It could be said that the seeds of Finchfield Hockey Club were sown by David Hughes who was introduced to the game of hockey as student at Tettenhall College.Whilst still at school Dave was a member of St Philip’s youth club and he thought it would be a good idea to impart his hockey knowledge to the boys at the youth club.He organised training sessions on a grass area at the back of St Aidan’s Church, Mount Road, Penn.

Following this introduction to hockey John Blower and Alan Tipper joined the newly formed Old Wulfs Hockey Club and the other boys joined Wolverhampton Hockey Club including David Hughes,Alan Hughes, Graham Blower, and Philip White. Other friends of this group were also introduced to Wolverhampton Hockey Club, David Booth,and George Hyslop to name but a few.

Eventually these young men were became disenchanted with Wolverhampton Hockey Club as they were not being selected or encouraged by the older members of the club. Matters came to a head, when on one Saturday at the meeting place, it was decided that the junior players could play if it was raining when they arrived at the venue otherwise the older players would play.

During the Christmas holidays of 1957 much discussion took place between Philip White, David Hughes, and Alan Hughes as to the feasibility of forming a new club. It was decided, as a result of those discussions, to arrange a few games before the end of the 1957/58 season. Philip White was to arrange these fixtures and also to approach Councillor Farmer to see if the local authority could provide a hockey pitch on Bantock Park, if all went according to plan.

After a great amount of effort Phil arranged 7 fixtures before the end of the season. All matches to be played away as Finchfield had no home pitch at this stage.

The first ever match was against Lucas and the members who played in that game were as follows.

George Hyslop, Alan Hughes, David Hughes, Alan Tipper, Graham Blower, Alan Millichamp, Ken Whitehouse, Philip White, David Booth, Brian Waltho.
The result was a 4 - 2 loss. David Hughes suffered a broken nose and ended up in hospital.

Other young men joined the club and played in the remaining part of the 57/58 season. The last match was against the Old Wulfs 1st team which resulted in a 2 - 2 draw. It was then decided that the club had a future.

Having made the decision to proceed with the development of the club, it meant that there was a great amount of frantic activity during the summer of 1958.

Fixtures for the 1958/59 had to be arranged.
A home hockey pitch had to be located.
Changing rooms to be located.
Venue for visitor teas and a base from which the club could operate to be found.

It must be appreciated that in 1958 there were no hockey leagues and fixtures were arranged on a traditional basis with established clubs playing each other on a block fixture basis on the corresponding dates each year. It was therefore very difficult for a new club to obtain fixtures within the old boy network. Phil, however, with a tremendous amount of work managed to complete a full fixture list for 1958/59. Without his dedication the club would not have been able to continue.

Phil also completed negotiations with Councillor Farmer and a grass hockey pitch was cultivated at Bantock Park. Goal posts etc to be erected by the players before each match to safeguard the hockey area. Changing was eventually arranged at Bantock House. The goal posts had to be transferred from Bantock House on a trailer to the hockey pitch and returned in a like manner at the end of the game.

The club was very lucky to have Ken Whitehouse as one of its original members. Ken’s mother and father ran the Castlecroft Hotel and Mrs Whitehouse agreed to provide tea after matches and we were to use the hotel for our meetings on Monday evenings to select teams etc. We arranged for a member, who had a car, to escort the visiting team to the Castlecroft Hotel for tea after the game, the rest of the players would follow on their bikes.

We were therefore all set for our first season.

During the Summer of 1958 we also acquired new members Ian Thompson, Brian Conway, Mike Jukes,Mike Withers, Alan Griffiths, Kem Woolley, and Gordon Newman.

The opening match of the club’s first season was at the new pitch on Bantock Park. This created a substantial amount of local interest. The match was against Rubery Owen which Finchfield won 7 - 3.
Bill Higgs who played for Rubery Owen was to eventually become a Finchfield Hockey Club stalwart.

The aim of the club in those early days was to win games with a large margin to show the hockey establishment that Finchfield had arrived. In that first full season the club played 30 games, winning 23, drawing 4, and losing just 3.

Although the first season was a major success it suffered two major set backs.

David Hughes one of the three original founders, club captain, and county trialist, died as the result of a freak road accident in December 1958. Alan Hughes and Philip White vowed to continue with Dave’s vision for the club. Alan Hughes took over the club captaincy.

The club decided to play in the Llandudno Easter Hockey Festival at the end of the first season. They did well in the first two matches playing sides from Ireland, but in the final game they were drawn to play Wolverhampton. The match created a considerable amount of interest, as Wolverhampton had a point to make, following the foundation of Finchfield. The result was a disaster for the newly formed club losing 6 - 0.

After these two major set-backs the club continued to develop in season 1959 - 60 by acquiring stronger fixtures and some new players. Towards the end of the season a group of young players from Tettenhall College joined the club, namely Mike Freeman, John Skeldon, David Salt, David and Philip Jennings. This enabled the club to field 2 teams in the second season of formation. The number of players who had a car were limited in those days and it was more than likely, if they had a car, they would be selected to play away irrespective of their ability.

In 1960 ladies who had some connection with male members in the newly formed Finchfield Hockey Club, decided to follow suit and formed Finchfield Ladies Hockey Club.

The ladies arranged for a 2nd hockey pitch to be created adjacent to the mens area. A similar arrangement was made for the goal posts to be transported from Bantock House, erected for the game and returned back to the House afterwards via the trailer.

The ladies arranged for changing facilities and the serving of teas at Bantock House.

The founding members of Finchfield Ladies were as follows -
Jenny Jemmett (Hughes) Dorothy Hughes (widow of David Hughes) Joanna MacLachlan (White) Diane Davies, Jill Honisett, Jeanne Harris (Rawlings) Sheila Parkes, Sally Jemmett, Jane Conway.
The ladies club continued to develop with new members joining in the early 60’s. Lorna Green (Freeman) Sally Pearson ( Price), Gerry Kirkham,
In season 1968/69 there were many joyous occasions for the ladies in the club, as a number of them became pregnant during the season which meant that unfortunately the club had to cease playing.

Following the bitter experience at Llandudno Hockey Festival in its first year the club continued to enter hockey festivals. Considerable success followed

Won the Romans Festival in 1961 held at Kenilworth.
Reached the final of the Monsanto Festival in 1963 held in Wrexham.

In 1962 a new Midland Indoor Hockey Tournament was created and it was a surprise to the hockey establishment that Finchfield Hockey Club won this important Midlands Tournament. This may have been because we were fortunate to have Roy Chilton as a member of the club who had previously been a roller hockey international.

In the early 1960’s the Old Wulfs organised a six a side hockey tournament that was held in high regard and all the local clubs entered. Quoting the press in September 1964 ‘ A last minute goal by Finchfield provided a fitting climax to one of the best finals yet seen in the Wolverhampton Six - Side Tournament, to give Finchfield their first victory in this tournament.
The Finchfield Team was - Michael Jukes, Alan Hughes, Brian Edwards, John Ruddy, Michael Kirkham, and Michael Freeman.

The social element of the club was very important during the initial period of its development, in an endeavor to unite the club.
Regular Buffet Dances were held at the Castlecroft Hotel, the food being provided by the members. This culminated in a formal Dance held at the Mount Hotel where approximately 100 members and friends attended. The Event of the Year. The ladies hockey section were of considerable help in the organisation of these events.
Every year since its foundation the club has held an Annual Dinner.

Many long standing friendships were created as a result of being associated with Finchfield Hockey Club.

During the early part of 1966 Bob Cubban, who was a teacher at Regis School, introduced a number of boys to the club as well as joining himself. This further expansion of the membership meant that the club fielded 3 teams for the first time in season 1966/67.

The growth of the club in the number of teams playing each week-end, Sundays as well as Saturdays, meant that the club was short of umpires. This problem was solved by players taking it in turns to umpire and also players father’s were asked to turn out, although they had never played hockey. These fathers were Charles Hughes, John White and Eric Freeman supported by Jeremy Jemmett.
This led to the classic comment by Phil White during one game when his father was umpiring. ‘Thank God he has remembered to Blow for Half Time’

It became obvious during season 1965/66 as fixtures were being obtained with some of the major clubs in the West Midlands on a block basis that the pitch at Bantock Park was not up to the standard required. Alan Hughes took on the task of finding an alternative pitch.

A suitable piece of land was located at Trysull and contracts were drawn up for the club to purchase. On the day of signing the contracts the vendor decided to double the purchase price which meant that the club was unable to proceed.

In the usual Finchfield spirit, not to be deterred with set-backs, Alan Hughes contacted local farmers to enquire if they had any land for sale. Frederick Farrier from Wombourne called at the home of Alan and said he may have land that would be suitable. After a considerable amount of negotiation the club was able to purchase the land it currently owns. Mr. Williams the father - in - law of Brian Edwards offered to lend the club 50% of the purchase price. The balance was provided from club funds and members loans.

On the initial piece of land that was bought members constructed two grass pitches. David Booth became ground officer and the members took turns in mowing the grass. The pitches eventually became as good a grass surface as any hockey club in the area.

During the period, until the club was able to build its clubhouse, the Seven Stars Public House in Seisdon was used as the clubs base for changing,teas, and meetings.

The clubhouse was built 2 years after the construction of the pitches and was supervised by David Rawlings, and Stan Harper.

A further 4 acres of land was bought to complete the present site.