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 20^th 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 20^th 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 2^nd 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