Between 1-15 March 1975, Malaysia hosted the third men’s Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Notably, it was the first and only time (to date) that an England’s men’s team have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup!

The official England squad photograph for the 1975 World Cup, taken at Bisham Abbey prior to flying to Malaysia. From the collection of Bob Mason, held at The Hockey Museum.
Back row: David Blackmore, David Whitaker, Brian Purdy, Richard Barker, Paul Svehlik, Peter Mills, Brian Disbury, Ian Thomson.
Front row: James Neale, Peter Freitag, Stephen Long, Robert (Bob) Mason (team secretary), John Ivens (manager), Bernard (Bernie) Cotton (captain), Christopher Langhorne (coach), Colin Whalley, Ian McGinn, David Aldridge.

Reminiscing about the England vs Ghana match that took place on 10 March 1975, Brian Disbury writes:

“…Today [10 March 2025] is an important day for me as it is exactly 50 years, even to the same Monday, that in my fourth England cap we thrashed Ghana 6-1 in a group game and I scored a hat-trick in open play.”

This game was also notable for England fielding three captains: Bernie Cotton was captain until he was substituted in the 47th minute with captaincy passing to Colin Whalley, who was then substituted in the 65th minute whereupon Peter Freitag became captain.
Brian Disbury is only one of two male players who scored a hat-trick for England at a Hockey World Cup and the only one to have scored a hat-trick in open play. Recounting the event, he goes on to say:

“Paul Svehlik [also] scored a World Cup hat-trick for England, which amazingly was the next game after Ghana, versus Spain in a fifth-eighth place play-off game – all scored from penalty corners.”

In the game against Spain, Brian Disbury came off the bench to score within three minutes and the outcome of the game was a 5-4 win to England.

England’s final overall position was sixth, which exceeded expectations. They emerged as Europe’s second-best team, highlighting the dedication of players and management. As one report from the time commented:

“Despite entering as Europe’s fourth-best qualifier, the team faced strong opposition and tactical challenges in the tropical climate. However, their unity and self-belief were remarkable assets. Manager Ivens and coach Langhorne played key roles. In the end, the team’s performance stood out as they held their own in a competitive tournament featuring eleven strong sides, making their sixth-place finish especially praiseworthy in unfamiliar conditions.”

The England men’s squad pose during training in Kuala Lumpur in 1975.

England parade around the athletics track during the opening ceremony of the 1975 men’s Hockey World Cup.

Hosts Malaysia bring the spectacle, on and off the pitch

Malaysia were spectacular hosts for the men’s Hockey World Cup 1975, and players noted that they had never been treated so well. England’s Colin Whalley writes:

“It was a wonderfully well organised tournament, with the players treated superbly in every way – not always a factor in the arrangements. The accommodation in which we stayed was based in a central part of the city and every day when transported to the matches by coach we had a squad of police outriders who took us straight through all the traffic to the ground, going through red lights as if we were royalty.”

There were also opening and closing ceremonies the likes of which had only before been witnessed at the Olympic Games.

Photographs of the opening ceremony of the 1975 men’s Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur from the collection of England player Brian Purdy, held at The Hockey Museum.

Many of the players found the weather challenging with soaring temperatures and frequent rainy deluges that threatened several games. Colin Whalley recalls one particularly difficult episode that led to a change to the tournament match programme:

“The weather was incredibly hot and regrettably our captain Bernie Cotton collapsed after one match and ended up in hospital. This game had been played at the hottest time of the day and consequently the tournament officials took the sensible decision to bring matches forward, although starts at 8:00am were not universally popular. Players were not used to getting up at 5 o’clock in the morning!”

In another first, some matches were played on two grounds. One England match involved playing the first half at one ground and when the pitch was flooded by half time all the players and officials were transported to another ground on which to play the second half.

The resourceful Malaysians came up with an intriguing solution: they employed ‘bomohs’, local shamans, to sort out the weather conditions. As part of their rituals, the ‘bomohs’ used red chilli peppers staked in each corner of the hockey pitches to redress the meteorological conditions.

Malaysia beat the defending champions, the Netherlands, 2-1 at the Kilat Club, in front of a crowd of 15,000 fans. The game was played on 11 March, which coincided with the birthday celebrations of Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, the Malaysian Prime Minister of the time. This game is considered to be Malaysian hockey’s best-ever achievement at an international tournament to date. The host nation’s final overall position at the World Cup was fourth – they lost 2-3 to India in the semi-finals after extra time.

According to the Malaysian newspaper, The Star, the 1975 Malaysian team will be having a reunion in May this year at the Concorde Hotel, Kuala Lumpur to “rekindle” those memories.

Indian Sub-continent teams dominate at the first World Cup held in Asia

India and Pakistan both finished top of their respective groups at the 1975 men’s Hockey World Cup, having each scored 14 goals in their five matches. They would eventually meet in the final, where India beat Pakistan 2-1 in front of a capacity crowd – the only time that India have been Hockey World Cup champions. India’s team still hold celebrity status nationally some 50 years later. The winning goal was scored by Ashok Kumar who said of the game in interview:

“Pakistan was tough, but we played far better that day. I would give a lot of credit to Ajitpal [Singh], who controlled the game so beautifully.”

Goalkeeper Ashok Dewan said:

“I never realised my contribution. There was no television in those days. Only recently I saw the final (on YouTube) and discovered some of my saves.”

Participation medal from the 1975 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

Unusually, two of India’s matches in the tournament were abandoned and had to be replayed, against West Germany during the group stage due to bad light and against hosts Malaysia in the semi-final because of torrential rain. In a tournament marred by inclement weather, the final was played in brilliant sunshine!

By emerging victorious in 1975, India emulated Pakistan by winning the men’s Hockey World Cup after losing the rights to host the event. Pakistan lifted the trophy in 1971 in Barcelona after Lahore was originally awarded the tournament, and Mumbai was the original venue for the 1975 World Cup before it was moved to Kuala Lumpur.

The final of the Hockey World Cup 1975 can be found on YouTube: 1975 World Cup Hockey Final