The records of men’s and women’s international hockey are littered with many matches, the authenticity of which has been hotly debated over the decades. Conversely, there are many matches that have been played between ‘allegedly’ international teams that have not been recorded. This aspect of hockey’s history is one that has to be resolved before accurate national records can be finalised.

The Hockey Museum is currently compiling a list of these matches in the hope of delivering a definitive record sometime in the future.

However, there is one match that stands out in the records as being one that should not be there. It was during the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp where England won the Gold Medal. On their way to this success England had to play France. The French were not at all confident so they allegedly employed dubious tactics. As the apocryphal story goes, the French invited the England team out to dinner the night before with the intention of rendering the English players unable to perform properly. However, it was a case of ‘the biter being bit’ because it was the French who succumbed to the over-indulgence. This was to such an extent that the French did not even turn up the following day.

Whilst a ‘walkover’ is an acceptable conclusion it cannot be a result because no-one ever took to the field. The records show the match as a victory for England but with no score. The match is included in England’s records and eleven players are credited with caps for the game.

It is of course illogical for all this to be the case, certainly for players to get a ‘cap’ for a game that was never played and, if there were no players, how could there have been a match?