Updated national records a mammoth team effort

Since the first Australian players took to the hockey field to represent their country, much of the history and records of Australia’s national hockey teams have been missing or not suitably archived.

But all of that has changed thanks to the steadfast determination and tireless efforts of two men and a host of dedicated individuals. In 2008, former Australian men’s hockey coach and Hockey Australia Hall of Fame inductee Richard Aggiss came together with resident hockey historian and HA Award of Merit recipient John Sanders to form the Hockey History Project.

The Hockey History Project has been the result of more than a decade of painstaking work undertaken by Aggiss and Sanders reviewing match sheets, old newspaper reports, people’s personal collections and records, official reports, and cross-checking with colleagues around the world to compile the most comprehensive historical record of the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras.

When summarising the process of piecing together Australia’s hockey history, Aggiss aptly described it as a ‘patchwork quilt’. But now, some 14 years later after the process started, Aggiss and Sanders are proud to declare and release the latest version of records of Australia’s national teams and players.

The history that has been captured through this epic project which can be found on the Hockey Australia website is as follows:

Kookaburras overall match records
Kookaburras goal scorers
Kookaburras cap (playing) numbers
Kookaburras team lists for matches and tournaments

Hockeyroos overall match records
Hockeyroos goal scorers
Hockeyroos cap (playing) numbers
Hockeyroos team lists for matches and tournaments
Blue Ribbon teams (1925-1977)
*If you come across any errors or omissions that need correction in the records and history, please contact Richard Aggiss.

“When we started this back in 2008 we didn’t know what was in front of us, but we have finally managed to get there,” said Aggiss.

“Particularly in the early decades, it was difficult to find accurate details and information as team lists, umpire and match reports were either thrown out, lost or not kept.

“A lot of the information over the course of the past century seems not to have been maintained or recorded. Australian hockey has such a rich and proud history at international level, so John and I took on the challenge and responsibility of trying to piece it all together.”

“We hope this can now be used as a respected archive of Australia’s national teams, players and coaches and something that can be continued well into the future.”

Typically modest in the time and effort they have devoted to the project, Aggiss and Sanders said it would not have been possible without a team of volunteer researchers across Australia and overseas.

Others have assisted at various times but for Aggiss and Sanders, the following individuals deserve special acknowledgment and recognition for the hours upon hours of research they put in to enhance the accuracy of the records.

Those people are Col Allerdice (NSW), Janet Beverley (QLD), Peri Buckley (TAS), Ric Charlesworth (WA), Janne Ellis (QLD), Robyn McCambridge (TAS), John McKinnon (ACT), Don McWatters (QLD), Dennis Meredith (SA), Daphne Pirie (QLD), Wendy Pritchard (WA), Margaret Ryan (NSW), Stan Salazar (WA) and Bruce Smith (VIC).

Aggiss and Sanders also singled out Mike Smith, the UK Hockey Museum and England based hockey historian Patrick Rowley whose records of international matches were invaluable for cross checking data.

“Undertaking a project of this magnitude takes a multitude of people and without their input and dedication we would not have been able to get this history of Australia’s national teams to where it is today,” said Aggiss.

“These hockey enthusiasts and historians have all made a huge contribution to the many changes and additional information compared to the detail we had previously.”

“To others who we have helped but are not mentioned by name, you know who you are and we sincerely thank you.”

Notably, this year marks the 100-year anniversary of the Australian men’s national team’s first international match. The first Kookaburras team played against New Zealand in 1922.

The Hockeyroos’ history goes even further back. An Australian national women’s team took on England in Sydney in 1914.

For most years between 1925 and 1977, the women selected as the best players at the conclusion of the Women’s National Championships were named in the Blue Ribbon team. This was done due to not all the women being available to travel for overseas tournaments because of various reasons such as family, finances or work. As such, a number of Australian representative teams that played in international matches were seldom the blue ribbon team from that year.

From Aggiss and Sanders’ records, 506 players have represented the Hockeyroos, while there have been 432 players capped for Australia’s men’s national team.