Harborne men hoping to take leap into Division One

Rod Gilmour of The Hockey Paper reports on one Midlands side aiming for the heights of Division 1 hockey.

Birmingham-based Harborne lay claim to scoring the first ever goal in the first National League as the 1988/89 swung into action. The 2022 vintage have begun with equal vigour; top goalscorers, top of the league in Men’s Conference Midlands and now setting sights on reaching Division 1 hockey.

Harborne play City of Peterborough this weekend in a top-of-the-table clash, with the Midlands side set for another rollercoaster season after being pipped to the title last year by a strong Barford Tigers outfit.

For the players of Harborne, formed in 1903, promotion would mean a great deal. “It would be massive,” says club stalwart Adam Thompson, who runs the family insurance company. 

“It would set us up nicely in the Midlands, which has been quite saturated through a number of clubs. Of old we’ve had Harborne, Bournville and Edgbaston, who were also vying for players and no one really bettered themselves as they were divided up between all three. So it would be huge for us to get promoted and we could attract players into the area and in theory offer the highest level of hockey in Birmingham.”

Harborne’s philosophy is to grow organically over any monetary incentives. Thompson says: “When I was club captain we could have brought in players for money but I always saw that as building on sand. We’ve built strong relationships with the university and we are now a viable option."

Harborne’s attractive playing style is also evident in their distinctive green, red and yellow playing shirts. “Last year we went back to our 1990s retro kit,” adds Thompson, “It has been a big hit and we have slightly gone away from our traditional kit.”

The club is located in the centre of Birmingham, but isn't in a position to purchase any hockey land due to increasing property prices and so currently play at King Edward’s Boys School, which is around 500 metres from the University of Birmingham.

Thompson, who counts himself as a ‘very old 38’, has had quite some year. He was part of the England over-35s side, alongside team-mate Mike Baddeley, which beat South Africa to gold at the Masters World Cup in Nottingham this summer, while he also graced the pitch where elite action unfolded at the Commonwealth Games. As a fan, Thompson also took in most of the games at Birmingham 2022, while Harborne HC were also invited to play against the university ahead of the Games as a test event match.

“We were Ghana for the day,” recalls Thompson, “while we collected lots of sticks which we gave to the national team. Playing on the pitch was something else. What was going on for us was potentially going to happen for everyone else and I’ve never played in a game where you could refer a decision. After all, the umpire is always right!”

Thompson, who is also honorary club vice-president, has played once for the 1s in six matches so far this season, with the club hopes to rally this weekend after losing for the first time on Sunday to University of Nottingham 2s, while rivals Peterborough also lost.

Harborne has Pete Jackson as player-coach this season, with the side is playing a more attack-minded brand of hockey. “We’ve probably have the strongest squad in the three years while I’ve been there,” admits Scott Mulligan, Harborne’s team manager. 

Mulligan is a self-confessed hockey badger. His son plays for the 1s, he umpires on Saturdays at his home club Kettering, coaches two or three nights per week, while Friday nights “are usually the only night where I don’t do hockey.”

The sport is at the forefront of Thompson's life as well after meeting his partner, Michelle, at the club in 2010. “There are quite a few good stories like that at the club. It’s not only from a hockey sense but the club has set people up in their personal life too.”

The couple have been involved in the youth programme at Harborne, which was set up around a decade ago when members had growing households and children who wanted to follow in the family footsteps.

One of the success stories of the junior programme has been Jake Litchfield, whose father Andrew, now club president, played in the first season of Harborne’s National League tilt in 1988.

Jake made his debut for Harborne two seasons ago and is now playing at University of Exeter. “The club has come on leaps and bounds,” adds Thompson. 

Saturday: City of Peterborough v Harborne, 4:30pm