It is an honour to have been asked to write the history of the first 100 years of Down Hockey Club.

Many players have worn the famous black and white shirt with pride and passion down through the years and the fact the club has reached its centenary season is testament to the efforts of a great many stalwarts.

As one of the oldest sporting institutions in the area, it is fitting that Down Hockey Club is celebrating its 100th birthday in the first year of a new millennium and hopes are high that in 2100 someone else will be dusting down a laptop to begin work on the 200th anniversary publication.

It has been tremendously enjoyable going through the annals of the club and discovering how a public meeting was held in the old Minor Hall in Downpatrick on October 10, 1900 to consider the possibility of setting up a men’s hockey club in the county town. 

A lot has happened since then and there have been many highs and lows but the club has remained vibrant and strong and while strength in depth is missing at the moment, it has to be hoped that club officials will ensure a hockey club remains in Downpatrick.

In attempting to pull together as much of the historic record which exists, photographs, newspaper cuttings and record books have turned up in the oddest places and both Tommy Briggs and myself are grateful to everyone who has contributed material for this centenary publication.

Thanks are due to many people, not least my colleagues at the Down Recorder Andy Campbell and Carl Mahon, who were a tremendous help trawling the newspaper’s archives to produce fantastic photographs which say more about the club’s history than words ever could.

In addition, my eternal thanks to Hugh Carville whose computer production skills have helped produce this magazine recalling 100 years of hockey in Downpatrick.

A book such as this is designed to entertain, inform and provide an insight into 100 years of hockey in Downpatrick and I hope everyone who reads it will enjoy it.

With the 21st century in its infancy here’s hoping the next 100 years will be as eventful as the last.

David Telford