By John Cranwell - Chairman, The Great Britain Men's Hockey Board, Hon. Fixtures Secretary of the Welsh Hockey Association

My ten years with Hendon Hockey Club were about as fulfilling, exciting (sometimes demoralising), educational and generally happy as any ten years of my life.

I came back to London from Cheshire at the age of 25 determined to rejoin Hampstead with whom I had played half a season in 1953 or Southgate for whom I'd played as a schoolboy. By chance I met up with one Tony Greenwell, a Hendon player and, like myself an Old Millhillian, who invited me to play in a summer hockey game as a guest for Hendon. I continued to play as a guest through those summer months.

Tim Price had retired as captain of Hendon and Chris Walters had been appointed his successor only to find that his company wanted him to work in New York. Thus I was appointed vice-captain/Captain elect before I was actually signed on as a member and at Hendon I stayed for the best part of my hockey life.

In 1960 when I joined the club it was quite heavily in debt by the standards of that time, as they had left the Mill Hill Cricket Club ground and built themselves a Clubhouse on West Hendon playing fields. This, in the days before such things as grants from public organisations such as the Sports Council.

Maurice Polman, for some years Club Secretary and then Chairman of the Committee, was the inspiration behind the Club at that time along with an able Treasurer in Eric Moore. Maurice was to become Chairman within two years and in order to avoid an appointment of a possible rogue I was bustled in to take his place as Secretary, at the same time retaining my 1st XI captaincy. Both these posts I occupied until 1968 when I announced my intention of moving north with my Company.

The Club at that time was going through a transitional stage on the playing side. There were no leagues but our matches were far from being friendly run abouts. At 1st XI level every club took its game seriously although never, that I recall, to the point of bad sportsmanship. How things have altered. In those early days we had Gavin Turner as 1st XI goalie (one of the best in the county) and an able deputy in Arthur Douglas at 2nd XI. Tim Price was the short corner striker. Ahmed m'Baye, a black Zanzibarian medical student, was centre forward. Jackie Jacobs at right back, Tony Greenwell at right half, Tony Watson on the right wing. Chris Walters went off to the States halfway through my first season and ended up eventually as the Hon. General Secretary of the United States Field Hockey Association. How many English clubs can claim top officials in two countries, neither England? (I modestly have to say that I became President of the Welsh Hockey Association in 1980-82.)

In the lower elevens at that time reclined one or two people who were later to become famous for a variety of reasons.

Eddie Moorby, who with his wife Freda, was the backbone of our Sunday side and our teas for many years, was a fine goalkeeper who eventually took on the job of coaching our lowest team of colts. When he left to live in Wimbourne in about 1967 he not only left a gap at our Club, he caused quite a stir in Dorset hockey. He rose through the teams of his club to be picked for his county for whom he played for several seasons. Little did they know that he was about 54 when he played his first county game.

That tremendous character who played for the Austrian National team in the 1930s, Hans Tibor (John) Falconer played good class hockey for us in all the teams whenever necessary, but had his career terminated by a nasty accident on the hockey field. John was responsible for organising what I would guess to be the first overseas trip by Hendon Hockey Club. This was in 1965 as guests of the Berliner Hockey Club. We enjoyed a feast of superb hockey and entertainment until the penultimate match when John went over from right back to tackle the right wing just as the right wing centred. The stick travelled up on John's stick and into his face and eventually resulted in the loss of an eye. In spite of everything John returned to hockey as an umpire, then as umpires' organiser for the Southern Counties Hockey Umpires Association and later became an F.I.H. official for indoor hockey, travelling to tournaments all over the world.

Of course there were many comings and goings of players over those ten years but the fortunes of the Club were never greater in my time than when Blair Sessions, former Welsh International, Neil James of Newport and Monmouthshire and Murray Stuart all joined at the beginning of one season 1965-66; and with players such as Duncan Bateman, David Wallace and the Kenyan Mervyn Jones, we had a side to take on anybody. Of course much of the hard work was not organising the hockey games whether they were in standard Saturday or Sunday matches, festivals or tours, but surely organising the clubhouse, grounds, teas and finance. Even with an excellent Treasurer in Peter Godfrey and a hard working committee I saw no way out.

The Clubhouse was broken into with monotonous regularity and it was difficult to entice people to come down during the week when the facilities were so bad. It was in 1965 that we saw some sort of building emerging on the other side of the playing fields and it was an enquiry into what that was all about that led to the startling events of the next two years which has put the Club into the position that it is today.

As that was, for me, almost a full time activity and as I was to take part of the credit for it, feel I should recount in detail the story of how it all came about.

As I said the numerous burglaries in the old clubhouse had left us in a parlous financial state. Numerous approaches had been made to the Council either to do something to prevent the thefts and vandalism or to re-house us somewhere. It seemed inconceivable therefore that the new building being created on the far side of the playing fields could possibly be sports and social club for Council Ground Staff as local rumour would have it. Upon investigation however such proved to be the case and I was authorised to instigate negotiations in an attempt to get the use of those facilities somehow. It proved to be a tough nut to crack.

After much correspondence and many meetings when we laid emphasis upon the Hockey Club being the oldest club in the borough (I wonder if that is actually true) we were told to try to reach agreement with the NALGO Staff Sports and Social Club over joint use and return to the chief officers with a submission. After about a year of meetings, draft rules and regulations, haggling over positions, voting powers etc. finally emerged the Barnet NALGO & Hendon (Hockey) Sports and Social Club as an umbrella organisation to run the actual clubhouse without interfering with the respective sporting activities.

About halfway through this lengthy episode I noticed a letter in my local paper - the Hornsey Journal - from the Secretary or Captain of the Highgate Ladies Hockey Club grumbling about their pitches and advertising for members. Off my own bat I wrote to the Ladies advising them of our negotiations with Barnet Council and suggesting a merger if our negotiations were successful and if our club was agreeable. So with the backing of the Committee a new set of meetings, a new constitution to integrate the ladies and our ladies section was born. Pat Janisch, Beverley Macauley, Jill Roscoe and Barbara Lockyer all assisted the path of integration. The men of course were delighted. I shall never forget the gasp of anticipation and delight when I announced the possibility of a merger at our 80th anniversary dinner.

Of course to write a ten year history in such a few words does no justice to many incidents and many friendships. The enormous amount of effort put in by people during this period is far too numerous to mention. There were good times and bad. I remember turning up with nine men against the Old Cranleighans and holding them until midway through the second half, only losing 2-0. I remember the thrill of playing an H.A. eleven for our 80th anniversary celebrations, losing 5-1. I remember losing 2-1 against Berlin Hockey Club with the great Carsten Keller, whom I was marking, scoring the winning goal. I remember the United Services Portsmouth team almost crying at half time when they had failed to get one past Gavin Turner after about 100 shots at goal.

Long will I remember the difficulties of trying to get the muddy pitches cut or rolled. Of trying to persuade the committee that I had not overstepped the mark by assuming too much. I have memories of the Worthing Easter Festival that alone could fill a book. In particular of the late Rickie Roberts who never failed to appear and rarely played without managing to score a goal against whatever opposition.

I think it was for the purpose of ensuring that there were links with the past at the 80th anniversary dinner that I chased all the vice-presidents (except for about two) that had appeared in the fixture card for so many years. How wonderful to speak to a certain G. Edgar-Morris, then 81 and nearly blind, who claimed to have played for the Club as schoolboy in the 1890s.

Finally I shall always remember with appreciation the farewell dinner put on for my departure in 1969 chaired by our superb president for so many years, Bob Woolnough - who incidentally claimed to have scored a hundred goals for the 2nd XI in one season before the war - and organised by my old friend Martin Bunyard, that superb player I had previously dropped from the 1st XI for disciplinary reasons.

That's what hockey friendships are made of. This is what amateur hockey in Britain is all about. Long may it survive and here's to the next 100 years for Hendon.

John Cranwell