Preface
This history is largely adapted from an article written for BHA’s Golden Jubilee in 1982. It has been slightly modified and recent history has been added, mostly by the 2010 executive.
The club celebrated its 85th year in 2009 with a fantastic dinner. Another milestone marked in this period was the 50th consecutive year of service of Buck McBryde, which was celebrated with an ‘old-school’ grass hockey carnival at the St Lucia fields and a black-tie dinner. On the back of these events, an Old Boys Alumni Club was initiated in 2010 to work alongside the club on various matters and assist in networking for the club.
Introduction
The University of Queensland Hockey Club was founded in 1924 and during the last 85 years has maintained strong traditions of lasting friendships fostered by the spirit of Intervarsity and the maturation from undergraduate to graduate. The Club joined Valleys (1921) and Saints (formed late 1923, commenced playing in 1924) as the first clubs in Brisbane and as pioneers in developing Hockey in both Brisbane and the State of Queensland. The club was developed under the auspices of the UQ Sports association of the time and its creation pre-dated the creation of the Brisbane Hockey Association (BHA) in the early 1930’s.
Because of the transient nature of club members, rarely has long-term development evolved within the club. Subsequently its history is one of names, dates and upheavals rather than gradual change.
The Early Years
In 1924 only Sam Weller had played before and was the automatic choice as captain. In fact Victor Grenning, the club's first Queensland representative was previously an outstanding footballer. The club competed in a Brisbane competition in its first year, with the Q.H.A taking responsibility for hockey fixtures in the early years.
Hockey competition between the universities began in 1924 and in 1925 the Syme Cup for Inter University Hockey was donated by Sir George Adlington Syme, a surgeon and member of Melbourne University Council.
The 1930 UQ Hockey Team. Image Courtesy of UQ Archives, Records and Archives Management Services.
The 1930s could perhaps be considered the Mahoney Era. Although the decade produced a number of fine players who represented the state, the Mahoney name was prominent in University, Queensland and Australian teams. The eldest of the trio was Bernie (B.P.) Mahoney who played for the state in 1932 and 1933. Bill and John Mahoney were twins. Bill played for Queensland in 1934 and from 1936 to 1939. John played with the club from 1934 to 1944 and 1946 to 1948, for Queensland from 1934 to 1939 and Australia 1935 to 1937 being captain in 1937.
These early years began the strong and proud tradition of UQ in Intervarsity Competition, with UQ becoming one of the backbones of Intervarsity hockey and winning the Syme Cup in 1929, 1933 and 1936.
Post WWII (40’s, 50’s and 60’s)
The club did not fold during the war years and played its first game on the new fields at St Lucia in 1940. The No 1 Oval was considered easily the best field in Queensland in the 1940s and was still amongst the leading fields in the state until the 1980s. During the war period fixtures were not held, however the University held games against the Army, RAAF and civilian teams. Local fixtures recommenced in 1944 and in 1946 Intervarsity hockey recommenced. 1946 was also significant, being Jack McAllum's first of over 50 years at the club.
The 1950s and 60s were a golden age for the club, producing its first premiership as well as a swagger of Queensland and Australian representatives.
John McBryde was a Queensland Colts player and a captain of the Combined University teams in 1958 to 1959. In 1960, 1961 and 1964 to 1966 he played for Queensland. His period of Australian representation from 1960 to 1966 included the Rome and Tokyo Olympics, being captain in Tokyo. John went on to coach the Canadian national team in later years.
Lou Hailey was an outstanding keeper of the 50's and represented Australia at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics. 1959 was the first year of State hockey for another brilliant Uni player, Don McWatters. Don represented Queensland from 1959 to 1968 and Australia from 1961 to 1968. Don was the captain at the 1968 Olympics, making it consecutive Olympics at which Australia were captained by a member of the UQ Hockey Club! Don was forced, through injury, into early retirement but went on to coach Brisbane, Queensland and Australian teams. The 1960s were dominated by McBrydes John, Ian and Bruce. Indeed, Bruce played his first game of game of hockey for the club in 1959 and would go on to celebrate 50 consecutive years of on-field service for the club in 2008! 50 years consecutively playing for the one club!
Intervarsity Hockey Match at the Uni 1963. UQHC vs MUHC. Image Courtesy of UQ Archives, Records and Archives Management Services.
The 1964 team, which included Don McWatters, all three McBrydes, Lou Hailey and other Queensland reps won the club's first and only first division premiership with a 3-2 win over Valleys on the University's No 2 Oval. The premiership was the club's first in any grade. Goal's to Bruce McBryde, Don McWatters and Ian McBryde secured the famous victory for the Redmen. Uni took a 3-1 lead early in the second and managed to hold on in a tight finish, despite the efforts of BHA umpiring stalwart Vic Morrow who sensationally sent off Uni goalkeeper Lou Hailey with the match delicately poised at 3-2 late in the second half.
Remarkably, Don McWatters and the three McBrydes grew up in the same street in Maryborough originally and they developed their skills with regular backyard games throughout their childhood. The street produced two Australian Olympic captains and was largely responsible for delivering the University its sole first grade premiership!
Aligning with this golden age of hockey in Brisbane, UQ would also go on to completely dominate intervarsity hockey during this period. Several of the State and Australian players were also eligible for Intervarsity hockey, creating teams that won 12 Syme Cups between 1946 and 1967, with several more runners-up medallions and many players chosen for Combined University representative honours.
The 70’s and 80’s
The 1970s could not match the competitive success of the previous decades. The club has long relied heavily on country players and during this period the standard of Brisbane hockey far outstripped that of the provincial centres. Changes in the education system during this period with the introduction of semesters and continuous assessment meant that players could no longer put hockey first and study second.
In 1976 the club formed a short-lived junior team in an attempt to develop depth within the club and a more Brisbane orientated base. This sometimes on-and-off experiment lasted into the mid 80’s, and the junior part of the club actually collected some silverware, runners-up in the 1979 U16-3 competition.
1974 was the jubilee year for the club and funds were collected for improvements to the Clubhouse. These were completed in 1980 when the club's first captain, Sam Weller, unveiled the club honour boards. The 1980’s saw the arrival of several of the current University stalwarts. Even with a lack of success in Brisbane, the club picked up 4 Syme Cups over the period, in ’71, ’73, ’81 and ’85. The 80s also saw the emergence of I.V. legend and subsequent club and BHA stalwart Dushen Salecich, who would go on to participate in 11 straight I.V. campaigns as player or manager.
Modern times (90’s – current day)
The very early 90s saw a good crop of players, with a Syme Cup victory in Perth in 1991 eventually stripped after the officiating body ruled the combined Qld Uni team (with QUT/Griffith - required to ensure a team was sent to Perth) was ineligible for the title, despite having said otherwise at the beginning of the tournament. This would mean that 1985 would be the last time UQ has won the title, although there has been some moderate success of late as the club looks to build on its history of winning the most Syme Cups in history. 1992 would also prove to be the last year the 1st grade side made the finals, as the team unfortunately became competition easy beats and, in a more diversified competition, were relegated to second grade in the mid 90s. This didn’t last long though, as a crack administration and coaching team was formed to bring the side back into first grade within one season, where they have remained since.
The move to synthetic turf pitches was not all good news for the club, with the relevance of their home grounds at St Lucia becoming diminished. This culminated in a complete lack of fixtures at home, with the price UQ sport setting for field hire much too high to compare to other locally run suburban grounds. This was the first nail in the coffin of the Club losing its home identity.
Another disappointing milestone in the history of the club was in the early 2000’s, when the decision was made to completely renovate the clubhouse that was being shared with the Cricket Club. It was demolished in 2002 and with the hockey club unable to contribute the funds to match Cricket or UQ Sport, the cricket club was able to completely take over the new clubhouse. This meant the loss of that true club focal point for the future generations of players, a sad moment for the club indeed.
One of the biggest events of this period was the abolishment of Compulsory Student Unionism by the Howard Government, initialised in the mid 2000s and taking affect in 2006. For a long time, The Sports Union had received money through student unionism and this in turn had helped to fund the sporting clubs. With this resource suddenly removed, the club’s finances were in an extremely poor state.
The mid to late 2000s saw a transition of the club, with a focus by the administration to stabilise the finances and take the club into the 21st century. Electronic registration and record keeping was introduced and the club returned to its roots in building its club around country and regional players, as in times gone past. The club has tried to keep pace with changes in the hockey and club landscape by instigating a longer term vision designed to keep the club sustainable.
During the late 2000s, numbers have stayed strong and this has bucked the trend of decreasing popularity in hockey in general. The club has generally been able to field teams in all of the senior men’s divisions and although numbers do fluctuate from season to season, the club has continued to grow overall.
Intervarsity hockey changed dramatically in this period, with the removal of a stand-alone hockey tournament and the introduction of ‘Australian University Games’ in 1993. UQ would continue to send teams to most A.U.G.’s through this period, although the cost sometimes proved prohibitive. Success was seen in 2007, with a Gold Medal in Division 2 after several years of not attending A.U.G.s, and 2009, with a Bronze Medal in Division 1.
The club celebrated its 85th year in 2009 with a fantastic dinner. Another milestone marked in this period was the 50th consecutive year of service of Buck McBryde, which was celebrated with an ‘old-school’ grass hockey carnival at the St Lucia fields and a black-tie dinner. On the back of these events, an Old Boys Alumni Club was initiated in 2010 to work alongside the club on various matters and assist in networking for the club.
Summary
Throughout its history, University of Queensland hockey club has undoubtedly helped develop hockey in Brisbane and Queensland. The club, especially through its members, has contributed enormously to hockey in the area and also, by this is well recognised by the Life Members and Hall of Fame inductees for both Hockey Queensland and Brisbane Hockey. It can be especially said that the club has had an impact on the game throughout the state, country and even the world, with the transient and travelling nature of the players meaning lessons learnt here have been taken with them wherever they may travel. Full lists of awards and other achievements of UQ Club members, as well as our premiership and Syme cup teams, can be found in the Honour Boards section.