Our Collections
The Hockey Museum has many areas that make up its collection. These inform our understanding of the history of hockey, facilitate our research projects and are the foundation of our exhibitions and storytelling work.
Discover these collection areas below.
Collections
The Hockey Museum amassed the largest collection of hockey heritage material in the world: from our vast library of hockey books and magazines to photography and paper archives; from some of the earliest hockey sticks and balls, to memorabilia from some of the most significant hockey matches throughout history.
We are open to offers of heritage material for our collection or if you are interested in volunteering to work with any of our collection areas, please visit our dedicated pages.
The Hockey Museum is a charity receiving no government support. Preserving our collections is vital but expensive work; please show your support by making a donation.
Collection Areas
The Hockey Museum’s permanent collection is made up of different types of heritage material. We call these ‘collection areas’. Many of our collection areas have a volunteer lead who works with the curatorial staff to document and care for them.
Discover the different areas of our wide-ranging collection below.
Archive
Our archives are paper or digital records. Important archives include scrapbooks and press cuttings, rule books, match programmes, minutes, the records and accounts of national, regional, county and umpiring associations and many club records, as well as the playing records and statistics of national teams.
Art
Perhaps not what you would immediately expect to find in a museum of hockey, our diverse art collection includes oil and watercolour paintings, limited-edition prints, quilting, sculpture, engravings, club and event posters, cartoons and other illustrations.
Audio and Video
Our audio-visual collections include physical and digital items: VHS tapes, DVDs and cine film reels of match highlights and coaching films, as well as our archive of oral history interviews capturing the ‘lived experiences’ of hockey’s great and good.
Badges and Pins
Our collections of cloth and pin badges often capture a player’s life in hockey; the teams they played for and against (including representative honours), the tours they went on and the tournaments they attended.
Clothing and Textiles
Our textiles collection covers the vast range and radical development in men and women’s hockey kit and clothing across the twentieth century: umpiring blazers, baggy flanel playing shirts, tracksuits, skorts and ankle-length skirts as well as honours caps, commemorative pennants and flags.
Kit and Equipment
Our equipment collection covers the significant technical and visual evolution of hockey sticks, balls, protective goalkeeping kit and umpiring equipment across the twentieth century, as well as the introduction and development of artificial turf pitches from the mid-1970s.
Library
Our library comprises the largest collection of hockey books and magazines in the world from the 1890s to the present day. Our books include club histories, association handbooks, biographies, coaching manuals, tournament reports and even novels and children’s annuals.
Photography
Our vast photography collection is a visual and often astonishing chronicle of hockey’s evolution. It comprises photographic prints (physical and digitised), negatives and slides, as well born-digital photography.
Stamps and Philately
Our philately enthusiasts have amassed a superb collection of national and international postage stamps, first day and commemorative covers, and postcards featuring hockey. Most stamps and covers were produced to celebrate international tournaments, whether or not the nation of origin competed.
Trophies and Medals
Our collection of hockey trophies and presentation pieces comprises various sized cups, bowls and other assorted shapes. It covers team trophies and individuals’ medals from club hockey to international level including masters and festival hockey.
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