As competitions were very much frowned upon, certainly in Britain, up until the 1950s it could be that this earliest hockey trophy might be a rather modern piece of silverware. However, whilst officialdom may have frowned upon leagues and cups, the competitive hockey players certainly found ways of playing for points and cups.
Modern players might find it difficult to believe that, as recently as the 1960s, hockey was totally amateur and no reward whatsoever was allowed. Contravention of this would undermine a player’s amateur status and could see them barred from participation in hockey under the auspices of the governing Hockey Associations.
It is a fact that the successful England women’s team that attended the first Women’s Hockey World Cup in The Netherlands in 1948 had to smuggle their winners’ medals back in their luggage. The report in the women’s magazine of the day, Hockey Field, made no mention of a competition or medals and instead described it “a festival”. It has only really come to light in the last few years following the discovery of a medal in one of the players’ belongings.
The 1908 Olympics was the first international hockey competition but there are no trophies in the Olympics and, as the amateur status at that time was absolute, there was no problem with the players receiving medals. Incidentally, it is believed that only gold medals were awarded in 1908 as there is no evidence of silver or bronze ever existing.
There was competition in this pre-WW1 era though. In the women’s game, the publication Ladies Field put up a cup which was played for on a percentage basis of the clubs’ results. However, to take part your club could not be a member of the All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA). This led to some confusion when we first discovered that one team, Merton LHC, had won this trophy multiple times. Merton, we presumed, hailed from south-west London; but we now know they were in fact from Dublin. This was pre-Partition of 1922 and the Ladies Field Cup embraced clubs from anywhere in the British Isles.
The men also enjoyed competition in this era, albeit within the Armed Forces. Britain had a lot of men under arms at this time and competitive sport was a good way to satisfy their combative needs. A lot of military trophies still exist and some have transferred into civilian competitions.
Perhaps the most enduring competitions came about as a result of WW1 and the need to recruit millions of women into munitions and industry. It was deemed that sport would be good recreation for these women and various sports leagues were set up in many industrial centres throughout Britain. Some of these leagues still exist today and have celebrated their centenaries. They were so well organised that in the 1930s that they formed national teams and the England Ladies Hockey League Association played international matches against the other Home Countries – for trophies!
In summary, we cannot state with absolute conviction which is the oldest trophy in hockey. The Ladies Field Cup dates from the 1890s so could well be considered a contender for the oldest hockey trophy. We also know of a splendid shield trophy (c.1888) from St Leonards School in St Andrews, Scotland, which was awarded for ‘Goals’ – a hockey-like stick and ball game – and is still awarded today (right; reproduced with permission from St Leonards School, St Andrews). It is perhaps more accurately two silver trophies from the Calcutta Hockey Club, a tankard dated 1864 and a salver dated 1865, which are now held in the National Army Museum, London.
“But” I hear you say, “that predates organised hockey here in England – let alone out there in the Empire” – and you would be right. In this instance, the word ‘hockey’ on these trophies means ‘polo’, which is sometimes referred to as ‘hockey on horseback’. Nonetheless, we believe that these trophies are the oldest in the world to bear the word ‘hockey’!
