A New Dawn: The Rise of Women’s Hockey Leagues and the Emergence and Demise of the English Ladies Hockey Leagues Association, 1910–1960

Abstract

Leagues are now a common feature of the field hockey world but this was not always the case. In 1910, the introduction of a women’s hockey league in Manchester caused the hockey establishment a headache. Its success enabled other areas, particularly the industrial towns of Northern England, to feel confident enough to form their own leagues. However, the All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA), the governing body for women’s hockey since 1895, found it difficult to deal with the leagues. They did not believe leagues should be part of the women’s game. They also thought the women’s game should be governed by women, whereas many of the leagues were governed by men. This attitude meant many leagues felt unwelcome in the Association. The uneasy relationship eventually led to some leagues breaking away from the AEWHA and forming the English Ladies Hockey Leagues Association (ELHLA) in 1932. Given that there is a paucity of work on the latter Association, the focus of the paper is on taking a close look at the early history of the ELHLA, assessing the opportunities it provided for league teams and players, and contextualizing its ultimate demise in the early 1960s.