The Jean Arnold collection was donated to The Hockey Museum (THM) during lockdown and is now helping to uncover more of the once-hidden history of women’s league hockey.

Jean Arnold

 
Jean Arnold, a well-known figure in Liverpool hockey circles, has donated a large number of items relating to the Liverpool Ladies’ Hockey League. Among this collection is The Lord Mayor’s Cup.

The Lord Mayor’s Cup, Jean Arnold Collection.

 
The Lord Mayor’s Cup was presented to the League by Burton Eills, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, in 1919. It was presented to the League Champions. This must be one of the oldest women’s hockey league cups still in existence.

The Cup is engraved with the following:

The Lord Mayor’s Cup
Presented by
BURTON EILLS, ESQ., JP
Lord Mayor of Liverpool
1919-1920
To the Liverpool County
Ladies’ Hockey League
(affiliated to the AEWHA)
Division 1

The engraving confirms that in the 1919-1920 season, the League was affiliated to the All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA), which since 1895 was the ruling body of women’s hockey in England. The AEWHA was not in favour of league hockey; however, after the First World War, the number of clubs affiliated to the AEWHA was in decline and the leagues were growing in popularity.

Some of the early leagues, such as the Liverpool League, joined the AEWHA after the war, boosting the AEWHA numbers, but the relationship was always a difficult one and some leagues did not stay long. The Liverpool League left in 1928 and eventually joined the English Ladies’ Hockey Leagues Association (ELHLA), an alternative body set up in 1932 to look after the interests of the Leagues. One of the founders of the new Association was John Lishman, the founder of the Liverpool Ladies’ Hockey League.

Mark Evans with the items donated by Jean Arnold. He is holding The Lord Mayor’s Cup and the Liverpool Ladies’ Challenge Shield.		Liverpool Ladies’ Hockey League 1961-62 Handbook showing the League was founded in 1918.