The history of Bishop’s Stortford Hockey Club is the story of two separate clubs with the Ladies’ section being formed in 1925 and the Mens’ section being formed in 1948.
Men’s Section
The roots of the Men’s game in the area stretch back to the post-war era, when the local club competed as East Herts HC. In those early years, the club faced the challenge of scarce resources; with few motorcars available after the war, players often had to navigate the regional rail network and local taxis just to field a team for away fixtures. Home matches were played on grass at Cricketfield Lane, Hockerill Athletic Club, and Sawbridgeworth.
The club began its formal ascent through the league structures in the late 1960s:
- 1969: Elected to the Hertfordshire County League.
- 1972: Joined the East Central League.
- 1975: Gained promotion to the East League, establishing the club as a force in regional hockey.
The Men’s section enjoyed a period of significant trophy success during the mid-to-late 20th century. The club was crowned County Champions on three occasions (1974, 1981, and 1986) and achieved a high-water mark in 1982 as East League runners-up. On the national stage, the club proved its pedigree by reaching the H.A. Cup quarter-finals in both 1982 and 1986.
In recent years, the Men’s section has undergone a resurgence, driven by a commitment to elite coaching and a strong youth pipeline.
- League Success: A major milestone was reached in the 2022-23 season, when the Men’s 1st XI won the East Division 1 South title, securing their place in the East Premier Division.
- Team Depth: The Men’s section now boasts 7 senior teams, catering to all levels of play from performance-driven squads to social and developmental sides.
- The Veterans (Vets): Our senior players continue to compete at a high level, frequently participating in national masters competitions.
Ladies Section
The story of the ladies’ section of the club is very much the story of Herts & Essex High School hockey. The club was first formed for the 1924-25 season by former pupils of the school who wanted to continue playing after leaving school ‘but didn’t want to go back to the school’.
Home fixtures were played at Stortford Park in their first few seasons then they leased a pitch from the Cricket Club in Cricketfield Lane up to 1965.
Early regular fixtures were against Herts & Essex High School (the club’s first ever fixture), Hockerill Training College, Broxbourne, Saffron Walden, Cheshunt, Braintree & Bocking, Dunmow and Cambridge Town. A 2nd XI was established by 1930 with games against Ware & Hertford, Friends School, Sawbridgeworth and St Mary’s Convent.
After the War, the Club started back strongly with an unbeaten season of 1947 going back 18 games unbeaten and scoring 208 goals. The star player was former H&EHS student, Eileen Taylor who was selected at left-back for England v Ireland. However, the Club remained at only one team only throughout the 50s and despite some strong county players in the team ‘on several occasions it had not been possible to raise a team’. The H&EHS link continued with an annual fixture between the school and the club being played every Christmas.
The Club moved their home fixtures to Margaret Danes School in 1965 and a 2nd XI was formed in 1971 under the leadership of Gill Robinson as Club Captain. The 1970s saw regular training taking place at St Mary’s Convent which started to increase participation. This meant a 3rd XI was launched for season 1972-73.
A golden jubilee celebration was commemorated with an invitational tournament hosted by the Club which was won by Belvedere Hockey Club. An article in the Herts & Essex Observer (6th March 1975) paid tribute to Chairman, Dorothy Taylor and Treasurer, Nellie Reeve both of whom had made huge contributions in their respective roles. This season also started to see the emergence of a regular 4th XI.
The Club then moved to Hadham Hall from 1980 which saw the start of some notable success. Herts & Essex HS’s inaugural National Schools Cup title in 1981 was spearheaded by England international centre-forward Sharon Hutley. This was also the start of a purple patch for the club where the club won the Herts County Sixes at Shenley in 1981; the Herts County Championship for the first time in 1982 and were also runners up in the County Indoor to Welwyn. 1982 was also capped by the Club winning the end of season Alphen International Tournament in the Netherlands. Indeed, 1982 was the year future England International, Pippa Bull (nee Mackrill) started appearing on club teamsheets.
Another product of the Herts & Essex pipeline, Margaret Allen was selected for England in March 1985.
The move to artificial surfaces and the rise of a formal league ‘pyramid’ saw the Ladies’ section merge with the Men’s club in 1990 with the club headquartered at Cricketfield Lane with the ladies’ 1st XI continuing to play in the Godfrey Davis Beds and Herts League.
Both sections moved to the new artificial surface at Hockerill College for the start of the 1993-94 season. For the ladies’ section, this attracted more former and new players and success followed. The L1s won the Godfrey Davis Beds & Herts League in 1993-94 and were promoted to the East Super League Division 2 which they then won in 1995-96. The 3rd XI won their division in the Beds & Herts League and regular 5th XI fixtures were established.
The partnership with Hockerill College meant regular fixtures for five ladies’ teams in the late 90s and early 00s across East League and the newly established Five Counties League. The Ladies’ 1st XI won East Division 2SW twice in 2009-10 and in 2016-17. However the section folded the 5th XI in 2009.
Hockey came home with the joint venture to build a home pitch and clubhouse with Herts & Essex High School in 2018. This propelled the Ladies’ section to unprecedented success with twelve divisional titles being won over a five year period under the leadership of club captain, Richard Temple – despite one season abandoned to Covid19. Under the coaching stewardship of Nick Prowse from Bishop’s Stortford College and the captaincy of Charlie Leonard (who went on to become England Masters World Silver Medallist), the Ladies’ 1st XI won back-to-back titles winning East 1 South in 2019-20 and the East Premier League in 2021-22 and were promoted to the National League for the first time in their history. Nick blended existing talent from the club and all the local schools to achieve this remarkable achievement. The ladies’ section also harvested their burgeoning junior section and have fielded ten adult ladies’ teams every Saturday since 2024.
A Note on the Club’s History
Colin Barber commissioned Tom Saul to produce his recollections of the early years of BSHC reproduced here along with his own manuscript of the middle years of the club’s history to date. His son, Duncan, our current Men’s Club Captain arranged for these manuscripts to be transcribed in 2017 and Mark Surridge added his section to bring the history up to the end of the 1980s.
We are now seeking help from members and friends of the club to build on the bones of this history: either to add their recollections to enhance the existing sections or to contribute to more recent history – particularly the period 1990-2010 and to reflect the enormous contribution of the Ladies’ section in this history. We are also keen to receive any photos, scanned or otherwise, and any other memorabilia worthy of capturing in this document.
If you have any material that you would like to submit, please do contact the Chairman.
Feedback
We what to ensure all our members receive the best experience whilst at Bishop’s Stortford Hockey Club, your feedback is so important to us as it can help us improve our club. We would love it if you could take a moment to leave us a review on Facebook or Google?
This can be done by clicking on the below links: