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.
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 fourteen divisional titles being won over a six year period – including one season abandoned to Covid19. The Ladies’ 1st XI won the East Premier League in 2021-22 and were promoted to the National League for the first time in their history. The ladies’ section also harvested their burgeoning junior section and will field ten adult League teams from September 2024.
MENS SECTION
Little hockey was played prior to this when the then local club played as East Herts HC. Home games were played at Cricketfield Lane, Hockerill Athletic Club and Sawbridgeworth. Barely able to raise a team in the early days, players had to rely all too often on getting to away fixtures by train and taxi due to the lack of motorcars after the war.
In 1969 we were elected to the Hertfordshire County League and the East Central League in 1972. Promotion to the East League was gained in 1975. Our successes over the years include County Champions in 1974, 1981 and 1986, East runners-up in 1982 and H.A. Cup quarter finalists in 1982 and 1986.
Later successes include the integration of the Ladies Hockey Club and our long-term pitch partnership with Hockerill Anglo European College and more recently our partnership with Herts & Essex High School. The Ladies’ section won promotion to the National League for the first time in its history in 2022.
The Club now boasts 15 adult teams, including 9 Ladies sides, 6 Mens sides, as well as indoor and mixed, in addition to our thriving junior sections.
See more of Stortford’s Hockey archive photos here.
A note on the club 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.
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