About Reading Hockey Club

As the game of hockey has evolved and a national league started, Reading has been at the forefront of this development.

Reading Hockey Club is presently one of the most successful clubs in the UK with National League and Cup honours.

The current success within the club can be traced back to the early 1980â•?s, when the then management embarked on an ambitious plan to make the club a genuine centre of excellence for hockey.

In 1985, the club moved to its present location in Sonning Lane and Reading Cricket and Reading Cricket & Hockey Club was properly formed.

With the growth in popularity of hockey at the time, the cricket outfield provided enough space for six grass pitches.

This was enhanced by the laying of a floodlit water based astro pitch in the late 1980â•?s through the hard work of the membership, corporate sponsorship and Sports Council funding

Since then, the Club’s reputation has grown in line with its success, with it organising a number of prestigious domestic and international events.

In 1997 Reading hosted the European Cup Winners Tournament, and more recently in 1999, the National League Playoffs at the request of the EHA.

Recently the hockey membership has once again been hard at work raising funds to replace the old Astroturf.

Work began in July 2002 on the state of the art facility encompassing a new pitch, lighting and water systems and changing rooms.

The grand opening of the facilities was on the 10th November 2002.

the Ladies Section

The 1981/82 season saw the first action by Reading Ladies with Bulmershe College as the home ground. The following season a second team was added. Easter 1983 saw the regular club tour to Holland include a ladies side for the first time and the following season a 3rd team was added to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Reading Cricket & Hockey Club. With the move to Sonning Lane the ladies actually had their own changing rooms. Further teams were added in 1991 and the teams were renamed with the inclusion of the 1aâ•?s & 2aâ•?s. In the 1993 season a “Vets” team was formed playing fortnightly and this team was soon renamed the Rogues.

In 2001 this team entered the local league for the first time and in 2002 the ladies added a further team, the Rebels, run by a few senior players with the aim to introduce around 10-12 juniors to league hockey on a regular basis.

When the ladies commenced league hockey they played in the Berks, Bucks and Oxon league before winning promotion to Div 1 in 1987/88 and winning promotion to the South league the following season.

After a couple of narrow misses the first team won the South league for the first time in 1993/94 and went on to represent the South in the National League playoffs. Unfortunately they did not succeed in winning a National League place and had to wait to the following season to gain promotion under the leadership of Yvonne Craven. In the summer of 1995 Reading lost the majority of the team that won promotion so their first experience of National League was not successful despite winning their opening league game against Loughborough Students 2-1.

Relegation back to the South league allowed Reading to regroup and bring through some younger players. They reached the semi final of the EHA Plate competition in 1997/98 and the quarter final in 1998/99, both games being lost away to Deeside Ramblers.

1999/00 saw the appointment of Dave Rutherford as first team coach and in his first year, the team won the South League and won through the National League playoffs beating Dereham at home.

The return to National League began extremely well but ended with a mid table finish of 6th.

The 2001/02 season was the best yet for the team as they secured promotion to the National League Division 1 with a solid defence and were only beaten once during the season, and that was after they had secured promotion. Not to be outdone the 1aâ•?s won the Berks Bucks & Oxon Div 1 title in the same season and won through the South League playoffs to ensure the 1aâ•?s position in South Div 2 for the first time ever.

Are you a current or former player? Do you have stories to
tell that can contribute to the history of Reading Hockey Club? Can you help us fill the gaps in this history and help us celebrate our centenary?
Please contact us with any
details.