The Hockey Museum (THM) recently acquired the collection of eminent late Wales and Great Britain international hockey player Peter Wilson (1942-2024), known affectionately as PJ. Our staff team were invited by Peter’s widow Celia to her house to look through his extensive material.

Ordinarily, THM requires a detailed list and/or photographs of material being offered to make an informed judgement about whether we can accept. However, where the material in question is too difficult for the donor (either in scale or emotionally) or where the subject of the collection being offered is especially significant, then we can justify a road trip from time to time. Sometimes it’s good to get away from the office!

A distinguished hockey player and a full Welsh squash international, PJ Wilson embodied the ‘Corinthian spirit’ of the amateur sports era. He is recognised as one of the greatest Welsh hockey players on account of his technical skill and sportsmanship. He represented Oxford University before moving to Cliftonville, City of Oxford and Welsh Dragons hockey clubs. He was also a well-respected games master at the Dragon School in Oxford, retiring in 2021.

As Brian Griffiths recalled in his obituary:

“Not many people are known simply by their initials. But ‘PJ’ had genuine all-round ability, with gifts for hockey, tennis, squash, football, rugby, golf and cricket. He had Corinthian credentials, but outside of sport he was a modest teacher of maths, science and games at the Dragon School in Oxford for over half a century. He was affectionately known as ‘The Great PJ’ to generations of Dragon boys.”

“He was in Great Britain’s Olympic hockey team in Mexico in 1968, and later in 1974 was the only British player selected for the European Xl versus Asia, to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Hockey Federation.”

Peter James Wilson, 1942-2024 – The Hockey Museum

Peter James Wilson [09.08.42-22.03.24]

Our curatorial staff of Rebecca Burton and Shane Smith headed to Oxfordshire where they were hosted wonderfully by Celia. Fuelled by a delicious lunch of soup, pizza and garlic bread and supported in their efforts by Celia’s enthusiastic dog Rufus, they spent an entire day working through the wealth of material amassed by Peter over a very full lifetime in hockey.

Rufus Wilson, guardian of PJ’s hockey memorabilia.

A trunk of disordered papers from PJ Wilson’s sporting life.

They sorted an entire trunk of muddled papers into categories based on Peter’s sporting and career achievements. With Celia’s blessing, they also trawled the house for hockey items forgotten in desk drawers and cupboards and sorted through a mountain of sports clothing. Having sorted PJ’s kit, memorabilia and archival material into squash, hockey and general sporting life, the squash items were set aside for consideration by the World Squash Library.

History of Squash | World Squash Library | England

In some instances, because the sports uniforms of PJ’s era were so similar, THM took away clothing that could be squash rather than hockey. If anyone has knowledge that could help us determine which uniforms are from PJ’s squash career, we would be most grateful. Please contact us though our website contact form.

Contact Us – The Hockey Museum

Archive documents from the PJ Wilson collection, now in the care of The Hockey Museum.

All identified hockey material was reviewed against THM’s Collections Development Policy with the team wary of acquiring duplicate items already within the existing collection. If you’ve ever visited THM, you’ll appreciate that storage space is at a premium, so we must be pragmatic. These are standard decisions taken by THM prior to accepting new material for the collection and are typical practice across the museum sector.

All in all, our staff team very enjoyable day trip. Such was the wealth of material that needed sorting though, our curator Shane was two hours late for dinner with his girlfriend’s parents – the sacrifices we make for sports heritage! Rufus wasn’t the only one ‘in the doghouse’ that evening.

Searching for the European team memorabilia

In 1974, PJ Wilson was selected in the European team to face Asia in a rare continental exhibition match. It occurred as part of celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). Our staff knew of the below photograph which shows Peter in the team line up wearing his Europe tracksuit. They hoped to find it to add to THM’s textiles collection.

The European team that played an exhibition match against Asia in Brussels, 1974. PJ Wilson is fourth from the right.
Image courtesy of team manager Patrick Rowley who is shown furthest left.

PJ was the only Briton selected (of 15 players) for the European team, which made him the only realistic chance of acquiring this rare piece of hockey clothing. Whilst it seemed like PJ threw nothing away, try as they might our staff couldn’t find any memorabilia relating to this significant sporting event. Despite a positive day, it was deflating.

Just as Shane and Rebecca were expressing their thanks for lunch and saying their goodbyes, Celia suggested a final look through the loft – this is where Shane became late for dinner. Celia’s loft space was vast and incredibly dusty but stashed away under the eaves they found two dirty sports holdalls, a box of squash trophies and numerous dead spiders. Inside the holdalls were boxes of photographic slides – some of which were identifiable as hockey matches and overseas tours – and even more hockey kit, including the absent European tracksuit top! What amazing last-minute finds!

European squad tracksuit from the 1974 exhibition match versus Asia. From the PJ Wilson collection.

Detail of the tracksuit logo.

At THM, we would love to get our hands on the Asia team kit and any other memorabilia from this match, too. If you’re reading this and think you could track down these 50-year-old garments, please do!

Read more about the exhibition match between Asia and Europe held in 1974, including the list of star players, which might aid our search for the Asia kit: The First Hockey Match between Continents: European Momentum meets Asian Excellence in 1974 – The Hockey Museum