History

......................................................................................................................

Beeston Hockey Club – a Brief History

Founded in 1907, Beeston Hockey Club was formed by a number of Nottingham High School Old Boys who lived in Beeston, a suburb of Nottingham.

By 1913/14 they ran 2 teams but in common with many other sports they suspended battle on the field for the real hostilities of the 1st World War, most players having volunteered.

Re-forming in 1919/20, they played in two more venues in Beeston before moving, along with other hockey clubs, to the new City Council park at Highfields in 1928/29 where they remained until 1966/67 when they moved to the ground behind the Ferry Boat Inn at Stoke Bardolph on the other side of the City. It was here that the highly successful Beeston Sixes tournament was started in 1972.

After some ten years (in 1977/78) they returned to Highfields, joining with Crimson Ramblers Ladies Hockey Club to form Highfields Sports Club.

Major changes to the ground facilities took place firstly in 1988 with the opening of one of the first artificial sand-based playing surfaces owned by a private club, an initiative led by John Bosworth and Jed Gisborne.

Secondly and even more substantially, three new pitches (including one of the latest water-based surfaces) were put down and the clubhouse re-modelled with substantial financial aid from Sport England and the Lottery Fund - opening completed in 2002.

In 2008 Beeston Hockey Club and Nottingham Highfields Ladies HC agreed to merge to form a new Beeston Hockey Club, fielding 8 Mens and 8 Ladies teams. A new Management structure has been put into place in order that the enlarged club will be able to operate in a modern and professional manner and maintain the success of the 2007/8 Centenary season.

In the early days the Club's administration was dominated by one name - Frederick. L. (Freddy) Jones. A founder member of the Club, he was Hon. Secretary from 1923 to 1960, Hon. Treasurer from 1923 to 1946 and President from 1947 to 1960/61. He then became the first Patron of the Club until his death in 1976. Then came the era of E.P. (Dick) Tew, Patron from 1977 to 1986 and Stan Allen, both of whom filled a variety of official positions during the '50s & '60s. In the '70s they were followed by David Paton, John Bosworth, Richard Kirk and David Williams as Chairmen; Axel Palmer, Roger Downer and Peter Hannah as Presidents and Peter Hannah as Patron (from 1986 to 2007). Michael Rowen became Patron in 2007.

Throughout its history many Beeston Hockey Club names have also been associated with the Nottinghamshire and Midland County Hockey and Hockey Umpires Associations.

The Club ran 2 teams regularly from 1913 to 1957, 3 teams from 1957 to 1966, 4 teams from 1966 to1971 and then 5,6 and 7 teams until they now field 8 Men's teams and 3 Ladies teams, the Ladies section having been formed in 2002. The Veterans (Old Bees) were founded in 1977 by Andrew Clarke and a Sunday side, the Besoms, played from 1958 to 1992.

In 1981 Roger Downer and Sid Williams, assisted later by Pete Fenton, founded the Colts section, so many of whom have gone on to distinction with the 1st team of Beeston and indeed other Clubs. Since then, firstly with Eileen Hartley and then under the direction of Martin and Judith Keeling, they have become enormously successful with many representative and National honours at u-13; u-14; u-15; u-16 and u-18 level. In 2003 the u-18 Boys won the National title and in 2005 and 2006 the u-15 Boys won the National title. A significant Award in 2004 was the England Hockey Club 1st and Sport England Club Mark Accreditation. Mention must also be made of Steve LeMottee who guided juniors into Men's hockey via the XBs from 1991 to 1998.

Many players have gained representative honours - England internationals Billy West in 1913/14 and Edgar Milward in 1933-35 (both goalkeepers) and J MacMinn played for Scotland. In 2006 Alistair Wilson represented England in the World Cup and David Griffiths, Ollie Cooper, Zak Jones, Matt Simkin, Ben Rogers and Dominic Graham all represented Wales. George Pinner and Ali Wilson were selected for Great Britain in 2007 and Ali Wilson represented GB at the Beijing Olympics.

Stephen Leeming, Danny Williams, Keith Reesby, Stephen Wood, Matt Taylor, Andrew West, Scott Cordon, Richard Stamp, Chris Seddon, Stephen Lawrence, Tim Whiteman and Adam Dixon played at England u-21 level and David Griffiths was named National League Player of the Year in 2003 and 2006 and became captain of Wales in 2007. Pakistan Olympic legend, Mohammed Nadeem joined the Bees in 2005.

Although never receiving international honours, Fred Wagner has a very special record - at the time of his retirement he had scored the most goals in a playing career by any hockey player. In 36 seasons playing from 1923/24 to 1959/60 he scored 1834 goals in 1239 appearances for Beeston, Notts and Notts Casuals.

League Hockey began in the Midlands in 1975/76 with Beeston positioned in Division 3. After fluctuating fortunes, Graham Griffiths and Steve Musson guided the 1st XI into the National League in 1992. Beeston has established itself in both National Outdoor and Indoor Leagues and having reached the English Hockey Cup Final in 1997/98 they went on to represent England in the European Cup Winners Cup in Amsterdam in`1999.

After 3 seasons in the Premiership, Beeston were relegated to Division 1 in 2000 and narrowly missed promotion back to the Premiership for 6 seasons. As the superb new facilities at Highfields Hockey centre were being constructed, so too was a young Beeston side, led on the field since 1994/95 by Stephen Wood, that was to emerge and grow with the success of Highfields Sports Club.

In 2006, Beeston, playing as the Nottinghamshire County team, won the National County Championship (for the first time in 49 years of the competition). In addition, as the Centenary year approached, the Club regained their Premier League status with a remarkable comeback to defeat Old Loughtonians in the play-offs in June 2006.

The 2006/07 season, when Beeston's 1st XI squad included 24 players with international experience, was in the end disappointing, finishing sixth after being second in the league before Christmas.

At the 2006/07 AGM Steven Wood announced his retirement from the 1st XI captaincy after 13 seasons, the longest in the club's history, with 266 National League appearances (39 goals) - a terrific record.

At the beginning of season 2007/08, George Pinner and Ali Wilson were selected for the full England squad but the 1st XI nevertheless began their challenge in the Premier division with panache despite having difficulty beating inferior opposition. Ultimately, again they failed to fulfil early promise and only narrowly avoided the play-offs in the Premier League. In the Indoor league they maintained their previous position, again a substantial achievement.

The outstanding highlight of the Centenary Season was undoubtedly the capture of the Hockey Association Cup after a most exciting final against Bowdon at Highfields when Beeston won 4 - 3 with David Griffiths scoring the vital goal 4 minutes from time.

The Colts also had a successful season with both under 18 and under 15 Boys finishing as runners-up in their respective National competitions.

Beeston HC was also awarded Clubs First Reaccreditation - only the fourth club in the UK to achieve this.

For 2008/09 the Mens 1st XI, now captained by Stephen Lawrence have retained the core of last year's successful side with the addition of Martin Jones (GB) from Cannock. The Ladies 1st XI under Eleanor Ward will play in the Womens Conference North League.

We are in the process of collecting more photos, press cuttings and memorabilia and if anyone has items they think might be of interest, particularly from the 1990s onwards please contact Adrian Lawson on 0115 9256545 or e-mail a.lawson73@ntlworld.com

Many present and former members of the club helped to prepare this history and I would particularly like to acknowledge the contributions from Peter Hannah, Roger Downer, Judith Keeling, Martin Cattaway and Graham Griffiths.

Adrian Lawson

December 2007