55 Fun Facts About Field Hockey

A field hockey team puts the same number of players on the pitch as a team in which sport?

Soccer. Both field eleven a side, though hockey's rules also let a team drop its goalkeeper and play with eleven field players.

A field hockey player may play the ball with which part of the stick?

Only the flat face and edges may play the ball. Using the rounded back is an offence, so to reach a ball on the left a player turns the stick head over.

In field hockey, which restart has two opponents tap sticks over the ball before playing it?

A bully. It began every match until 1983, when a pass back took its place; today it only restarts play after stoppages such as injuries.

Which extra protection may field hockey defenders put on to defend a penalty corner?

A face mask. The rules allow it only for safety at such set pieces, and defenders must take it off again as soon as the corner is over.

Where is the International Hockey Federation headquartered?

Lausanne, Switzerland. The FIH moved there from Brussels, joining the many Olympic sports federations clustered around the IOC's home city.

Hockey's omission from which Olympic Games prompted the founding of the FIH?

Paris. Left off the 1924 programme, the sport responded that January when Paul Léautey gathered seven nations there to found the FIH; hockey was back by 1928.

Field hockey made its Olympic debut, as a men's event, at the Games in which city?

London, in 1908. With only two teams coming from abroad, the hosts entered four separate home-nation sides, which took every medal; hockey was then dropped for 1912.

Which African country won the first women's Olympic hockey tournament, at the boycott-hit 1980 Moscow Games?

Zimbabwe. Invited only weeks before the Games to fill a field emptied by the boycott, its scratch squad went unbeaten in one of the great Olympic upsets.

India's men routed the host nation 8–1 in a 1930s Olympic hockey final in which city?

Berlin. Dhyan Chand scored three as India took the third of six straight golds in 1936, part of a run of 30 Olympic wins that ended only in the 1960 final.

Dhyan Chand's birthday, 29 August, is celebrated in India as what?

National Sports Day. In 2021 India also renamed its highest sporting honour, the Khel Ratna, after Dhyan Chand.

Dutch officials are said to have broken open Dhyan Chand's stick to check for what?

A magnet. The tale, told in several versions, has Dutch officials so baffled by his close control that they broke his stick open to look for one.

India's 24–1 Olympic hockey win in the 1930s, with ten goals from Roop Singh, came against which country?

The United States. Only three teams entered in 1932, so the beaten hosts still took bronze, while Roop Singh outscored his famous brother Dhyan Chand by ten goals to eight.

Who scored five of India's six goals in the 1952 Olympic hockey final?

Balbir Singh Sr. The 'Sr.' sets him apart from several later Indian internationals named Balbir Singh; his five goals remain the most in an Olympic men's final.

Which country was the first to win the men's Hockey World Cup four times?

Pakistan. Its fourth title came in 1994, and the trophy itself was made by craftsmen of the Pakistan Army and presented to the FIH in 1971.

The first men's Hockey World Cup in 1971 was moved for political reasons and played in which city?

Barcelona. Pakistan was due to host, but amid its 1971 political crisis and tension with India the FIH moved the inaugural tournament to the neutral ground of the Real Club de Polo.

India's men won the 1975 Hockey World Cup in which Southeast Asian capital?

Kuala Lumpur. Ashok Kumar, son of the great Dhyan Chand, scored the winning goal in the final at the Merdeka Stadium.

Which women's team had won a record nine Hockey World Cup titles by the end of 2022?

Netherlands. As co-hosts they won a ninth title, and a third in a row, in a final played not at home but in Terrassa, Spain; no other nation had then won more than two.

'Las Leonas' (The Lionesses) is the nickname of which country's women's field hockey team?

Argentina. The players first wore a lioness on their shirts midway through the 2000 Sydney Olympics, went on to take silver, and have been Las Leonas ever since.

Who was named FIH Player of the Year a record eight times?

Luciana Aymar. She won the 2010 World Cup on home soil in Rosario, in a stadium that now bears her name.

The dribbling of hockey great 'La Maga', the Magician, drew comparisons with which footballer?

Diego Maradona. She was hailed as the Maradona of hockey, even though her home city of Rosario is also the birthplace of Lionel Messi.

Which country's men's field hockey team is nicknamed the Kookaburras?

Australia. The Kookaburras, named for the laughing kingfisher, medalled at six straight Olympics from 1992 to 2012, yet only one of those medals was gold.

The Kookaburras ended decades of Olympic near misses by finally winning gold in which city in the 2000s?

Athens. After losing three Olympic finals, the Kookaburras beat the Dutch 2–1 in 2004 with a sudden-death golden goal from a fumbled penalty corner.

What job did Hockeyroos coach Ric Charlesworth hold from 1983 to 1993?

Federal member of parliament. Charlesworth held the seat of Perth for Labor while still playing, and won the 1986 World Cup as its top scorer and best player.

Dutch great Teun de Nooijer wore the number 14 shirt, a number made famous by which footballer?

Johan Cruijff. De Nooijer kept 14 for club and country, and his extra-time goal settled the 1998 World Cup final.

Which Australian won the FIH Player of the Year award for a fourth time in 2010?

Jamie Dwyer. He added a fifth award in 2011, having first made his name with the sudden-death goal that won an Olympic final.

Sohail Abbas, who scored 348 international goals, was known as the king of which shot?

The drag flick. Slung from low behind the body, it counts as a push, so unlike a hit it may be lifted high at goal from a penalty corner.

Field hockey pioneer Constance Applebee ran athletics for more than two decades at which women's college?

Bryn Mawr. Applebee, who introduced the sport to America at a Harvard summer course in 1901, arrived in 1904, later ran a hockey camp in the Poconos, and lived to 107.

A field hockey pitch is exactly as long as the distance between the goal lines in which sport?

American football. Both measure 100 yards, because hockey's rules were first written in imperial units, which is why the metric pitch is an odd-looking 91.4 metres long.

The shooting circle is commonly nicknamed after which letter?

'The D' is the only place a goal can be scored from, which is why so much of the game is about getting the ball in there.

As of 2025, which university has won the most NCAA Division I field hockey championships?

North Carolina, with 11. The most recent, in 2023, came under 23-year-old rookie coach Erin Matson, who had won four titles as a Tar Heels player.

What match format did the FIH adopt for international hockey in 2014?

The traditional two halves of 35 minutes gave way to four 15-minute quarters in 2014, partly to help television broadcasts.

Hockey's penalty cards are shaped differently so they can be told apart. What shape is the green card?

Yellow cards are rectangular and red cards circular; unlike football, a player can pick up more than one green or yellow.

Once only a warning, a green card in international field hockey now brings what penalty?

A two-minute suspension. The team plays a player short while it is served; a yellow card costs at least five minutes and a red ends the player's match.

What does the FIH rulebook say about left-handed sticks?

They are prohibited. Every stick is built to one right-handed pattern, so left-handers learn to play right-handed like everyone else.

Which material is banned outright from field hockey sticks under FIH rules?

Metal. Wood has given way to carbon, glass and aramid fibres, all allowed, but metal was banned by 1999 and is still the one material the rulebook names as forbidden.

The first Olympic hockey tournament played on artificial turf, in 1976, was won by which country?

New Zealand beat Australia 1–0 in the Montreal final. On the new artificial turf India, seven-time champions on grass, went home without a medal for the first time.

Indoor hockey bans which staple of the outdoor game?

Hitting the ball. Indoor players may only push or deflect it, and the side-boards keep it in play for them to pass off.

Most modern field hockey balls are made of what?

Hard plastic, sometimes around a cork core, though the rules allow any material as long as the ball is hard, weighs 156 to 163 grams and stands out against the pitch.

As of 2024, the only Olympic medal for the American women's field hockey team is a bronze won in which city?

Los Angeles, in 1984. Level with Australia on points and goal difference, the Americans were called back for a penalty shoot-out minutes after the last match and won it 10–5.

The first international hockey match, in 1895, saw Wales lose 3–0 to which team?

Ireland won 3–0 at Rhyl in January 1895, and 13 years later the Irish were making history again as silver medallists at hockey's first Olympic tournament.

A 1363 proclamation banning idle games including 'hockey' is attributed to which English king?

Edward III. His 1363 order banned a list of idle games, but 'hockey' appears only in modern translations of the Latin, which names a ball game played with a stick.

The Mapuche people of which South American country played 'chueca', a hockey-like game described by 16th-century settlers?

Chile. The Mapuche call it palín; Spanish colonial authorities banned it repeatedly from the 1600s, but it revived after independence and is still played.

Which country won its first men's Hockey World Cup in 2018 and then Olympic gold in Tokyo?

Belgium. The Red Lions took both titles on penalty shoot-outs, after a goalless World Cup final in 2018 and a 1–1 draw in the Tokyo final.

Which country lost Olympic men's hockey finals in 1980, 1996 and 2008?

Spain. In the 1980 final they trailed 3–0, fought back and still lost 4–3; silver followed again in 1996 and 2008.

Which team's 1972 Olympic gold ended a run of Asian winners in men's hockey stretching back to 1928?

West Germany. The beaten finalists were so incensed by the umpiring that they snubbed the medal ceremony, and their eleven players were handed life bans that were later lifted.

Which team won the women's Olympic hockey gold medal in 2016?

Great Britain. They beat the defending champions on a shoot-out after a 3–3 draw: their opponents failed to score at all, and Hollie Webb's goal sealed the gold.

Which Dutch player was top scorer at the Beijing 2008 women's Olympic tournament with 11 goals?

Maartje Paumen. Her 11 goals carried the Dutch to the Beijing final, yet the gold-medal match was settled without her, by goals from Naomi van As and Maartje Goderie.

Hockey5s, the five-a-side format, has no penalty corners and awards what in their place?

A one-on-one 'challenge': an attacker starts alone against the goalkeeper while everyone else waits beyond halfway. With no shooting circle, a goal may be scored from anywhere in the attacking half.

A helmeted field hockey goalkeeper may leave the defensive 23-metre area only to do what?

Take a penalty stroke. For that alone a goalkeeper may walk the length of the pitch, and the helmet, compulsory at all other times, may come off.

The artificial turf used for elite field hockey has traditionally been prepared for play in what way?

Soaked with water. A wet surface plays faster and is kinder to sliding players, but water scarcity has pushed the FIH to develop turf that plays as well dry.

The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, an annual invitational tournament, is held in which country?

Malaysia. The cup is named for a hockey-loving Sultan of Perak who became Malaysia's king and led the Asian Hockey Federation, and it is staged in Ipoh, in his home state.

What was the first women's hockey club, founded in 1887?

The Molesey Ladies, formed in 1887 in Surrey, were the first women's hockey club; the Irish Ladies Hockey Union of 1894 then became the first national association after the men's Hockey Association rebuffed the women.

Which 2007 Bollywood film stars Shah Rukh Khan as the coach of a women's national hockey team?

Chak De! India was inspired by the Indian women's win at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and its title song has since become an anthem played at Indian sports events.

Which rule, familiar from football, did field hockey drop after the 1996 Olympics?

The offside rule had stopped attackers gaining an advantage by waiting upfield ahead of the ball; hockey scrapped it in the mid-1990s to create more scoring opportunities.

Which country won the 2023 men's Hockey World Cup in India after a shoot-out in the final?

Germany trailed 2–0 early in the final, fought back to lead 3–2, conceded a late equaliser and then won the shoot-out 5–4 for its third world title.