The St. George District Hockey Club was founded by
Syd Packham. It began as Illawarra Men's Hockey Club in 1927 but was renamed as the St. George District Hockey Club in 1928. Then came the creation of the famous Red V, which is now used by other sporting clubs. Our rich 79-year history includes 13 top grade premierships, with 5 consecutive premierships from 1968. The club's last top grade premiership victory was in 1988.
Some historic highlights of the club are:
• The first annual ball was held in the Castle Palais Ballroom at Rockdale in 1927.
• The first Australian representative players were Reg and Bill McNeil, who were selected to represent Australia in 1931.
• The first top grade premiership was won in 1944.
• Brothers Kevin and Ivan Spedding were picked for the 1958 Australian team.
• The club has had over 12 Australian representative players, including dual Australian representative Brian Booth and 1976 Olympians Ron Riley and Bob Proctor.
• Brian Booth and Keith Leeson were the only Sydney players selected for the first Australian Olympic Team.
• The club's home grounds in the St. George area have included Hurstville Oval, Wolli Creek, Tempe, Gardiners Park and Kyeemagh.
An exodus of players prior to the start of the 1995 season was a contributing factor to the club's poor performance that year. Consequently, the club was relegated to the Premier B competition in 1996 for the first time.
With the backing of Arncliffe Scots Sports and Social Club in 1996, St. George became known as the Arncliffe Scots St. George Hockey Club. With the help of Arncliffe Scots, the club went through a rebuilding phase. It was determined to get back to Sydney's Premier League competition. Improving the overall running of the club, strengthening the juniors and building a synthetic turf became the main priorities.
In January 2004, after many years of hard work, the club's dream of owning a home ground became a reality. Our new water-based synthetic field was completed at Kyeemagh. Along with the location of the field and licensed RSL club nearby, the field is one of the best hockey complexes in Sydney. Also in 2004, after 9 years in the Premier B competition, the club was promoted back to the top division by winning the Club Championship.
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To become more competitive in the top division, St. George merged with longtime rivals and neighbours Randwick. The club became the St. George Randwick Hockey Club. Today it consists of seven senior teams, five junior teams and minkeys. The top two senior grades play in Sydney's Premier League competition and the other four in 2nd, 3rd and 4th Division. The player base consists of a range of nationalities, which reflects the population of the St. George and Randwick areas. With our new field at Kyeemagh and our strong relationship with Kyeemagh RSL, the club will move from strength to strength well into the future.
