On Friday 21 May 2023, The Times newspaper featured an article on the centenary of Wembley Stadium in London. Frustratingly, they made no mention of the annual women’s hockey international matches which ran from 1951-1991. Under a photograph of the England women’s football team (the ‘Lionesses’) celebrating their European Championship success last year (2022), the article states: “No one imagined a women’s team packing out this stadium when they were building it.” Whilst they may not have foreseen women’s sports teams attracting large crowds, women’s hockey did this in the 1970s!

The record crowds of schoolgirls at Wembley during its hockey heyday; an electric atmosphere perhaps not dissimilar to the rock concerts that Wembley also hosted.

Prior to its article, The Times asked its readership to contribute their memories of Wembley, though the resulting article is surprisingly light on reminiscence. Former England captain Anita White wrote in with her memories of leading out the England team as World Champions in front of a 68,000-strong crowd at Wembley in 1976. Her correspondence was completely ignored by The Times.

The Wembley crowd of mostly schoolgirls in 1976 was a record attendance for women’s sporting event. Indeed, throughout the 1970s and through to the early 1980s the annual Wembley fixture regularly exceeded 60,000 spectators – the second largest crowds after men’s football. Women’s football matches in the UK did not exceed the hockey crowd size at Wembley until the 2012 Olympic final at Wembley (80,000) and again for the 2022 European Championship final at Wembley (87,000).

Anita says: “I'm personally thrilled to see women's sport as a whole beginning to get the recognition it deserves but frustrated at the omission of hockey's spectator appeal in the 1970s. The women’s Wembley internationals are quite unique in the history of the development of women's sport.”

England women vs Scotland at Wembley Stadium in 1972. The match took place in front of a crowd of 65,000. From the collection of Hockey Field magazine's Editor Pat Ward, held by The Hockey Museum.

The Magic of Wembley: enjoy the book

The Times may not have been interested in hockey’s fascinating Wembley legacy, but you can read about the 41 years of England international matches in The Hockey Museum’s (THM) book, The Magic of Wembley. It is available for purchase for only £10 plus postage.

Purchase The Magic of Wembley Book (hockeymuseum.net) or click the poster image.

When we were researching for book, THM team tried to trace the whereabouts of the Wembley Stadium business archives. We presumed that there must be an organisation responsible for keeping records of the multi-event history of the venue – we failed, though ultimately not to the detriment of our book! Having exhausted our contacts at the National Football Museum, we were pointed in the direction of the Football Association (FA) – they were only interested in football rather than the development of and wider use of the stadium itself – and then the London Metropolitan Archives who did have some of the financial records but not a lot else. So where have all the Wembley records gone!? It all rather reinforces Anita White’s view that hockey at Wembley is persistently and sadly overlooked, but at least THM exists to continue to bang the drum!

The 70th anniversary of hockey at Wembley

Back in March 2021, THM partnered with Talk Hockey Radio to record a special panel discussion celebrating the 70th anniversary of the first women’s hockey match at Wembley Stadium in 1951. It featured former England captains Maggie Souyave, Anita White and Kate Richardson-Walsh. You can watch it on our website below.

Click her for more information about the special panel discussion film and other Wembley hockey-related material: Reliving The Wembley Magic: 70th Anniversary Special (hockeymuseum.net)

Reliving the Wembley Magic is a panel discussion produced in March 2021 in partnership with Talk Hockey Radio to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the first women's hockey match at Wembley Stadium in 1951.