Gordonians Hockey Club

Gordonians Hockey Club is one of Scotland's leading hockey clubs, and is in its 99th year.  The club currently plays under the name of our sponsors, Aberdeen Asset Management.  The club maintained National League 1 status for 29 consecutive seasons to 2009, has won the Scottish Cup 4 times as well as 17 other National trophies.  The club has also represented Scotland in 5 European Cup Winners Cup tournaments.

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History of the Club

Gordonians Hockey Club was formed in 1911 to provide former pupils of Robert Gordon's College with the opportunity to continue playing hockey after their school years and to maintain contact with each other.  Although it was initially an exclusive club for former pupils , we now have an open membership policy as well as ladies and youth teams.  We continue to enjoy a strong relationship with the school and benefit from the use of the fantastic hockey facilties at Countesswells where two pitches were laid in 2004 - one water-based and one sand-based.

Gordonians played in friendly matches until the North District Leagues were formed in the 1960’s.  The 1st XI was invited to join the newly formed National Leagues in 1976, and was placed in Division 3. They won Division 3 in their third season, won Division 2 the following season, and held their place in Division 1 of the National Leagues from 1980/81 to 2008/09 - a record 29 seasons.

Although we have not yet won the NL1 title, our 1st XI came within one point of the Scottish Championship in 1996 and were runners-up again in 1998. We have, however, had considerable success in cup competitions having won the Scottish Cup 4 times and as a result represented Scotland in the European Cup Winners Cup in Poznan (1994), The Hague (1996), Rome (1998), and Eindhoven (2002). We also took part in the inaugural European Cup Winners Cup in Barcelona in 1990, having finished as runners up in the 1989 Scottish Cup to the league champions that year.

The 2nd XI has won the National Scottish Districts Cup for 2nd X1 teams 7 times, only bettered by one other club. The 2nd XI joined the Scottish Regional League North in 2000 when the regional leagues were formed and have won it 6 times.  Prior to this they had won the North District League Division One a total of 12 times.

The formation of the regional leagues allowed the 3rd XI the opportunity to dominate North District League 1 from 2000, and they have now won it 6 times.  The 3rd XI have also won the National Scottish Reserve Cup 6 times. The club's 4th XI also play in North District League winning the title for the first time in 2007 and again in 2008, with our 3rd XI finishing as runners-up on both occasions. In 2008 the 4th XI won their first national trophy, the Scottish Reserve Plate.   

In May 2000, Gordonians merged with Merlins Ladies Hockey Club to form a combined club. Merlins Gordonians won the Scottish Districts Cup in 2005 and elected to move up from the North District League to the National League 3 in 2005/6. They won NL3 in only their second season in 2007 and finished a very creditable 4th in NL2 in 2008, but due to the loss of some key players to universities elsewhere were relegated back to NL3 in 2009. 

The Club has been running a very successful Youth Coaching programme for the past ten years with around 90 boys and girls attending Tuesday coaching sessions, and competing in national competitions at U-14, U-16 and U-18 level. We have taken our U-18 boys on tour to Holland every Easter since 2004 and several of these boys have gone on to gain promotion to our 1st or 2nd XIs.   In 2008/9, nine of them were selected for Scotland training squads across three age levels.

 

 

Club Sponsors

Aberdeen Asset Management 

We are very grateful for the long-term support of Aberdeen Asset Management as the main club sponsors.  Aberdeen Asset Management PLC is an international investment management group, managing assets for both institutions and private individuals from offices around the world.

Robert Gordon's College

 

Robert Gordon's College educates over 1,400 girls and boys from the age of 3 to 18. It provides a wide curriculum to the highest academic level and a range of extra-curricular sports, clubs and societies to engage and stimulate pupils of all interests.

Gordonian Association

 

The Gordonian Association was setup for former pupils of Robert Gordon's College.  The association organises a number of events as well as having other sporting sections.