William Pollock Wylie

William Pollock Wylie

William Pollock Wylie (March 2, 1869, in Gourock, Renfrewshire - August 21, 1935 in Battle, Sussex) was an avid sportsman who was instrumental in the development of ice hockey in Scotland.

Wylie was passionate about the sport of ice skating. He was a regular on the frozen pond of the Helensburgh Skating Association and he won the inaugural Scottish One Mile Amateur Skating Championship. He played an important role in forming the Scottish branch of the National Ice Skating Association. The association, headquartered in Kinross, was formed on January 1, 1895. Pollock Wylie served as its secretary.

He also helped develop ice hockey in Scotland. The February 2, 1895, edition of the Kinross-shire Advertiser reported that “A shinty match, with goals a quarter of a mile apart, was played between teams selected by Mr. W. Pollock Wylie and Mr. J. Laing. In the first half Mr. Wylie’s team had 2 goals to 1.The second half resulted in a draw.”

One of the aspects of his job as the secretary of NSA - Scotland was keeping the minutes of the association meetings. In the March 1895 edition he wrote that “The Branch have a bandy team and are willing to challenge England next season to play an international Bandy match. With the permission of the head-quarters they are willing to send this team to the Fens to play Mr Tebbutt’s team or to Holland to play the Dutch.”

The Glasgow Real Ice Skating Palace opened in May 1896. Pollock Wylie was one of the delegates to attend the first hockey matches played at the rink between Glasgow and the London Bandy Club. At a meeting of the Glasgow Committee of the Scottish Branch of the National Skating Association on May 27, 1896, a note was made that “It was resolved that the challenge received from the London team of Bandy players be accepted, and the following committee were appointed to attend to the match. Wylie, Meagher, Sloan, Douglas.”

Pollock Wylie actually played goaltender for the Scots in all four of the matches. His skills as a goalie were lauded by the Daily Record, which wrote that "Wylie, the Scottish custodian, was very clever, and chiefly to his exertions the London players were baulked of success."

He was tabbed the honorary secretary of the Scottish Bandy Club, which was formed shortly after the four-game series between Glasgow and London.

The Scottish Ice Hockey Club visited Paris for a five-game series between December 23 and 30, 1897. Pollock Wylie and George Meagher were instrumental in arranging the games. Pollock Wylie played goaltender and captained the Scottish team in all five matches. The Scots won all five matches to claim what the Glasgow Evening Times described as "...the championship of the world."

After a promising start, Scottish ice hockey was curtailed by the closure of the Real Ice Palace in May 1897. Pollock Wylie resigned from his position as secretary of the National Skating Association’s Scottish Branch in December 1899.

He later moved to London and would often visit Switzerland to enjoy the many ice sports played there.