During the war years most of those of military age were naturally called up to serve in the armed forces, whilst others devoted their activities towards the war effort in many different ways. There was not much serious fighting in the early days and it became 'known as “the phoney war”, and it was during this period that a few games of an unofficial nature were played, though no records of these exist. After this comparatively quiet time things began to become more intense and enemy bombers wreaked havoc to civilians and property, and a small bomb even fell on the lower cricket ground but little damage was sustained.

Even if sufficient players had been available the Rectory Park pitch would by this time have become, unplayable, for, with the shortage of both man-power and the unavailability of fuel, cutting and rolling would not have been possible. Occasionally, however, units of American forces stationed in the locality used the ground for baseball, which created quite a stir of local interest.

The defeat of Germany and Japan in 1945 revived hopes of an early resumption of hockey, but a number of things had to be taken into account before this was possible. For instance, as mentioned above, the ground was in a dreadful state and, in addition, the pavilion had suffered from vandalism and neglect throughout the war years, and had only an apology for a roof. This was renovated in the spring of 1946 with a new straw thatch, the gift of a cricket club member, Clifford Howl. Moreover, sports equipment of all sorts was in short supply as manufacturers had been diverted to producing equipment necessary for the conduct of the war. Sports goods were only obtainable upon Board of Trade Permits, and, naturally, private clubs were less fortunate in this respect than those connected with works organizations. The greatest demand, and consequently the shortest in supply, was for new balls, but in devious ways most clubs managed to overcome these troubles.

During the winter of 1945/46 a few games of a scratch nature were played on other club's grounds, but by some diligent and hard work by a few of the members, particularly those also connected with the Cricket Club, the ground again became fit for use in the 1946/47 season, and a full list of fixtures was arranged.

It will have been realized that seven years had elapsed since organized hockey was last played at Rectory Park, and it was therefore hardly surprising that a number of the pre-war players were not available upon the resumption. R.F. Barnes, G.I. Richardson, W.K. Wyatt, S. Hurd, A.F.T. White, L.G. Robinson, - all 1st Xl players - had left the district, whilst R.H. Dickinson, W.H. Scott, N. Sharp, C.W. Mann, R.S. Needham, J.C. Timings, and D.H. Twiss, had all reached an age for retirement from the rigorous of the game. Several others, including D.G. Roster who had injured an ankle in a parachute jump, were war casualties. R.E. Wheatcroft was the only pre-war 1st Xl player still available.

Consequently, the former strength of the Club’s membership had been considerably reduced, and there had been little of an influx of new members, probably due to the poor conditions available for the game. With fixtures for two elevens, naturally made in advance, hopes were anticipated of a greater response to the membership, which did not materialize.

With the famous old Erdington Hockey Club also finding themselves in the doldrums, only perhaps worse, it was decided that the two clubs should amalgamate until the membership position improved, and accordingly the club became known as the Erdington, Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club with the headquarters at Rectory Park. This move enabled all fixtures to be fulfilled even though the over-all results were of a low standing.

At the General Meeting which preceded the commencement of the season E.B. Crockford was elected President in succession to R.S. Walters, who had passed away a few years earlier. The death of the latter was a great loss to the game to which he had devoted so much of his lifetime in an administrative capacity. As a Vice President of the Hockey Association, the Midlands, and other organizations, as well as being a very efficient umpire, he had achieved most of the honors the game can bestow upon a man who had not attained the heights as a player.

In 1948 L. Grove took over the captaincy from Dick Wheatcroft, with Clifford Forrester vice-captain, whilst Arthur Spencer arrived on the scene as 2nd Xl captain and Fixture secretary. Terry Hickman, who in later years rendered valuable services to the club, became the Team secretary.

In 1949, E.B. Crockford, after three years, and for reasons best known to him-self, relinquished the Presidency. This was rather a pity for he was the man who, undoubtedly, had been responsible, more than anyone else, for bringing the name of the Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club into the limelight as one of the leading clubs in the country.

Dick Wheatcroft was elected captain with Jim Terry (Erdington and previously Sutton) as his vice-captain. Bob Wilkinson (Sutton) became the Hon. Secretary. R.S. Needham, (Sutton) fixture secretary, and D.H. Dixon (Erdington) Hon treasurer.

John Wheatcroft, the younger brother of Dick, was at this time beginning to make his mark on the game, and was a man who eventually reached a high status both as a player and administrator.

During the next two years things were again getting back to normal. Increased paying membership enabled both Sutton and Erdington clubs to stand upon their own feet again and go their separate ways. The playing strength was still below the pre-war standard but nevertheless some improvement was observed over the first post war season.

Following the resignation of E.B. Crockford, Norman Sharp was elected President of the Club. Norman became a member of the Hockey Club in 1919, although he learned and practiced his hockey skill using a walking stick while still a schoolboy during WW1. During his membership Norman had, at different times, held every office of the club. Treasurer (1924 – 28), 1st Xl captain 1926 -29), Secretary (1929 – 33). The only captain of the Perennials (1937 – 39). President (1919 -57), and served on the committee for 35 years (1922 - 1957) and was elected an Honorary Life Member in 1957. Norman was born in Derby on 15th April 1901 and came to live in Sutton Coldfield at the age of four, when his father George Sharp moved into Sutton and joined the Club. So, Norman’s long association with the club commenced in 1905, with his Father’s performances being Norman’s main interest in the game. Norman was a fine cricketer starting as early as 1910 as scorer for the 2nd team in 1910 where his Father played, he went on to hold every office in the cricket club until his death in Sutton Coldfield on the 14 July 1977, aged 76 years old.

In May 1975 Norman wrote the following words as an introduction in recording the history of the Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club. “It will be another sixteen years before the Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club reach its centenary.
When anniversaries of this nature periodically rear their heads there is often a frantic search into the past records, as was evidenced by my personal recollections of the problems which confronted me when compiling the history of the Sutton Coldfield Cricket Club nearly a hundred years after formation.
With the realization that the Hockey Club Centenary arrives there will not be many around whose memories will take them back to the early days, and, as my own recollections perhaps go back into the past as far back as anybody living today. I feel it is incumbent upon me to put on record the knowledge I have of the Club.
On occasions of the seventieth anniversary in 1961 a brochure was published and though this quite adequately serves its purpose, it only briefly covered the long history. Some of the material for this was provided by myself (and may still be in existence) and somewhat hastily prepared and lacking in detail.
Accordingly, with the above thoughts in mind, I have prompted to write, in greater detail, the history of the Club, as I have seen it, together with the personalities and a few statistics, over the first sixty years.
After about 1950 my personal involvement in the activities began to decline, and, though the interest has been maintained, it is considered that others, with a more intimate knowledge of the affairs, should continue the story of the Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club”

Footnote by me, Peter Bell, quoting Norman’s views in committing to paper the Club’s illustrious history, I have this year of 2014, with the Club 125 year anniversary approaching in two years’ time, transferred Norman’s writing into an electronic record and at the same time added some information that was not known to Norman and have attempting to cover the Club’s history over the last forty years. However, as someone who never played hockey, never had a stick or never hit a hockey ball, I have, since 1976, following my son Mark to hockey games for a number of years with the Sutton club, before becoming involved in umpiring and getting very much attached to the game in 1977 with Birmingham Counties Hockey Umpiring Association over nearly forty years. Trying to get information from the senior members of the Club on to paper still proves to be difficult

The Club prior to the 2nd World War had always tried to support local Festival Hockey, but it was not until the 1954 - 55 season that the Club’s Fixture card showed, Stafford Festival; Dunlop Festival and Lockhead & Leamington Festival and by 1958 -59 season Pickwick had a two day Festival, but the Stafford, and Dunlop where for a single day. The Lockhead name had been dropped in favour of Leamington which was a two-day event. A new Festival B.T.H. also appeared on the fixture card, and if my memory is correct stands for a heavy industrial company that was based in Rugby in the 1960’s called, British Thompson Houston, but the festival only survived for one year. However, the remaining four festivals had settled into the Sutton’s calendar as regular fixtures with Pickwick two-day event and Stafford one day being at the start of the season in September and the Dunlop one day event and the Leamington’s two-day festivals towards the end of the season in mid-April.

It would not be until the 1965-66 season that Bloxwich one day Festival was supported by the Sutton club in early April, but by the 1967-68 season it had lost Sutton’s support. In this season, 1967-68 a Warwickshire County Tournament was introduced, which was fully supported by the Sutton Club who removed both the Stafford and Leamington festivals form their fixture list. However, in the 1968-69 season the Warwickshire Tournament was held at the Fort Dunlop ground in Holly Lane in the October resulting in the Stafford and Leamington festivals being re-entered by the Club, with the ever-present Pickwick two-day September event continuing to receive the support of the Club. These festival arrangements continued for a number of years, with the Warwickshire County Tournament still a serious event at the present time in 2016. However, by 1972-73 season the Sutton Club went off to Weymouth in support of the home club’s Easter Tournament which became an annual event for many years to come. The Leamington Festival lost Suttons support after the 1974-75 season and from the 1975-76 season the Warwickshire event clashed with the Stafford Festival and the Pickwick Festival had been changed to an over-35 event. Although many Midland clubs started to festival tournaments, the Sutton Club did not support them although a group of members at time entered a team into such tournaments as Dunlop and Rugby Festivals.

A number of rule changes had occurred during the 30 years since the Second World War ended.

1949: Deliberate offences by defenders within the 25 yards area and persistent offences by defenders at corners were penalized by a penalty corner.

1949:  The radius of the circle was increased to 16 yards (but this was not incorporated in the women’s game until 1968).

1957:  The 25 yards bully after a ball had gone over the back line was replaced by a free hit at 16 yards.

1959:  Umpires were empowered to suspend players for a temporary period.

1961:  At a penalty corner and for corners, a maximum of six defenders were to be behind the back line with the remainder of the defending team at the 25 yards line.

1963: The penalty bully was replaced by a penalty stroke taken from a spot 8 yards from the goal. For a penalty corner, the remainder of the defending team were moved to be behind the center (and not just the 25 yards) line.

1970: The roll-in from side-line was replaced by a push-in.

1972:  Offside was changed from three to two defenders.

1973:  Two substitutes were permitted but once substituted a player was not permitted to return.

1974:  A penalty stroke was to be awarded for a deliberate offence by a defender in the circle, regardless of whether a goal might have been scored or not.

1975:  The first common Rule book for men and women was published. Changes made at this time included:

At a penalty corner the ball was to be stopped motionless by an attacker before a shot at goal; there was to be no latitude;

Notes on the Rules became ‘Guidance for Players and Umpires’;

A code of signals for umpires was published for the first time;

A temporary suspension for offending player(s) was to be at least 5 minutes;

The width of the pitch was specified as 60 yards;

A note to the Rules had previously stated that matches did not necessarily have to be played on grass provided that the surface was suitable; in recognition of the growing use of synthetic surfaces, this was deleted with no mention of particular playing surfaces in the Rules;

The penalty stroke spot was moved from 8 to 7 yards from the goal-line.

1979:  Colour control cards (green, yellow, red) were introduced into the Rules book (although they had been in general use for a number of years). Flags were removed from the 25 yards line.

1983: A considerable number of rule changes were introduced included:

A hit-in replaced the push-in from the side line;

A pass back replaced the center bully to start or re-start the game;

The bully was retained only for accidents or unforeseen events;

The Rule explicitly limiting the height to which the stick could be raised was deleted; this
would in future be dealt with under dangerous play;

The use of the hand except by a goalkeeper was abolished;

At free hits only opponents had to be 5 yards from the ball

No free hits to the attacking team were to be taken within five yards of the circle.

1984:  The “long” corner was changed from being similar to the penalty corner to instead essentially being a free hit taken from a spot on the goal-line within 5 yards of the corner flag with all players (other than the striker) at least 5 yards from the ball.

1986:  Definitions of ‘Hockey Terminology’ were included for the first time.

1987:  Again, a number of changes:
The number of defenders behind the back line at penalty corners was reduced from six to five;

At corners and 16-yard hits only opponents were required to be 5 yards from the ball;

At penalty corners the first hit at goal should not cross the goal-line higher than 18 inches and if the ball travelled more than 5 yards outside the circle then the penalty corner Rules no longer applied;

The penalty corner was finished after the ball the ball travelled 5 yards from the outer edge of the circle;

Offside applied only in the 25 yards area;

A deliberately raised ball falling into the circle was to be penalized;

Free hits to defenders could be taken within the circle;

At free hits to the attacking team within five yards of the circle all players had to be five yards from the ball.

1988:  ‘Technical Interpretations’ were published as an appendix to the Rules book.

1989:  The maximum number of permitted substitutes was increased from two to three. Goalkeepers were permitted to stop the ball with the stick above the shoulder in their circle.

1992:  Substitution (‘rolling substitutes’) could take place at any time during the game. A team now officially consisted of sixteen players but with only eleven (including a goalkeeper) allowed on the field of play at any one time. Interpretation of obstruction was revised.

1994:  Captains were made responsible for their team’s behaviour and for substitutions. Goalkeepers were required to wear protective headgear.

One can see from the above that in the 50 years since hostilities between GB and Germany ceased there had been a considerable change in the way the game of hockey was being played.

There is no record available prior to the 1966-67 season, when subscriptions were now quoted in the Fixture Card, although there was a Club Treasurer and the Hockey Club had to pay the Cricket Club for the use of Rectory Park, funds had to have been generated.