A Handbook of Bandy; or, Hockey on the Ice/Chapter II

Holland – It is not right for a fine game like bandy to be cooped up in a small corner of the fen country; sooner or later it was bound to be introduced everywhere where suitable conditions existed. How could an enthusiast like the writer skate through a country like Holland and not be struck with the facilities which he found everywhere for playing the game, and not use his utmost endeavor to export the game there?

The frozen lakes of Friesland, the ice broads of North Holland, the wide surface of skating ground in the midst of almost every village, and the rinks of the large towns, seemed to cry out for some such game to enliven their glistering bosoms and to stir the blood of every youth. Fortunately a kindred spirit was found in Mr. W. J. H. Mulier, of Haarlem, and with his co-operation an auspicious beginning was soon possible.

So it was that during the winter of 1890-91, on January 3rd, a team of members of the Bury Fen Club for the first time left the shores of England to make the game international.

The first game was played at Haarlem, under the auspices of the Athletic Association, on the ice rink, and, as might be expected, the English won by some fourteen goals to one.

BURY FEN: Goal: W. Minson; backs: Louis Tebbutt, C. G. Tebbutt (captain); halves: B. B. Tarring, Neville Tebbutt, Arnold Tebbutt; forwards: Maurice Warren, Joseph Goodman, H. Wadsworth, Sidney Tebbutt, and Fred Jewson.

HAARLEM: Goal: H. Ples; backs: Koolhoven, V. Walcheren; halves: Klinkharner, Gr. von Ruggen Meijer; forwards: Menten, de Haas, van Mauen, W. J. H. Mulier (captain), Jhr. Schorer.

The next day play was at Amsterdam against a team captained by Mr. Vrowes, and again the day after versus Mr. Mulier's XI. All felt the game had started well, had taken root, and had come to stay, and the first club started was at Haarlem.

Almost exactly two years after, another team of Bury Fenners again visited Holland during January, 1893. They played games at Haarlem, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam in South Holland, and, journeying north to Friesland, started the game there amongst those skaters of skaters, and played at Heerenveen and Bolsward. Everywhere the bandy 'took', and the enthusiasm, specially of the Fries, spoke well for the game becoming more general.

Except at Haarlem, the sides were picked-up ones. The Haarlemites, much to their credit, defeated the English, seven goals to one. But the vanquished, who were a weak team, complained of the much too small ground, only eighty yards by forty, and the far too light and small ball.

The Haarlem XI. were: Goal: H. Westerwald; backs: J. Eldering, L. H. Koolhoven (captain); halves: K. Pander, Jhr. U. Schorer, F. J. Eldering; forwards: P. Tromp de Haas, W. J. H. Mulier, J. C. Eldering, K. Ples, and H. Eldering.

Bury Fen: Goal: P. C. Tomson; backs: Neville Tebbutt, C. G. Tebbutt (captain); halves: B. B. Tarring, E. Kiddle, A. B. Ulph; forwards: Louis Tebbutt, L. H. Swann, H. Wadsworth, Fred Jewson, and C. H. Dell.

The clubs now in Holland are at Amsterdam, Haarlem, Delft, Zwolle, Bolsward, and Heerenveen, and the game is played in the royal parks at the Hague.

The result of the four matches played last winter by the Haarlem club versus Amsterdam, Zwolle, and Delft, was a series of wins, and they are without doubt the strongest team in Holland. It was arranged for the to come to England and play a number of matches here, but the affair fell through, most unfortunately, as it is seldom we are blessed with such a severe and prolonged frost.

Norway - The writer, when at Christiania and Hamar in 1891-92, explained the game to the Norwegians, and in 1894 sent some bandies over, and a game was played at Hamar; but the heavy falls of snow made it difficult, unless at considerable expense, to obtain and maintain a sufficiently large area of clear ice.

Sweden – Visiting Stockholm in 1894, he arranged with members of the athletic club to try the game of bandy, and the first game was played at Stallmasturegarden [Stallmästargården] on February 16. The players were keen, but it is doubtful if here again the snow did not prevent its success.

Denmark – Returning via Copenhagen, an active member of the Skating Club was induced to try the game, and early last winter a bundle of bandies was imported into Denmark, and a club was started.

Denmark is more like Holland, and does not suffer from so much snow as Scandinavia, and the golden opinions which the game won there last winter will, it is hoped, cause bandy to become the recognized winter's recreation. It is most desirable that this grand game should captivate the skaters of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany, so that when frost fails us, as it is so apt to do in England, we can cross the North Sea by night, and be able to revel in this pastime on the hospitable foreign shores, and international matches may become annual fixtures.