BICESTER HOCKEY CLUB

A Brief History of

Bicester Hockey Club

 

 

Bicester Mixed Hockey Club was formed at a meeting held in the Council Chambers, Bicester Town Hall on Wednesday 5th October 1932; thirty five prospective members were present. Dr. G Montgomery was elected as the club’s first President and Chairman. Dr. Montgomery had advertised the meeting in the previous weeks Bicester Advertiser. There is however a brief report in the local paper on March 14th 1930, which states, “Bicester Hockey Club journeyed to Aylesbury yesterday and won by six goals to four.” I would suggest that this is referring to the R.A.F. Bicester team. The club’s own minute book and reports in the local press all indicate the club forming in October 1932.

 

  It was decided at this first meeting that the fixtures and colours of the now defunct Bucknell Hockey Club would be adopted by the new club. Mr Gerring was elected the first men’s captain, as he had been the captain of the Bucknell side. Such was the enthusiasm for the club, especially amongst the ladies that four members were nominated for the post of Ladies Captain, Miss E Fryer emerging as the first Ladies Captain.

 

 There is however, further evidence that hockey was being played in the surrounding area. In the early minutes and fixture lists, clubs in Islip and Kidlington are mentioned. The Bicester Advertiser reports a match played between R.A.F Bicester and Banbury on February 28th 1930, which ended as a 4-4 draw. In Bicester itself hockey was being played at The National School, who organised an annual, “ex-scholars,” match using a pitch owned by The Bicester Sports Association on what is now known as the Oxford Rd Site. This land had been purchased by the B.S.A. during the 1920’s and had been previously been a golf course. Permission to use the pitch was granted by the B.S.A. at an annual cost of £20.00 a year and posts and nets were to be rented from the National school for £1.00 a year. By joining the B.S.A the hockey club joined with other sports clubs that were already operating in the town, i.e. Football, Cricket, Bowls, Tennis and Rifle clubs.

  At the first meeting it was also agreed that matches would be played on Saturday and Thursday afternoons. Thursdays, being early closing day in Bicester. A juvenile section was formed to play matches in the school holidays. The Bucknell club had run a junior section. In November 1933 the club’s colours were confirmed as white shirts, blue shorts and green stockings for the men. The ladies wore green stockings, white slips and blue tunics. A green girdle was added to the ladies colours the following season.

 

 The early minutes cover all the issues that still seem to be discussed today including, match fees, subscriptions, teas, kit, travelling expenses etc and of course social events. The first club dance was help at The Weyland Hall in December 1933, but there is also mention of Whist Drives, Darts evenings and Clay Pigeon Shoots. By 1937 an annual 6-a-side tournament is in place and the annual dance was held at Stratton Audley Village Hall making a profit of £11.00.

 

  With the declaration of war in September 1939 all the club’s activities ceased until August 1947, when a meeting was held to revive the club. From that point until the early 1950’s the club had one of its most successful periods, probably because members were full of enthusiasm to let their lives return to normal after the horrors of war. The 1949/50 season saw the Men’s team unbeaten in 27 matches,  Paddy Lenahan scoring 55 goals. The club had also provided the first pavilion at the Oxford Rd ground. This period of success was however short lived. The mixed team that played on Sundays was no more and by the A.G.M. held in 1953 it was decided, after a long discussion, that the club would carry on. The finances were weak, partly due to the fact that service personnel were making up the numbers in the team and were not being asked to pay a match fee. The Ladies section had folded, or was perhaps being run as a separate club, the minutes are unclear and very sparse for this period. This situation continued through the rest of the 1950’s. In 1959 however, 33 men’s matches were arranged but only 22 were actually played, but 15 were won and two drawn.  From the beginning of the 1960’s things began to pick up again. Names of prominent members from the immediate pre-war era begin to reappear in the minutes and perhaps their enthusiasm brought success. Unfortunately at the time of writing I have been unable to locate any minutes for the rest of the 1960’s, but I would suggest that the club slowly strengthened  and by the time the B.S.A developed  the Oxford Rd site in the mid 1960s with the building we see today, the club was ready to take off. By the early 1970’s the club possessed off the field facilities second to none in the County and by the late 1970’s was running six and sometimes seven men’s teams, two ladies sides and a mixed team. With enthusiasm on and off the pitch, and local “hockey” teachers at Bicester School this led to an influx of talented young players, who were able to develop their skills. Improved transport across the county brought players to the club from as far away as London, Brackley, Oxford and Wallingford. This led to the 1st eleven reaching the Regional League for the first and only time in 1986 and the second round of The National Hockey Cup in the same season. This vibrant state of affairs continued until the mid 1990’s by which time most teams were playing competitive league hockey but the need for Astro-turf pitches had become urgent. The B.S.A who the club had always relied upon to provide pitches, had missed a wonderful opportunity to develop the Oxford Rd site when they sold land for the Tesco/Bicester Village development, now bought land in Chesterton, but planning permission for an astro-turf pitch with flood lights  never materialised, partly due to opposition from local residents. Quite what happened in all those discussions has never been made clear, but the need for an astro-turf pitch meant that the club started to use the newly laid pitch at Cooper School in 1996. The hockey club representatives on the B.S.A. keep up the pressure and a further planning application was submitted for an astro -pitch in Chesterton later in 1996, but nothing came of this. Finally the decision was made in 1998 that the Hockey club should part company with the B.S.A.

 

  Since then the club has used Cooper School for home matches and various hostelries in the town for refreshments, meetings and social events. The Ladies section has grown to three sides and a vibrant “Fox Cubs” junior section has developed. The men’s section has continued with five teams and the mixed team plays on a Sunday. Tours to festivals around the country also gives the players a chance to play sociably hockey against clubs away from the regular league programme.

 

The future of the club depends upon the increasing need to develop off the field facilities, especially its own club house, preferably near to its playing area. If this can be achieved Bicester Hockey Club can look forward to a secure and successful future, both on and off the pitch.

 

Andy Walkey, Bicester Hockey Club