Sikhs have been playing hockey in Great Britain since the start of the 20th century.

Indian Gymkhana Sports Club was first established in Mill Hill in 1916 as a sporting outlet for students and visitors from the Indian sub-continent. The Club moved to a larger site in 1921 to the Club's present location of Osterley, West London.

‘Hermits’ Hockey Club was founded at Oxford in Hilary Term, 1926, as a social and athletic club for Indian students resident at the University.

In Cambridge the ‘Crocodiles’ resembled this club and produced several Blues.

Hermits H.C. played hockey regularly during the winter months, both at weekends and mid-week. Jaipal Singh (not a Sikh), who later went on to captain India's Olympic team at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, was the hon. Secretary of this club.

Jaipal Singh, with his Indian combination selected from various British Universities, the main portion from Cambridge and London, only a few from Manchester, Edinburgh and Oxford, toured the chief hockey centres in Spain and Belgium during the Christmas vacation 1925. The 3 week tour, known as All India’s Continental tour, was a hugh success.

Kehar Singh from Punjab was in the Indian team that played in England on their way to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games. They played a total of 11 matches, 5 games at Merton Abbey, 5 at the Folkestone Hockey Festival and one at Aldershot in April 1928.

The Indian Social Club arranged a reception for the team who were later entertained by Punjab Association and by Indian Students on 24th April 1928.

The British Indian tour to Germany, led by Nawab of Pataudi, in December 1930 included J.S. Bedi from Cambridge.

There were two other Hockey Clubs in the early thirties, India House and Old Cottonians (India) who played in the London area.

Following India’s independence from the British Empire in August 1947 many people from India emigrated to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States of America.

The Indian Hockey team that won the 1948 London Olympic Games had three Sikhs in the team - Balbir Singh Senior; Tarlochan Singh Bawa Bawaand Grahanandan 'Nandy' Singh. In addition to the Olympic Games matches that they played at Sudbury; Park Royal; Chiswick and Wembley, they also played at Indian Gymkhana Sports Club.

Sukhdev (Sukhi) Singh Rao was born on 10th September 1933 in Mombasa, Kenya. He studied at Duke of Gloucester School, Nairobi.

He came to the UK in September 1954.

He played for Brighton Students from 1954 to 1958, captaining them in the 1957/58 season.

He played for Broxbourne Hockey Club, Hertfordshire from 1961 - 1964.

He played for Hertfordshire County during that period.

He played for Slough Hockey Club from 1964 - 1968. During this period he played for Buckingham County.

He played for Teddington from 1968 - 1970.

He played for Hampstead from 1971 to 1977, captaining the Club from 1972 to 1975.

He represented Bedfordshire County from 1972 - 1974.

He represented Cambridge City from 1978 - 1981.

He played for London Indians from 1963 to 2000, captaining the Club from 1968 to 1974.

He was the Junior Team Manager and Vice President of the Club.

He was the Captain and organiser of Kijana Invitation Team from 1958 to 2000.

Bakhtawar (Tauri) Singh Kullar made his mark in the Punjab as a teenager when he was selected for national trials, and soon after his arrival at Huddersfield, England, he made his first appearance for Yorkshire. In the following season, 1956/7 , he joined Huddersfield. He was the first Yorkshire player to make 100 appearances for the county, and retired at that level in 1975.

A skillful inside-left, he represented Northern Counties in the Divisional Tournament in April 1965.

Sadly he died in June 1977, aged 41, following a series of heart attacks.

Joginder Singh Dhillon came to the UK from Kenya in 1957 to study medicine.

He was a Kenya international hockey player and represented Kenya at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

He played for St. Thomas' Medical School in London.

He also represented United Hospitals.

He was awarded his Surrey County colours in 1959/60 season.

Gursaran Singh Sehmi came to study In the UK from Kenya in the mid 1950s.

Gursaran represented Woolwich (now Thames) Polytechnic at hockey and cricket.

He also represented London Universities at hockey and cricket.

Jaswinder (Jas) Singh Missan was born on 30th January 1941 in Mombasa, Kenya. After studying at Mombasa Technical High School and Allidina Visram High School, Mombasa, he came to the UK in September 1961 for further education.

Three years earlier, on 20th September 1958, at the age of 17, he won his first International cap when he represented Kenya against England at City Park Stadium, Nairobi. This was England's first official match against Kenya.

He played for London Universities from 1961 to 1965.

Jaswinder was awarded his University Colours in 1962.

He played in the British Universities Sports Federation tournaments in 1962, 1963 & 1964 representing British Universities against European University teams.

He played for Surrey County from 1962 to 1970 and was a member of the Surrey team that won the County Championship in 1963.

He was awarded his Surrey colours in 1962/63 season.

He also played for London Indians in the 1960/70s.

He was a member of the Indian Students tour of Holland in September 1962.

He joined Spencer Hockey Club, one of London's leading Clubs at the time, in 1965.

He Captained Spencer from 1970 to 1975.

It was under Jaswinder's captaincy that Spencer were the winners of the London League in the 1973/74 season for the first time in the Club's history.

Jaswinder was President of Spencer Hockey Club from 1999 to 2003.

In June 1967 Jaswinder was selected for a London XI to play against India, the then undisputed World Champions (1964 Olympic Games and 1966 Asian Games winners) in a match at Surbiton Hockey Club, Surrey.

All the London XI players were full internationals.

India's team in that match on 6th June 1967 was:

Samar Mukerjea (Bengal) [GK]; Prithipal Singh (Punjab) [RB]; Vinod Kumar (Punjab) [LB]; Mohinder Lal (Railways) [RH]; Amarjit Singh (Services) [CH]; Harmik Singh (Punjab) [LH]; Joginder Singh (Railways) [RW]; Balbir Singh (Punjab) [RI]; Balbir Singh Randhawa (Services) [CF]; Inder Singh (Railways) [LI] and Tarsem Singh (Punjab) [LW].

Sutinder (Suti) Singh Khehar was born on 4th June 1953 in Nairobi, Kenya. His family emigrated to UK in February 1971 and settled in Slough, Buckinghamshire.

He joined Slough College in September 1971 and played for the College team and captained the South East England Technical Colleges representative team in the 1974/75 season.

He joined Slough Hockey Club at the end of 1971/72 season and by the following season he was playing as centre half for the Club's first XI in the London League.

He was in the Slough team that won all the major domestic trophies in the late seveties and early eighties. That golden period included The European Cup for Club Champions in 1980 and the English Cup and the London League in the same year.

He regularly represented Buckinghamshire County and was the County Captain when they won the County Chamionship in 1982.

Suti also played for the London Indians for a number of years and was awarded the 'Outstanding Play Award' at the London Indians 21st Anniversary celebration matches in 1979.

Suti won his first England cap on 23rd March 1974 when he played against West Germany at Lords, London. He went on to win 60 England caps.

Suti won his first Great Britain cap on 24th March 1979 when he played against Belgium at Crystal Palace, London. He went on to win 12 GB caps.

He won his first England Indoor cap on 29th February 1980. He went on to win 12 England Indoor caps, scoring 4 goals.

Suti played for England in the World Cups in Buenos Aires (1978) and Bombay (1982).

At the 5th World Cup in Bombay, Suti was given the honour to Captain England in his last international game as a tribute to his long service for the country. This match, against Malaysia on 11th January 1982 was the first time that a Sikh had captained England - a great honour.

Ravinder Singh Laly, came to the U.K. in 1972 from Kenya.

A year earlier he had represented Kenya at the first hockey World Cup in Barcelona where Kenya finished fourth.

He played for Hampshire Club Havant, whom he captained from 1977 to 1979.

He joined Slough Hockey Club in 1979 and was a member of the famous side that won the Indoor and Outdoor European Cups in 1980.

Ravinder started playing hockey at a young age. He captained both the Eastleigh Secondary School, Nairobi and Jamhuri High School.

He played for Sikh Union Tigers at the age of 13 and played for the famous Sikh Union Nairobi Club, winning the Kenya Cup and the Gold Cup on numerous times.

Harvinderpal Singh Sibia came to the UK in 1973 from Kenya.

He had played for Kenya at the East African Championship in 1971, toured India and played at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

Click here for his profile

Brajinder Daved came to the UK from Kenya in 1974 for further Education.

He was a Kenya International at the age of 16.

By the time he came to the English hockey scene, Brajinder had toured Pakistan with the Kenya team in 1969, played in the East African Championship and played in the First Hockey World Cup in Barcelona, the 1972 Munich Olympics, the second Hockey World Cup in Amsterdam in 1973.

Click here for his profile

Balwant (Bal) Singh Saini won his first England cap on 12th March 1977 when he played against West Germany at Lords, London. He went on to win 18 England caps.

His spectacular goal on his debut at Lords will be remembered for a long, long time.

Bal won his first England Indoor cap on 10th January 1981. He went on to win 18 Indoor caps, scoring 11 goals.

He played in the 4th World Cup in Buenos Aires in 1978.

He was a member of Slough's successful teams in the late 70s and early 80s.

Iqbal (Icky) Singh Kullar was born on 26th February 1954 in Sansarpur, Punjab. He came to the UK in June 1964.

Iqbal played for London University, Hounslow Hockey Club, Spencer Hockey Club and Beckenham Hockey Club.

He won his first England cap on 11th May 1979 when he played against Czechoslovakia at Zagreb. He went on to win 7 England caps.

Icky won his first Great Britain cap on 4th January 1980 when he played against Netherlands at Karachi. He went on to win 5 GB caps.

He represented Kent in the County Championship.

He played for London Indians Hockey Team.

He now plays for Lewis Hockey Club and lives in Sussex.

London Indians Hockey Club was formed in 1957 - 58 season with the primary objective of promoting the Indian style of hockey in England.

The club played against International touring teams and was a regular fixture for the Great Britain and the Home Countries preparing for major International events.

Harjinder (Jinder) Singh Panesar who played for Spencer Hockey Club in the late sixties Managed the London Indians.

Sikh players who represented the club over the years include Avtar Singh Bhurji*; Balwant Singh Saini*; Brajinder Singh Daved*; Harjinder Singh Panesar; Iqbal Singh Kullar*; Jaswinder Singh Missan*; Kulbir Singh Bhaura*; Manjit Singh Flora*; Bhupinder (Pindi) Singh Plaha; Parminder (Polu) Singh Kalsi; Ravinder Singh Laly*; Sukhdev Singh Rao; Sutinder Singh Khehar*; Tarlochan Singh Marwaha and Tarlochan Singh Panesar.

* denotes Internationals

Khalsa Hockey Club: In the early 1960s Sikh Temple Hockey Club and Spa Wanders were the two main hockey clubs in the Midlands. The two clubs merged to form Khalsa Hockey Club. The pioneers of the club were Raghbir Singh Hayer and Balbir Singh Sarai.

Sukhdev Singh Dhesi's efforts ensured that the Club entered the Midlands League in 1974.

Darshan Singh Kullar who played in India's Gold medal winning team at 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games played for the Club in the late sixties and early seveties.

Soma Singh, the Great Britain player, played for the Club in the eighties.

Sikh Union Coventry: The club was formed in 1968 and the hockey team trained at Morris Park. The main aim in the early years was to play in the Indian hockey tournaments like Shaheed Udham Singh tournaments and Guru Nanak Cup which were played all over the country.

The Club affiliated to the Hockey Association in 1981 and is now well established in the Midlands.

Slough Hockey Club: Sikhs playing for London League Club Slough in the late seveties and early eighties made the biggest impact in hockey in Great Britain.

Slough became the most successful English Club during that period.

The Club won the National Inter League Championship in 1976; 1977; 1980; 1981; 1982; 1983 and 1987.

They were the National Club (cup) champions in 1977; 1979; 1980 and 1981.

They were the National Indoor Champions in 1979; 1981; 1982 and 1984.

They were the European Cup for Club Champions in 1980 and the European Indoor Club Champions in 1982.

The Sikh players playing for Slough during that purple period in the Club's history were Brajinder Daved; Sutinder Khehar; Balwant Saini; Ravinder Laly; Manjt Flora; Kuki Dhak; Bhajan Flora and Parminder Saini.

The 1980 Moscow Olympic Games:

The Moscow Games boycott by Great Britain deprived Sutinder Singh Khehar, and Iqbal Singh Kullar the chance of playing at Olympic Games. Both were in the squad of 20 and had played in the Champions Trophy in Karachi in January that year.

The 1980 squad from which selection for the Moscow Games would have been made:

Bernie Cotton (Capt.) (Southgate); Paul Barber (Slough); Roly Brookeman (Southgate); Richard Dodds (Southgate); James Duthie (Southgate); Norman Hughes (Wakefield); Suti Khehar (Slough); Icky Kullar (Beckenham); David Owen (Southgate); Ian Taylor (Slough); David Westcott (St. Albans); David Whitaker (Southgate); all England; Billy McLean (Edinburgh Civil Service); Scotland; Terry Gregg (Belfast YMCA); Ireland; Martin Brough (Harborne); Bob Cattrall (Southgate); Cemlyn Foulkes (Hightown); Peter Marsh (Harborne), Howard Williams (Cardiff) & Robbie Williams (Cardiff); all Wales. Roger D Self, Team Manager.

The first Sikh to represent Great Britain at hockey at Olympic Games was Kulbir Singh Bhaura when he played at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, winning a bronze medal.

Kulbir went on to win a gold medal with Great Britain in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

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Soma Singh and Kalbir Singh Takher represented Great Britain at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Click their names for their profiles

1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, click here

1988 Seoul Olympic Games, click here

1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, click here

(1996 Olympic Games Team photo sought)