Chelsea College of Physical Education (Chelsea CPE), Eastbourne is known historically for producing many notable female athletes. The College had an outstanding hockey curriculum which shaped some of Britain’s greatest players. It owes one of its most iconic hockey success stories to a team of determined young women who pushed the boundaries of the sport when they represented Chelsea CPE and won the inaugural All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA) National Club Championships in April 1978. This took them into the European clubs’ competition. The qualifying competition took place in Prague from 21-22 April 1979; the finals were held in The Hague between 1-4 June 1979. The drive of these women was evident in the years to come; many went on to play hockey for England, Wales and Great Britain, and one even climbed Mount Everest!
Initially, Chelsea’s hockey team experienced pushback due to college/county regulations. Unlike Bedford CPE who were allowed to compete as a county side in the Midlands County tournaments despite being a college, Chelsea’s team were not permitted to play as a county side in the South. That did not discourage them and they proceeded to earn their spot at the top by competing in other tournaments and building an impressive resumé of wins. During the 1976-1977 season, Chelsea won the British Colleges Tournament and the PE Colleges Tournament. Ruth Hine (nee Hawes) represented Chelsea at the time and has shared her memories of the team during the earlier stages of their Chelsea hockey journey. Ruth attended Chelsea CPE and played for the First Team from 1976 to 1979, before her further introduction to league hockey. She explains that these tournaments were “great fun and very competitive” and the team was tutored by ex-England international hockey player Biddy Burgum. Ruth recalls “many happy memories of her driving us all over the country in a minibus and making flapjacks for the team”, which no doubt provided the players with invaluable experience and comradery for them to take forward into the following season.
Chelsea College of Physical Education First XI 1976-77.
Chelsea coach and former IFWHA world champion with England, Biddy Burgum is shown in the back row, fourth from the right.
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The 1977-1978 season held more victories for the Chelsea CPE team. They proceeded to achieve first place in that season’s PE Colleges Tournament held between 18-21 December at Dartford College. They impressively won all five matches scoring 24 goals with only one against. The British Colleges Tournament took place later in the season on 5 March at Bishop Lonsdale College in Derby and brought further success for Chelsea. They had won the tournament again for the second successive year, beating Dunfermline 1-0 and then Dartford in an “exciting final” 1-0. Their winning streak would only continue further into the Sussex tournament. They achieved first place, allowing them to qualify in the following South Clubs tournament where they yet again emerged victorious. Subsequently, Chelsea ladies earned a place in their first ever National Club Championships. This took place on 9 April 1978 during their college holidays and players from all over the country arrived in Liverpool to play on the grass pitches.
“With an average age of 19 we were not expected to win, but the group of players knew each other well and were very fit so were delighted to win the first ever National Club Championships”.
Their success was a major historical event for Chelsea CPE, and women’s hockey overall, as a young college team surprised all with their determination and skill to reach the final whereupon they triumphed 1-0 against Prestwich. Chelsea’s big win was unfortunately met with controversy amongst some at the subsequent AEWHA annual general meeting (AGM) where it was argued that Chelsea (a college club) should not have been allowed to qualify. Some debated that representing a college club gave the team a ‘professional’ advantage as ‘full-time’ athletes, and therefore a PE college would “always win”. As history demonstrates and as Ruth humorously quipped, this “has certainly not been the case”.
The inaugural winners of the first ever AEWHA National Club Championships, 1978: Chelsea CPE. Photograph courtesy of Ruth Hine.
Back row, left to right: Denise Hunt, Helen Bray (future England), Anne Parmenter, Barbara Holden (future England & Great Britain captain), Linda Kelly, ??, Stephanie Garner (England Under 21).
Front row: Karen Price (Wales Under 23), Sue Powell (future England & Great Britain), Ruth Hawes (captain – future England & Great Britain), ??, Lindsay Barlow.]
Chelsea College of Physical Education in Europe
After their success in the National Club Championship, Chelsea CPE were eligible to enter the European Club Championship. This new challenge would prove difficult; there was no funding available from the AEWHA to send the team to the final qualifying fixtures in Prague, Czechoslovakia (modern day Czech Republic). Once again, the determination of the Chelsea ladies shone through. They took matters into their own hands and decided to pursue their European adventure. As a team of 15 young students, financing the trip was going to be difficult. They began exploring sponsorship possibilities led by Ruth as their captain. Ruth recalls one of their generous donors being the Eastbourne Rotary Club for whom she gave a successful speech at a fundraising dinner and outlined the Chelsea team’s ambitions. The team were also provided with Mercian kit, stick bags and holdalls for their trip ahead. The Sports Council, Chelsea’s Old Students Association, Mr Jack Haywood, and Birds Eye Ltd., as well as various local firms and individuals all generously donated in support of Chelsea CPE. After managing to raise an outstanding amount of over £2,000 from various sponsors, the Chelsea women were well on their way to competing in Prague, with the official European finals to be held in The Hague, Netherlands.
The European Clubs Championship qualifiers were another great event for Chelsea as they once again pushed the boundaries of English women’s hockey in the bid for the European finals. The qualifying competition took place in Prague from 21-22 April 1979. No other English women’s club had entered before. Impressively, the girls did all their own organising and managing as the College would not allow Biddy Burgum to make the trip with them. Ruth remembers the day the team departed from England as the date overlapped with their college examinations. The exam date could not be changed. “The taxis were booked to wait outside the college and the team primed to write very quickly as we had to leave early to catch the train to Gatwick Airport”.
Chelsea CPE were expected to play against Italian Champions Lorenzio Bra and the Czech side Slavia Praha. However, the Italians withdrew from the Championship which left Chelsea to compete against Praha twice. Travelling to Europe was a whole new venture for the Chelsea team; the group of students were without their coach and surrounded by a completely new culture. Additionally, their opponents were a lot older, a point emphasised by the Czech team who were “amazed” at the young age of the English team. Slavia Praha reportedly had an average age of 30 with 7 experienced international players. Ruth explained how the language barrier proved to be the most difficult factor of their experience in Prague. At one stage she had to attend an official dinner on her own where none of the other attendees spoke English. Ruth amusingly recounts how “There were speeches where I smiled and nodded with not a clue what was going on and I was presented with a lovely little glass vase that I still treasure”. Ruth also recalls that there were many courses of “strange food” at the dinner. “My other memories of our trip to Prague are spending time at the airport trying to persuade officials that our accommodation was paid for – and having gherkins with every meal!”.
The games against Slavia Praha took place in a large football stadium in Prague and the Chelsea ladies once again achieved superb results. On the Saturday, Chelsea CPE won their first match, a close 2-1 after being 0-1 down. Their second match ended with a 2-2 draw “equalising in the last 10 minutes with a shot from Helen Bray”. Hockey Field wrote that the team had played with Vampire hockey sticks to beat Czechoslovakia and received “very good hospitality” when presented with a piece of cut glass as a prize. They had officially earned their place at the European finals in The Hague. This was an outstanding achievement for such a young team who had shown great perseverance and character.
The 1979 Chelsea College of Physical Education hockey squad. Photograph courtesy of Ruth Hine.
Back row, left to right:Janette Brittain (England cricket), Lindsay Barlow, Anne Faulkner, Julie Abson (England Over 65), Denise Hunt, Karen Price (Wales Under 23).
Middle row: Anne Parmenter (climbed Everest!), Sue Powell (future England & Great Britain), Ruth Hawes (Chelsea CPE captain – England Under 23 captain, future England & Great Britain, and England Over 65), Barbara Holden (England Under 23, future England & Great Britain captain), Helen Bray (England Under 23 and future England).
Front row: Sue Sheers, Janet Miller (Wales and Wales Over 65), Steph Garner, Linda Kelly.]
The finals were played in The Hague, Netherlands, between 1-4 June 1979. Ruth shared that this tournament was a lot easier to organise as the Guildford Hockey Club men’s team were also competing. They acquired a coach and pulled together a team of 15. Overall, there were eight contestant teams competing which were split into two pools. The winners of the ‘Pool A’ and ‘Pool B’ would then go straight into the final where they would play each other for first place. Three British and Irish teams attended the finals with Glasgow reaching the furthest out of the lineup by coming third. Chelsea CPE was part of ‘Pool B’ which consisted of the Eintracht Braunschweig (Germany) who were three-time European finalists, Glasgow (Scotland), and the Belgian Champions Uccle Sport. ‘Pool A’ also held a variety of teams from Europe: Amsterdam (Netherlands), who topped the Pool A leaderboard, Stade Francais (France), an Irish team named Pegasus, and Were Di (Netherlands).
Chelsea faced mixed results in The Hague as they were now up against a variety of international teams all with new tactics and greater experience. “This tournament was a step up and our young, naive side struggled with games against very physically strong Dutch, German and Belgian sides”. It definitely offered new challenges. Temperatures were reportedly “in the 90s” (Fahrenheit) and Chelsea unfortunately lost 5-2 in their game against Uccle Sport but fared better the following day, drawing 1-1 against the German team Braunschweig. The next few days brought a mixture of results with an unlucky loss to Glasgow 3-2. This left Chelsea in the play off for seventh and eighth place against Stade Francais; they claimed a 1-0 victory. Chelsea had secured seventh place in their first ever European finals. Ruth, their captain throughout, reminisces on a “great experience” which the team will never forget. She thanked the warm hospitality of the Dutch and reflected that Chelsea had “learnt a great deal about continental style of play”, so different to their usual college games. Finally, the Chelsea team expressed great appreciation and gratitude to all of those involved in helping them to reach The Hague. An AEWHA meeting report from 29 December 1979 stated that the Chelsea girls had been exemplary ambassadors for England and the team were complimented for their gameplay and attitude.
