Detail of the Great Britain team recreational jacket with Olympic Rings cloth badge. From the collection of Dr John Bell | The Hockey Museum.
The Hockey Museum’s (THM) presentation of Great Britain (GB) honours caps continues as and when we make contact with more players. The number of remaining presentations is diminishing, with those left to receive down from the starting total of 581 men and women, to a current figure below 150.
On the men’s side we are now mainly looking for the older generations and recently we had the great privilege of meeting up with two stalwarts of the 1960 Olympic campaign to Rome. Both players are now in their 90s and we were delighted to find them in such good form and present them with their caps.
Howard Davis could have been described as a veteran Olympic athlete in 1960 having already competed in Melbourne in 1956. He would go on to compete in the Tokyo Games in 1964 – his third Olympic Games and his final matches for GB. Although Howard is undoubtedly one of the ‘greats’ of GB hockey, he had been unable to join us at one of our many presentation gatherings. At a recent presentation at Southgate Hockey Club to the family of the late Mexico Olympic captain John Neill, we asked John’s widow Cecilia if she would present Howard’s cap. Howard and John had been teammates in Rome and Tokyo and became great friends. Cecilia readily agreed and the presentation took place at Trentham Golf Club near Stoke-on-Trent.
Howard Davis (42 international caps for GB, 1956-1964) receives his honours cap from Cecilia Neill, the widow of longtime GB teammate John Neill.
John Neill’s GB honours cap is presented to his widow Cecilia Neill and their son Johnny by THM President and Hon. Curator Mike Smith during a presentation at Southgate Hockey Club. John Neill achieved 58 international caps for GB (1959-1968).
Another GB player from Rome was Dr John Bell. Howard Davis, John Neill and John Bell only shared the pitch for one GB hockey match, the semi-final of the Rome Olympic Games at the Velodromo Olimpico on 7 September 1960. GB lost a close match 0-1 to India.
Great Britain and India line up at the Velodromo Olimpico for the semi-final of the Rome 1960 Olympic hockey tournament. From the slide collection of Dr John Bell.
After initially failing to trace John Bell, he contacted us recently to enquire about his cap. Your Hon. Curator was delighted to receive this call as we played against each other in the 1960s in Warwickshire. John had retired from Sutton Coldfield where he played and was a local GP, and is now living in Shropshire. I needed little persuasion to make the journey and present John with his GB cap. When I arrived he was resplendent in his Olympic blazer and his cottage was bedecked with Union Flags. I am not sure who was the more delighted, John or me!? It was a true privilege.
Dr John Bell (three international caps for GB, 1959-1960) receives his honours cap from THM President and Hon. Curator Mike Smith.
John produced lots of memorabilia including his full playing kit from Rome (minus the shorts), including splendid woollen socks which we had not seen before. You would perhaps be surprised at how few people gift their socks to the museum – it would seem they are the most throwaway item of hockey playing kit.
Although we still have over 100 caps to present, we hope that this article demonstrates the efforts that we are making to try and find all potential recipients. If you can help, please get in touch using our online contact form.
Great Britain playing shirt and socks, and recreational jacket and cap of Dr John Bell.
The playing socks and cap of Dr John Bell worn in the team photograph above.
