THE GREAT BRITAIN HOCKEY STORY
as recalled by Bill Colwill, Hockey Correspondent of The Independent

1948 The choice of London, almost press-ganged into staging the 1948 Games, was a wonderful opportunity for the Home countries to get back into the Olympics, previously England, Scotland and Wales had taken part individually. Although the British hockey hierarchy appeared to have no great desire to get back into the Games they were persuaded to do so. First to make the Games a success and secondly, remember, England was a leading hockey country and had invented the game and in the early years dominated it. So the British Hockey Board was constituted on Monday 2 February 1948 with its income to come three quarters from England and an eighth each from Scotland and Wales with Scotland and Wales committed to not more than £30 in any one year.

Saturday 31 July 1948 at the Guinness Sports Ground Park Royal was the historic moment for Great Britain's first game, a goalless draw against Switzerland in the XIVth Olympics. Thirteen countries took part (India, Great Britain, Netherlands, Pakistan [first four], Afghanistan, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Spain, Switzerland and USA). GB moved on to the Chiswick Polytechnic ground for their second game where Taunton Vale's Norman Borrett, the GB captain, scored their first ever goal, one of five he netted in their 11 - 0 win against the USA, remaining to this day their only double figure victory. A brilliant all round sportsman Borrett played cricket for Essex, won the British amateur squash title five years in a row and had a wonderful knack of scoring goals. In seven appearances for Britain he netted a total of eleven. He added to his first five in the very next game when he collected four more at Lloyds Bank in an 8 - 0 win against Afghanistan before moving to Wembley and a 2 - 0 semi final win against the new emerging nation, Pakistan.

Download full story in PDF format.
Download Acrobat Reader.