 December 1893 – the first magazine for hockey? The Hockey Museum (THM) has over 80,000 items in its growing collection. We receive another two collections most weeks. These are sorted and catalogued by our brilliant volunteers and occasionally we come up...
Jordi Alumà: Hockey
Hockey, Olympic Suite No.2 by Jordi Alumà The Hockey Museum (THM) holds in its art collection a limited-edition print of a female hockey player by Spanish artist Jordi Alumà (pictured). After a long and distinguished life, Alumà passed away earlier this year on 8 June 2021. The...
How Great Thou Art: Religious Hockey-like Games in Ethiopia
© The Trustees of the British Museum How are Orthodox Christianity and sport linked within Ethiopian culture? Created in the late 1940s by an Ethiopian priest, this watercolour painting from the British Museum’s collection depicts two teams of men playing the native stick-and-ball game Genna. Traditionally played at Christmas,...
The Longest Olympic Matches
As we approach the quarterfinals (QF) of the Tokyo 2020 hockey tournament, we reflect on a momentous QF back in 1960: Kenya vs Great Britain (GB) at the Rome Olympic Games. On 5 September 1960, the QF match in Rome became the longest match in the Olympic history (until this...
Tracing The Match Ball From The Australia And New Zealand Tour of 1914
An archival document recording an All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA) tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1914, leads The Hockey Museum (THM) Archivist on a journey of discovery to trace a very special match ball with an intriguing social history. The match ball from Canterbury...
Louis Charles Baillon: The Only Falkland Islander Olympic Champion
The England hockey team from the 1908 Olympic Final. Louis Baillon is seated furthest left. Louis Charles Baillon is the only Falkland islander to have won an Olympic gold medal. He achieved this feat as a member of the England hockey team that won gold at the 1908...
Alan Turing: WW2 hockey-playing hero features on £50 note
After the 2014 feature film The Imitation Game and other publicity most people are now aware of the amazing contribution made by Alan Turing and the remarkable team at Bletchley Park during World War 2. It is often said that their efforts helped the Allies to win the war and...
Christ’s Hospital's Jovial WW1 Charity Match
These photographs tell the story of a convivial charity match involving Christ's Hospital school (CH) during World War One (WW1). They were unearthed by staff at Christ’s Hospital Museum and shared with The Hockey Museum. Photographs of the hockey match fundraiser, 1917....
Kenya Hockey Olympians Conference
I was delighted and honoured to be invited as one of the Guests of Honour at a virtual conference for Kenyan hockey Olympians on Sunday 30 May 2021. The invitation was extended by Hilary Fernandes, Kenya’s triple Olympian, and Raphael Fernandes, a Kenyan Los Angeles 1984 Olympian. Raphael co-ordinated the...
The ‘Hockey Girl’ And The Pursuit of Love
Cartoon from the Punch Almanack, 1903. The caption reads:"We had a scratch game with the 'Black and Blue' Club yesterday, but had an awful job to get any men. Enid's brother and a friend of his turned up at the last moment; but they didn't do much except call 'offside'...
A Biography of Janet Macklin (née Smallwood)
When Janet Smallwood (later Mrs Macklin) was awarded her first international cap for Scotland in 1951 she was not the first member of her family to have an international sporting honour – her father, Alistair Smallwood, was selected to play for England Rugby in the 1920s. Alistair was born in...
The Festival of Britain’s Grand International Hockey Tournament 1951
Cover of the programme for the Grand International Hockey Tournament during the Festival of Britain, 1951.Click the image to download the full programme as a PDF.Credit: the AEWHA Collection at the University of Bath Library. Seventy years ago in May 1951, a very unusual sporting event was staged...
Harvey Wood: England’s Mysterious Giant Goalkeeper
[ Editor's note: A follow up article to this piece has since been published which corrects some aspects of the below. Please click here for the follow up article: Correcting Hockey History: The Hunt for Harvey Wood | hockeymuseum.net ] A piece of research on the 1908 Olympic Games together with...
Bandy In Shakespeare
Portrait of William Shakespeare, 1610. Possibly painted by John Taylor. There are several references to the word ‘bandy’ in the works of English playwright William Shakespeare, including one in Romeo and Juliet when Romeo, trying to stop a fight between Tybalt and Mercutio, declares: “The Prince expressly hath forbidden...
Hockey-Playing Thespians Of The Edwardian Era
Frank Benson, actor and hockey players, inWilliam Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The Edwardian era would witness the peak of theatre going and its watershed moment as cinema arrived. It also witnessed a sporting boom – especially in hockey – and one club, Benson’s Hockey Club, had done...
It's A Date: Celebrating the First Scotland Women's International Match
By Katie Dodd The first Scotland women's team, 1901. The 13 April 2001 is the 120th anniversary of Scotland women’s very first international match, played against Ireland in Dublin. I was first made aware of this special date during a conversation with Evlyn Raistrick, former Scottish and International...
Easter Festivals in Years Gone By
Not that many years ago Easter festivals were the much-anticipated climax to the hockey season. Many hundreds of teams, certainly well into four figures, would travel to play in one of over fifty festivals that took place around Britain. The most popular venues were seaside ones, from Bournemouth to Bridlington...
An Amazing Find As The Hockey Museum Links Up With The British Museum
It’s not often that small, independent museums like The Hockey Museum (THM) have an opportunity to change the narrative of national history, but today we share some very exciting news concerning a highly significant archaeological collection – the Anglo-Saxon burial ship at Sutton Hoo. Sutton Hoo gained a lot of...
Welsh Honours Caps: A Tale of Interrelated Research
By Elton Riches I was researching in The Hockey Museum (THM) library reviewing the early hockey periodicals for photographs or illustrations of player-issued caps. I located a black-and-white photograph in an 1898 publication showing the Welsh men’s hockey team wearing honours caps. Clear evidence that the Welsh national teams were...
Remembering Wembley
On 3 March 2021 The Hockey Museum (THM) celebrated the 70th anniversary of the first England women’s hockey match at Wembley Stadium in 1951. In partnership with Talk Hockey Radio, we produced a podcast (The Special One - Epsiode 6) and video of the personal memories of Maggie Souyave, Anita White...
Wembley Was A Family Affair
By Christabel Russell Vick I grew up knowing that the Wembley hockey international was the biggest fixture in the women’s hockey calendar. When I talked to my mother (Mary Russell Vick) about her hockey career, I was amazed to discover that these matches at the iconic Wembley Stadium were entirely...
The First Ever Women's International Hockey Match in 1896
Action photo of Ireland vs England women, the first ever women's international hockey match in 1896. 2 March 2021 is the 125th anniversary of the first ever women’s international hockey match in 1896, between Ireland and England. Ireland beat England 2-0. The game took place on the Alexandra...
Unearthing Further Hockey Connections At Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo excavation, 1939. Still from film made by Harold John Phillips.Public domain. In a recent article (click here) we covered the links that exist between the Netflix blockbuster film The Dig and our sport of hockey. Following that piece, we received news of a further hockey connection. If...
Digging Hockey: An Excavation of Edith Pretty's Links to Hockey
by Dr Jo Halpin. Portrait of Edith Pretty by Dutch artist Cor Visser.© National Trust / Robin Pattinson Edith Pretty is famous for unearthing an Anglo-Saxon burial ship on her land at Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, in 1939 – an event that has now been made...
In Search of The Hull & District Hockey Register
In 1900 there were just twenty clubs from the North affiliated to the Hockey Association (HA) causing some historians have been misled as to the game’s popularity outside of the home counties. In most northern towns and cities at this time hockey playing was increasingly popular. For example: in Hull...
Never Defeated By Wine Or In A Game: A Secret Edwardian Gentlemen's Hockey Club
Cover of the Sticks Club Handbook, 1910 A fascinating item recently came into The Hockey Museum’s possession which threw an amusing light on a social activity in London hockey circles in the early years of the last century. It was the history of an exclusive gentlemen’s hockey club...
The Jean Arnold Collection: The Lord Mayor's Cup
The Jean Arnold collection was donated to The Hockey Museum (THM) during lockdown and is now helping to uncover more of the once-hidden history of women’s league hockey. Jean Arnold Jean Arnold, a well-known figure in Liverpool hockey circles, has donated a large number of items relating to the...
Baffling Brass Buttons
The Hockey Museum (THM) has recently acquired a set of blazer buttons that once adorned the England blazer of George Hardy. These buttons, emblazoned (ahem) with the HA logo of the Hockey Association, presumably made their way to Hardy’s fellow England player, Captain John Yate Robinson who passed them...
A Tale Of Principled Pilley
On 14 April 1935 (not 1938 as stated on this British Pathé YouTube clip), Germany women played England women in Berlin. The result was 6-4 victory for England. An unexpected tour given the precarious political situation in Europe. The England team line up: Eileen Arnold (GK), Mary Knott (Cptn), Marjorie...
A Rare Item In The Modern Hockey World
The Hockey Museum recently received a Winchester HC fixture card for the 2017-2018 season. This came as a bit of a surprise as we knew that many (most?) clubs no longer produce such a publication. With the availability of information on the internet and social media they have become virtually...
Old Creightonians Archive Arrives With A Suprise
Mike Smith, Curator of THM (left) discusses theOld Creightonians HC archive with Simon Lawton-Smith (right). At The Hockey Museum (THM) we receive at least one collection each week, but not many have a twist in the story like this one. A recent visit by Simon Lawton-Smith brought us the club records...
Terrific Trophies
Over the past couple of years, a considerable amount of material, including a large collection of trophies, has come to THM from Cannock HC. It was rescued from the former National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes by Laurie Alcock, affectionately known as 'Mr Cannock'. Had Laurie not saved it, the cabinets and artefacts...
The Work Of Preserving Hockey Heritage: Saving The AEWHA Scrapbook
The All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA) Collection is looked after at the University of Bath by their Archivist, Lizzie Richmond. The collection contains many unique and irreplaceable items documenting the evolution of women’s hockey in the UK. Two items, the Hockey Jottings scrapbook and the very first minute book...
A Vintage Christmas Present? From India To The London Stage
Photo from Daisy Pulls It Off, showing at the Park Theatre, Finsbury Park, London.Photo courtesy of Tomas Turpie. One of our eagle-eyed supporters spotted this wonderful image taken by Tomas Turpie in The Times newspaper last week. It was from a review of Daisy Pulls It Off, a play that...
An Early Easter Hockey Tour
Programme (cover) of The Newport Centrals Hockey Club Fourth Annual Tour, Season 1913-14 Easter hockey tours and festivals have been very popular for many years, probably more so before the league systems were set up in the 1960s and ‘70s. A recent find, hidden amongst our postcard collection, gives...
Bullets Stopped Play
Yesterday one of our volunteers was going through a collection and found this newspaper cutting from Thanet International Hockey Festival, 1964. Anyone who has been to Thanet will know that three coats is a mininum and not just because of the flying bullets.
Hockey Played In Antarctica
"First game of Hockey played on ice near Ship", from The Atlantic magazine, 2013. The Hockey Museum recently heard of hockey being played in a most unlikely location: on the sea ice in Antarctica. We were contacted by an Antarctic history enthusiast who pointed out that the British Film...
Bringing History To Life With Juan Calzado
The Hockey Museum (THM) was very proud to receive a visit recently (28 March 2017) from Juan Calzado, former President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), European Hockey Federation (EHF) and Real Club de Polo, Barcelona. We were honoured that on a holiday visit to London with family he took...
An Update On The English Cup
In 2015 The Hockey Museum received an enquiry from Alan Lancaster. He sent two photographs, one a team photograph, which Alan thought was Newhey Ladies’ Hockey team. One of the photographs featured his mother Doreen Howles and her two sisters, Vera and June holding a cup which was believed to...
Three Antique Silver Cups From The Royal Navy HA
Does the existence of three antique silver cups with the Royal Navy HA have a ‘black lining’? The Royal Navy Hockey Association is the proud owner of three silver cups that date back to the 1900 period. They were used for different competitions between ships and units that made up...
The Grand International Match
During the First World War, the War Office often used sporting references to try to persuade sportsmen to enlist and an amusing notice in the book Ireland’s Call (by Stephen Walker) recently caught our eye.
The Liberty Bodice
We recently came across an interesting advertisement in The Hockey Field magazine from 6 January 1916: "Physical Instructors and Games Mistresses are recommended to try the Liberty Bodice. It obviates the necessity for corsets and gives absolute freedom of movement to growing girls. It is ideal wear for all kinds...
Hockey And Football: A Comparison
We recently acquired copies of a rare early sports magazine dating from 1906 – The Cricketer, The Hockey and Football Player. It was only published for just over a year taking in two cricket and one winter season. The magazines contain a number of interesting articles that make comment on...
An Illegal Hockey Stick
New collections are, thankfully, arriving weekly and many of them create great interest when received. The hockey stick illustrated in the below images was a real example of this. It came complete with a copy of an advertisement from Hockey Magazine of 4 September 1908 extolling the virtues of the...
The Jet-propelled Hockey Stick That Didn't Take Off!
In response to the many enquiries that we receive at The Hockey Museum our volunteers are constantly trawling through hockey publications in search of information. These searches often take twice as long as expected because we find unrelated pieces that are very interesting. One such piece was discovered recently in...
Hockey On The Sand At Minehead
Hockey players on the beach at Minehead with North Hill behind. Photograph by Alfred Vowles. Unlike most of today's youngsters who learn to play on artificial pitches, Nan Williams, a former England international and volunteer at The Hockey Museum (THM), started her playing career on the sands of Minehead on the...
Have You Heard Of The English Cup?
I have recently joined the many volunteers working with the The Hockey Museum. As I live in the Manchester area I am quite away from all the action, however I have recently been forwarded a couple of enquires from the Museum in relation to matters from the North! My first...
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