Hockey in Great Britain, Early Years

Theokritos

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Part 1

Before ice hockey was played with a puck it was played with a ball. In England this kind of winter game is attested to be played from the late 18th century on at the frozen marshes (called "The Fens") in the the east of the country and was variously referred to as hockey (on ice), shinty/shinney (on ice) or bandy. Depending on the availability of natural ice, the game was picked up in other parts of England too throughout the 19th century, often by disciples of other team sports like field hockey who didn't want to remain idle during winters. For example, Nottingham Forest FC was originally founded as "Nottingham Forest Football and Bandy Club" in 1865. Artificial ice became available in the mid-1870s and in a rapid boom a great amount of rinks popped up throughout England, many of whom were short-lived though. It was a second boom from the 1890s on that really provided the country with a lasting infrastructure of artifical ice. Key dates in the development of hockey in England during that period: 1875 first formal game at the rink of the Crystal Palace in London, 1882 publication of a set of rules, 1891 formation of the National Bandy Association. These steps somewhat mirror the early development in Canada (especially the 1875 date). Additionally, english bandy teams and players introducted their game to Switzerland (1880s), the Netherlands and Sweden (1890s). Within a few years "ice hockey" was also played in Norway, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Russia and Finland.

More to follow.

Discussion, questions, corrections welcome.
 
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Killion

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Major Peter Patton

... a career officer with the British Army (father was a Brigadier General) was pretty much the Godfather of Ice Hockey in the UK, as a player & organizer in the late19th & early 20th Centuries. Believed he'd learned how to skate & taken up the game in Switzerland initially.

Whilst stationed at a base in Chatham at Kent with the Royal Engineers with a "skating club" opening up nearby, Patton organized a team with the help of ex-pat Canadians serving under his Command followed by a league in 1903/04 consisting of 5 British Teams;

Oxford
Cambridge
Princes (London)
Manchester
Royal Engineers

In 1908 he was one of the co-founders of the IIHF & in 1913 the British Ice Hockey Federation (BIHA) serving as its first President. What follows thereafter quite fascinating what with the outbreak of WW1, the huge influx of Canadians to British soil, a Golden Era in British Hockey that took place from about the mid-30's through early to mid 50's spanning the second great war years as well, eclipsed in fact by World events and but for historians of the game largely forgotten.
 

Theokritos

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Part 2

Canadian ice hockey as it developed in the 1870s and 1880s differed from the version played in the home country in several aspects. Most notably the ball was replaced by a disc, the puck, and forward passing was forbidden. Beyond that, the number of players was reduced: the first organized hockey game in Montreal (1875) featured nine players per team and the 1883 Winter Carnival seven per side. This remained the norm until the period from 1911-1922 when one league after the other decided to drop the seventh player. Bandy on the other hand was played with eleven a side, although there were also versions with fewer players. The first European Bandy Championship in 1913 was played with seven players per team, which seemingly had become the norm in most european countries by then, possibly under the impression of Canadian hockey and its growing popularity.

It is said that Canadian ice hockey was first brought to England by the sons of Governor-General Lord Stanley of Preston, donator of the Stanley Cup. After returning from Canada, they held a demonstration game at Buckingham Palace (1895), attended among others by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and the Duke of Yorke (later King George V). The game was allegedly played with bandy sticks (shorter than Canadian hockey sticks) and eight players on each of the two team. Coinciding with the introduction of Canadian hockey was the opening of several skating rinks (multiple in London and some elsewhere) that provided enthusiasts of the new game with ice to play on. During the 1896-1897 winter four teams were active, playing exhibitions and challenge games against each other. By 1903-1904 a league was organized for the first time with five teams taking part (as already mentioned above in post #3) and Cambridge University Hockey Club finishing at the top, ahead of Prince's Ice Hockey Club.

Aside from the games among each other, teams from England also started to participate in international exhibition games and tournaments with early continental hockey clubs. In the course of this they didn't necessarily stick to Canadian hockey all of the time: it was not unusual for an ice hockey team to switch to the game with the ball for a match or a tournament and for a bandy team to switch to the game with the puck in the same instance. After all, both varieties were widely labeled "ice hockey" in Europe and several sport clubs went through a phase of experimenting with both. In fact, when the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (later renamed International Ice Hockey Federation/IIHF) was founded in 1908, it consider itself responsible for both kinds of hockey on ice and it wasn't a given at first that the European Championship scheduled for 1910 would be played with the puck instead of the ball. And who did organize the first (and last) European Bandy Championship in 1913? The LIHG. Before long however the game with the puck gained the upper hand in popularity and many of the early hockey clubs decided to settle for Canadian hockey sooner or later. Bandy became an afterthought in Europe and within the LIHG/IIHF.

To be continued.
 

Pominville Knows

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Yeah, obviously britain is pretty worthless in this sport "Bandy" today where really only Russia and Sweden competes for gold year in, year out.

130201_bandy.jpg.resize


Personally i find it redicoulous that these players dont play hockey, but i guess bandy in some places in Europe really have a longer tradition than hockey. The old version played in Britain having split its timeline with one coming to evolve in Canada and one in Europe, with the canadian version then coming back to Europe through not the least the Olympic Games i would guess.
 
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Canadiens1958

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Great Stuff

^^^ Great stuff Theo. Was there a distinction in Europe between the upper class sporting clubs - membership, playing the various versions of hockey and the working class or industrial teams sponsored by companies playing the game?
 

Theokritos

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^^^ Great stuff Theo. Was there a distinction in Europe between the upper class sporting clubs - membership, playing the various versions of hockey and the working class or industrial teams sponsored by companies playing the game?

There certainly was. Some sports were a domain of the upper class altogether (cricket as an obvious example) while others were considered a pastime for the working class (football) with the many other sports spread somewhere in the spectrum between the two poles. Even within one sport like association football you had (and partially still have) clubs affiliated with different social spheres, some located in working class districts and supported by its population, others considered more bourgeois.

As for ice hockey in particular, it was automatically rendered a relatively upper class sport wherever a lack of natural ice during winters limited the possibility of the masses to actively play the game. In 1892 one of the driving forces in Bandy, CG Tebbutt, lamented the mild winters in England: "If the frost king, Thialf, could only be bribed to send plenty of frost and skating, bandy has all the elements to make it a most popular game, and would become so. We may expect that in countries blessed with a colder climate the game will develop in the same way as [field] hockey and football have done in England."

In many of the early places hockey was picked up at in Europe the situation was similiar. In 1913 Canadian goaltender Gustave Lanctot, who attended Oxford University and played with the Oxford Canadians throughout Europe (see "Part 3" once posted), described european ice hockey as a "sport of nobles" at which spectators wore full evening dress and dined sumptuously at candlelit, rink-side tables; the referees wore black tie and smoking jackets and concluded that it was "certainly not a people's game" in Europe.
 
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Theokritos

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with the canadian version then coming back to Europe through not the least the Olympic Games i would guess.

Canadian ice hockey becoming an Olympic sport in 1920 was probably a finishing blow for bandy, but the game with the puck had already gained a lot of ground before that in many european countries.
 

Canadiens1958

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Vickers

There certainly was. Some sports were a domain of the upper class altogether (cricket as an obvious example) while others were considered a pastime for the working class (football) with the many other sports spread somewhere in the spectrum between the two poles. Even within one sport like association football you had (and partially still have) clubs affiliated with different social spheres, some located in working class districts and supported by its population, others considered more bourgeois.

As for ice hockey in particular, it was automatically rendered a relatively upper class sport wherever a lack of natural ice during winters limited the possibility of the masses to actively play the game. In 1892 one of the driving forces in Bandy, CG Tebbutt, lamented the mild winters in England: "If the frost king, Thialf, could only be bribed to send plenty of frost and skating, bandy has all the elements to make it a most popular game, and would become so. We may expect that in countries blessed with a colder climate the game will develop in the same way as [field] hockey and football have done in England."

In many of the early places hockey was picked up at in Europe the situation was similiar. In 1913 Canadian goaltender Gustave Lanctot, who attended Oxford University and played with the Oxford Canadians throughout Europe (see "Part 3" once posted), described european ice hockey as a "sport of nobles" at which spectators wore full evening dress and dined sumptuously at candlelit, rink-side tables; the referees wore black tie and smoking jackets and concluded that it was "certainly not a people's game" in Europe.

Vickers, a British concern - Vickers Sons and Maxim was invited to Canada by the Federal Government to establish a shipbuilding and munitions concern in 1911. Established in east end Montréal, almost side by side with Champetre Park they almost immediately encouraged and sponsored the workers participation in athletic activity across the full spectrum:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Vickers

Likewise for the CPR and the CPRAAA that was part of the Angus Shops in east end of Montréal. Grew-up in the elbow between the Vickers and the CPR.

Other industrial and commercial or service leagues for an extensive range of sports also surfaced in the late 1800s / early 20th century. Main distinction the elite clubs MAA, etc, required membership(ringers were membershipped) whereas the Sports @ Loisirs in the working class sector were sponsored with token fees to get around régulations.
 

Theokritos

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Part 3

Canadian expats had been involved with many ice hockey clubs in Great Britain as well as in continental Europe from the very beginning. However, when in 1904 the first Canadian Rhodes Scholars arrived in Oxford, they were not allowed to join the Oxford University Hockey Club, out of fear that they would tilt the annual match against Cambride too much in favour of Oxford. Instead the Rhodes Scholars formed their own club, the Oxford Canadians, soon to emerge as one of the leading teams in Europe. Among their closest competitors was Prince's Ice Hockey Club from London, led by English hockey pioneer BM Patton but mostly consisting of Canadian students too. Prince's Club represented England in the first international tournaments staged at Berlin (Germany, November 1908) and Chamonix (France, January 1909) as well as in the first European Championship at Les Avants (Switzerland, January 1910) and they won all three tournaments. The Oxford Canadians meanwhile had also begun taking part in the european circuit and went through tournament after tournament victoriously. So high was their renown that they were hailed by the press in Canada and admitted as LIHG members in 1911, being legit representatives of Canada in the eyes of the Europeans.

The LIHG had ruled that from 1911 on national teams were not allowed to use "foreign players" at the European Championship. With their Canadian players ineligible, top clubs from England didn't bother to participate anymore. Most likely in order to compensate for this, the LIHG started organizing a second tournament, the LIHG Championship, where everybody was allowed to take part in full strength. That competition level in Europe was improving is demonstrated by the fact that Berliner SC from Germany was able to snatch away the first place from Oxford Canadians in 1912 and from Prince's Club in 1913. Prince's Club was able to avenge itself in January 1914 with two victories over Berlin, but after that season the outbreak of World War 1 brought the ice hockey circuit in Europe to a halt for a long time. It also rendered the British Ice Hockey Association, only recently (1913) formed, pretty much ineffective. It was not until the 1919-1920 season that hockey adherents in Europe were able to try restore normality and to tie in with where the development had been interrupted in 1914.

Next up: The time after WW1.
 
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Theokritos

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This is a great thread, Theo.

Very informative and concise summaries. Where are you getting your source information?

Thanks.

The information posted so far hails from a broad range of websites, from official team sites to historic articles by hockey officials or journalists to contributions by hobby historians (citing either original sources or professional publications, for example "Homes of British Ice Hockey" by Martin C. Harris [note: I have not read the book myself!]) to Wikipedia entries that I have counter-checked wherever possible. This is obviously not a scientific enterprise, corrections and objections are welcome, but I am pretty confident I have managed to filter out reliable and verifiable information. If someone wants to know the source for a specific passage or piece of information, I'll gladly present it in case I am able (in some instances I'm not sure where I've got a piece of information from years ago, but these are the exceptions).
 

Theokritos

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Addition to Part 1-3

A harsh winter enables hockey (with the ball) on the frozen River Thames in 1855:
heritage-2.jpg


Hockey (with the ball) at Oxford in 1895, the same year the Stanley Brothers introduce the puck in England:
heritage-7.jpg


Canadian ice hockey: Prince's Club represent England at the European Championship in January 1910:
file.php


Prince's Club win the tournament despite being held to a draw by the Belgian selection:
file.php


Oxford Canadians play out of competition at the 1910 European Championship and win all of their games:
heritage-13.jpg


Oxford Canadians in action on an early tour in Switzerland:
heritage-14.jpg


1909-1910 Oxford Canadians, labeling themselves "Champions of Europe":
file.php


Oxford University Ice Hockey Club vs Cambridge University Club in 1911:
heritage-9.jpg
 

Killion

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^^^ Pictures are certainly something else Theo. Thanks for digging them up & posting.... guys are literally wearing shorts & knee socks, and in one frame there a player wearing knee guards. Interesting.... And looks like Cambridge shows up to play wearing shirts, ties & suits. ;)
 

Canadiens1958

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High Sticks

^^^ The 1855 picture is interesting as a good number of the players are carrying their sticks high - above the shoulders in a few instances. The later pictures show the sticks on the ice or low.
 

Theokritos

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And looks like Cambridge shows up to play wearing shirts, ties & suits. ;)

If they lost, they lost with style. :laugh:

^^^ The 1855 picture is interesting as a good number of the players are carrying their sticks high - above the shoulders in a few instances. The later pictures show the sticks on the ice or low.

What the 1855 picture shows is most likely something we would call a "pick up game" from the time before formalized bandy was familiar in and around London. The later pictures display organized hockey.
 

Killion

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^^^ The 1855 picture is interesting as a good number of the players are carrying their sticks high - above the shoulders in a few instances. The later pictures show the sticks on the ice or low.

Yes I noted that as well, and one handed. Not sure if its the artist attempt in creating greater heights of tension & activity or if they did indeed play the ball in that manner, rather akin to a one handed golf drive. I suspect the former, as it would be much more natural to use the stick for balance & support in skating, playing it lower in more of a crouch, particularly as those sticks had like a 'O' Lie on them with no heel on the back of the blade. It would take some talent to seriously wind up like that with one hand & connect with a ball or a puck & deliver it to its intended target with any real accuracy. Even 2 handed with modern sticks, hitting a puck when its in flight on a deflection or "batting" it if you try that by simply lobbing a tennis ball or puck up in front of you on the forehand & striking it takes some decent hand eye coordination.... Im going with Artistic License on that one C58. ;)
 

Killion

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Until the late 1950's, shirts, ties and pullover sweaters are what officials wore. But they got rid of the cow bells and went to whistles a lot earlier. :)

Ya. the old pullovers in solid white with the NHL crest in black & orange, and Id imagine a similar setup in the minors, Sr., Jr. etc.... I remember reading somewhere that back in the day with both the v-neck sweaters & first issues of the striped pullovers, the Ref's & Linesmen were issued with 2 uniforms including pants & 2 pairs of skates per season. As the fabric used was generally 100% cotton & wool blends, pretty much after every game they'd have to soak their jerseys in Woolite to get the blood out from that nights carnage on the ice a lot of times. Todays fabrics man made, stains washing out quickly under cold water.

Then theres the Officials equipment, what you guys wore under the pants & jersey. Again, seem to recall that in the early days equipment certainly wasnt mfgd' specifically for Refs & Linesman, so they borrowed gear from other sports. Like some guys used catchers leg & knee pads, others ribbed, lightweight shin protectors combined with wrestlers knee pads. Up until the mid to late 50's, hockey was much more of a puck possession game, not a lot of dump & chase, pucks ricocheting around wildly at 90mph+ as they started doing in the 60's resulting in equipment manufacturers finally coming out with Officiating Equipment. Shin, knee & calf protectors etc.

Still though, Id imagine like a lot of hockey players who hung on to old gear (like Butch Goring & his Snap Helmet) Refs & Linesman did the same through the transitional years of the 60's & 70's. Really is a wonder more didnt get seriously hurt, certainly a testament to mosts excellent skating skills & abilities to react quickly. I would think in fact that wearing a helmet might even be a bit of a handicap. You really need that full 360 degree awareness, like a fighter pilot. Attuned. Able to hear, sense & feel whats going on behind you as much as what you can see happening in front of you.
 

mbhhofr

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er.

Then theres the Officials equipment, what you guys wore under the pants & jersey. Again, seem to recall that in the early days equipment certainly wasnt mfgd' specifically for Refs & Linesman, so they borrowed gear from other sports. Like some guys used catchers leg & knee pads, others ribbed, lightweight shin protectors combined with wrestlers knee pads. Up until the mid to late 50's, hockey was much more of a puck possession game, not a lot of dump & chase, pucks ricocheting around wildly at 90mph+ as they started doing in the 60's resulting in equipment manufacturers finally coming out with Officiating Equipment. Shin, knee & calf protectors etc.

Still though, Id imagine like a lot of hockey players who hung on to old gear (like Butch Goring & his Snap Helmet) Refs & Linesman did the same through the transitional years of the 60's & 70's. Really is a wonder more didnt get seriously hurt, certainly a testament to mosts excellent skating skills & abilities to react quickly. I would think in fact that wearing a helmet might even be a bit of a handicap. You really need that full 360 degree awareness, like a fighter pilot. Attuned. Able to hear, sense & feel whats going on behind you as much as what you can see happening in front of you.

I started out in 1953 wearing a cup and regular player shin pads. Around 1960 I went to a baseball catchers shin and knee pad. Knowing the NHL officials and seeing what they wore after expansion, I went to what many of them wore, soccer shin pads, 1/4 inch foam rubber knee pads and a cup. I wore them for twenty years. No other protection. As for a helmet, I never wore one, I felt that it would effect my sense of awareness of what was going on around me.
 

Killion

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..As for a helmet, I never wore one, I felt that it would effect my sense of awareness of what was going on around me.

Helmets now Mandatory yes?... as your no doubt aware they have the all in one pants or you can get official specific knee & shin along with elbow pads, under outer pant unit thats similar to hockey pants protective inclusions but far more form fitting & lighter.
 

Theokritos

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Not sure if its the artist attempt in creating greater heights of tension & activity or if they did indeed play the ball in that manner, rather akin to a one handed golf drive. I suspect the former, as it would be much more natural to use the stick for balance & support in skating, playing it lower in more of a crouch, particularly as those sticks had like a 'O' Lie on them with no heel on the back of the blade. (...)

Sounds plausible.
 

Theokritos

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Part 4

During WW1 ice hockey was most widely brought to a halt in Great Britain. When the war was over and Canadian ice hockey became an Olympic sport in 1920, no team was sent to represent either England or Great Britain. It took a new generation of Canadian Rhodes Scholars at Oxford University to revive hockey, starting with the annual game ("Varsity Match") against Cambridge. With no restrictions on Canadian players this time around, Oxford University Hockey Club became one of the leading teams outside of Canada in a minimum of time. Touring Europe regularly during winters, they turned out to be an overwhelming opponent for most teams they encountered and they managed to win tournament after tournament, including the very first edition 1923 of the Spengler Cup in 1923. Among the hockey playing scholars were, beside others, Lester B. Pearson (whose skating earned him the german nickname "Herr Zick Zack"/Mister Zig Zag) and Clarence S. Campbell. The former would later recall: "By European standards, which were modest, we were magnificent and indeed unbeatable. Swiss and other European teams were eager, but not very skillful as yet, while Cambridge had of course no Rhodes scholars."

While teams like Oxford toured Europe, the domestic circuit in Great Britain was still in shambles. When the British Ice Hockey Association (BIHA) was re-established in 1923 only one rink was actually in use for hockey games. Nevertheless, the BIHA under Patton (see Part 3) managed to assemble a competitive team to represent Great Britain in the 1924 Olympics. Its core consisted of Canadians who were stationed in England in the course of their service in the British Army. Led by Blaine Sexton from Nova Scotia, this team was able to easily handle France (15-2) and Belgium (19-3) and to earn a narrow victory over Sweden (4-3), but was neither a match for the silver-winning american selection (0-11) nor for Allan Cup champions Toronto Granites (2-19) who won gold for Canada. The win against Sweden however earned Great Britain an olympic bronze medal. Great Britain was back on the european landscape, once again with help from Canada, but there was still not a lot of hockey played in Britain itself.

Next: Second half of the 1920s, into the 1930s.
 
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Killion

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Late 20's through 30's where it really starts to gain some traction. Bunny Ahearn, beginning of the "Golden Age" in British Hockey circles....
 

Canadiens1958

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School Hockey

Very interesting.

Question about growth.

In the Montreal area within a generation, ice hockey had spread to the grade school and high school levels. Yet in Britain it seems to have stalled at the university/ graduate school level or adult.

Were there efforts to introduce the sports at the lower school levels in Britain? Other countries?

The lack of developmental hockey at the grade and high school levels seems to be one of the major differences between NA and European developmental models from the start thru today.
 

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